Maximizing Intergenerational Partnerships within the Workplace

The passing of the baton in our nation’s career industries will be happening within the next 2-3 years, across three generations. Many years’ worth of cultivated knowledge is walking out of every industry’s door. The creative millennial innovators will be assuming management positions and hyper-aware multi-taskers are walking into the workplace.

Consequently, it is imperative for employers, across all industries, to capitalize on the intergenerational partnership opportunities with baby boomers, millennials, and the incoming generation Z’s.  The best process, for productivity and industry innovation, cannot begin to take sustainable fruition without the preservation of historical knowledge and communication of new ideas. To begin maximizing the intergenerational partnerships within the workplace, industry organizations must implement the following organization-wide strategies:

• Idea sharing sessions (Connections 4 Success calls these “Think Tank” Sessions)
• Mentor shadowing of executive and management positions
• College internship programs
• High school student after school internship programs

These four forward-thinking strategies create a structured method of idea sharing, learning opportunities, and creative ways to advance an organization’s bottom-line with experience, innovation, and calculated risk.