Learning & Talent Development ~ Head of Rosewood Academy at Rosewood Hotel Group

Leo Anderle

The term revenge travel—hospitality’s rebound has been coined, referring to eager travelers heading on, after years of wait for their travel and holiday. Welcoming them into the hotel industry is a refreshed team of a multigenerational workforce. Due to economic and financial scenarios during and post-covid, hotels had a tough decision to review their workforce resources. This was also an opportunity to review long-term multi-generational workforce planning to ensure the hotel's culture, vision and mission are carried on.

What is a Multi-Generational Workforce?

While there are many literatures referring to varying age spans, a multi-generational workforce now is when various generations work together simultaneously, from some silent generation (working in their late 70s to early 80s), Baby Boomers, Gen X, Gen Y/ Millennials and Gen Z (Alpha Generation)—a first in the modern era. It is not surprising in the hotel industry to have parents and children working side-by-side.

Why Managing Multi-Generational Workforce Matters?

Generational diversity is needed in any thriving organization. It allows culture to be built on a strong foundation and knowledge, and skill management to be carried in with the next generation.

Different generations, having gone through different formative years of their life, have influenced their perspective of work. Priorities are different. Expectations vary. Results are multi-faceted.

Hence, leaders face the tough challenge of how to effectively manage a multi-generational team. In fact, before leading them, leaders need to know how to manage them.

‘Leaders need to develop the skill of connecting to engage with their multi-generational team.’

From Communicating to Connecting

Some leaders say the foundation of a successful team is effective and open communication. Its true and I agree. But when you are leading a multi-generational team, connecting with them will prove to be beneficial. Connecting to a team member means you value his/her communication style. This leadership trait builds rapport and engagement.

Even the simplest and humblest punctuation mark—the period/ full stop (‘.’) can have different interpretations (tone) from different generations. For the earlier generations, it means formal, professional and well-written. For the younger generation, it means rigid, strict, cold or sometimes passive-aggressive. And this is just a period/ full stop. The use of other punctuation marks has different meanings as well, including mobile technology-popularized emojis.

The preference for using different communication platforms also varies. The earlier generations prefer letter/ email style. Baby Boomers prefer phone calls and face-to-face meetings. The younger generations are used to text messages (SMSs), direct messages (DMs), online chat or even non-verbal cues. This is a tricky one because non-verbal cues will mean differences not just across generations, but moreover, across cultures and countries.

If you think that solving communication issues in the workplace should be an easy task by setting rules, then you are just creating a rigid work environment. With one communication style, you also leave one (or more) generation(s) out of your correspondence, building a barrier between you as a leader and your team. This will not resolve the issue, nor build a strong team.

Understanding your team is key. Have open discussions. Utilize mid-year/ year-end conversations to capture this gap and align with each other’s expectations. Once you see the big picture as a team, your responsibility as a leader is to share this with the team and note how different team members respond to different communications. It takes time to stabilize, especially when there are new team members.

From Connecting to Engaging

When a connection is established, you start engaging. While many synonymously use communicating (talking, speaking, chatting) with engaging, they are very different. Connection must be established first before we can engage. And this is just one of the many ways to effectively manage a multi-generational workforce. It’s also the foundational piece.

Leaders need to develop the skill of connecting to engage with their multi-generational team. When you have an engaged team, they are motivated and driven and find their purpose leading to retention and a thriving organization.