UNDERSTANDING YOUR WORKFORCE
A prequel to designing generational diversity initiatives
By Puja Kohli
Senior
– 45 - 55 years Male
– Wise , Warm ,Tolerant,
Balanced, Matured
Middle
– Old , 45 – 50 Years
Male
– Lively, Apolitical,
Bheeshma,
Dedicated ,
Obedient
Junior
– Young Age, 20-25 Years,
Male, Female
– Professional , Respect,
Confident , Global ,
Happy , Punctual
The picture above depicts how employees of a mid-sized technology organization profiled
themselves. The generational diversity in the workforce starkly reflects the differences in attitudes,
nature and approach to life across various age groups. As most organizations struggle to manage a
multigenerational workforce, this case study takes us through an organizations’ attempt to first
understand its workforce better from a multigenerational context, before designing initiatives.
The objective of the organization was to begin with making sense of this phenomenon by answering
the following three questions:
1. Does the generational segmentation really exist?
2. Are differences across the various generations prevalent?
3. What do these generations expect from some of the basic HR functions like Performance
Management, Training and Engagement?
Case study of a mid-sized Multinational Organization operating in India
Organizational Context
The organization has been in the business of technology for many decades and has grown through
acquisition. Consequent to the acquisition, the organization has acquired experienced resources and
grown its internal talent over time. It takes pride in the loyalty and tenure of its members. The
management team consists of senior employees who have spent considerable time within the
organization. Since the focus of the organization is predominantly on matured practices, long-term
clients and specialized skills, the workforce mix was historically skewed towards depth of experience
and generally stayed away from young, inexperienced talent. However, due to changing needs of the
business and growing demands of clients for increasing off-shoring capacity, the organization was
suddenly under pressure to grow organically while managing its costs.
The focus has now shifted from managing experienced and tenured resources to acquiring young
talent and fast tracking younger leaders to lead extended teams.
The imperatives for change
The sudden need for expansion and integrating this new talent into the cultural fabric, gave impetus
to the organization to change in order to build a cohesive and effective work culture that could
operate in a new paradigm.
A study was commissioned to understand the cultural nuances within the organization that were
defining exhibited behaviours and identify new behaviours that would need to be learnt to leverage
this change. During the diagnostic phase of the study, it was realized that a generational filter
needed to be applied to understand the various mindsets at play.
The study
The organization used a well-researched definition of the multiple generations in the Indian context
documented by Saundarya Rajesh, the Founder of AVTAR, as reference. Considering the focus was
understanding generations in the workplace, the interventionist stayed away from defining the
generations but used documented literature from an Indian study rather than western publications.
A quantitative and qualitative methodology was followed to capture data and reflect and analyze the
nuances of these generations.
A framework was developed and tools were created as follows.
1
Does the generational segmentation really exist?
The workplace was profiled across the generational segments to understand the mix and the impact
at three stages of individual and organizational growth – Junior, Mid and Senior.
The findings revealed the
prevalence
of
a
multigenerational mix within
the organizational hierarchy,
where
Gen
Y
were
predominant as Juniors, EGen’s were predominant in the
middle layer and Gen X and
Free Gen’s occupied the top
positions. The impact of
generations emerged both in
the vertical and horizontal
layers of the organization.
Are differences across the various generations prevalent?
2
Having established the existence of different generations across multiple segments in the workplace
through data, the next step was to profile them at work to understand their drivers, motivators and
worldviews.
The following techniques were used to capture multiple perspectives across generational segments.
1
A questionnaire was administered to understand their differences in work values, attitudes,
and lifestyle needs
Focus Groups were conducted and workplace stories were sought to document occurrences,
illustrate the cultural nuances, behaviours and actions at play
SWOT analysis was attempted for each of the generational segments to create their work
profiles. The SWOT was created as an aggregate of both positives and dilemmas
2
3
Qualitative and Quantitative analysis of the data yielded a good understanding of the profiles of the
four generations, as shown in the figure below:
Self
Career
Work Ethics
Work
Family
Outlook
Organization
Aspirations
Relationships
Attitudes
Lifestyle
Values
• What best describes your loyalties?
• How do you like spending your time
away from work?
• What behaviors do you associate
with the organization’s core values?
• How do you view Technology?
• What are your views on Money?
• What is your attitude towards rewards
& recognition
• If you were to change your career, what
would you chose to be?
• How do you envision the organization
in 2015?
• What is your perspective of life in
general?
• What values drive your personal
life?
SWOT Analysis extract from the findings
STRENGTHS
WEAKNESSES
Free gens: Well - established, Responsible,
Loyal, Service orientated
Gen X: Hard working, Results driven,
Knowledgeable
E Gen: Technologically savvy, Learn quickly,
Embrace diversity
Gen Y: Result oriented, Confident, Risk
takers, Acknowledge gender equality,
Adaptable to technology changes
Free gens: Informality, Cautious to change
and risk taking
Gen X: Low on ability to transition to new
setup, Not flexible
E Gen: Do not prefer mundane jobs
Gen Y: Highly aspirational and Want to
move up the career ladder soon
OPPORTUNITIES
Free gens: Leverage as mentors in
establishing large scale operating models
THREATS
Free gens: High resistance to change
Gen X: Suited for entreprenuerial projects in
nature, Lead accounts independently,
Leverage in global assignments, sales
opportunities as coaches
E Gen: Work well in dynamic situations, If
intellectually challenged with empowerment
- will have vast potential
Gen X: Not loyal to organization, No respect
for organizational hierarchy, Like to retain
knowledge , resist change
E Gen: Not loyal to organization, No respect
for organizational hierarchy
Gen Y: Not loyal to organization, Demanding
Gen Y: Challenging jobs make them
productive
3
What do these generations expect from some of the basic HR functions like, Performance
Management, Training and Engagement?
Having established the work profiles of the multiple generations at work, the next logical step was to
understand what could possibly be the impact on people management and people processes due to
their differing motivations, which would subsequently lead to dilemmas and lower effectiveness at
work if not proactively managed.



Are their differences in their preferred style of learning?
Do they engage differently or have different motivations for emotional connect?
What does Performance mean to them?
This study was conducted within the specific organization in context, with participation from other
organizations to gain a larger perspective of generations.
A deeper focus on Gen Y was built with research from a sample of those who have already entered
the workforce and those who are on the threshold of entering the workforce - academia, training
institutes - as potential hires.
1. A questionnaire was administered to probe learning styles, engagement drivers and
views on performance
2. Social demographics were sought from Gen Y, to better understand their backgrounds,
nature and psyche across parameters like family background, role of parents, attitude
towards income and dressing style
3. Workplace stories were gathered on generational dilemmas
Extract from the findings
Elements
Gen Y
E Gen
Gen X
Free Gen
LEARNING
Preferred mode
of learning
Sources of
learning
Informal learning –
Real time knowledge
beyond class room
training
Online search tools,
Blend of Informal and
Formal learning
(on the job and class room)
e learning, Wikipedia, Google,
expert forums, Peer/ SME
Formal Learning (class
room)
Informal chats with leaders,
Peers, manager
Real time experience at work
Conferences and seminars,
Books,
New experiences and
pictures, internet – tool of
reference
PERFORMANCE
Career, recognition,
challenging work,
money
Motivators
Freedom to
Perform activities
beyond the
normal KRA
Driven by results,
innovative projects
Career growth
Individualistic "I" factor
- answers like I am the
master of my own
career depicting
confidence
Prefer informal reviews
Recognition: Appreciated
through formal channels
Recognition: Verbal
Not driven by
Rewards but large
responsible assignments
Money
Greater joy derived from
solving complex problem that
others cannot
Independent in
career making/development
decisions
Spouse and family plays an
important role in decision
making
Spouse/ Family is critical in
career making
Decision
Prefer informal reviews
Opportunity to extend
beyond areas of
responsibility, larger issues,
special assignments.
Prefer seeking guidance and
mentoring for new roles/
opportunities, participative
discussion with manager for
career moves
ENGAGEMENT
Enjoy working with an
encouraging boss
Work
relationships
Relationships with
community activities,
friend circles at work
important
Dislike being micro managed
Relationship with
likeminded people are a
priority
Prefers one on one
discussions
with seniors/ leaders
Bias free work environment
preferred
Work
environment
Fun filled and
energetic work
environment
High need for
impression
management
Greater loyalty demonstrated
towards profession and not
just job
Environment Conscious
Flexible and willing to stretch,
however anchored to overall
integrating work and life
(balance)
Freedom to express oneself
choosing what and how to
do things in life
Need for constant
challenge / interesting
work
Prefers working in small
groups or alone
Recommendations for leaders and practice
The study has clearly established the existence of a multigenerational workplace with diverse needs
of each generational segment. It highlighted the views, perspectives and dilemmas of different
generations working with each other, their expectations from the organization, relationships and
styles of management.
Are we ready to develop newer competencies to work in and manage this workforce, adopt a new
set of values, sponsor systemic changes to avoid creativity, cooperation, communication losses and
challenge traditional ways of thinking?
Going forward
There is a strong need to relook at the people practices in view of the different drivers for diverse
groups. Practices can no longer be broad brushed but have to be aligned to enhance effectiveness
and productivity. Relevant competencies have to be acquired or modified to cope with this change.
There is also a demonstrated need to triangulate the:



Organizational view
Managerial view
Employee view
To design the relevant interventions aligned to the three dimensions, this study is part of a
continuing effort by the OD Interventionist through ‘live’ workplace explorations. At the next stage,
competencies required for managing a multigenerational workforce and relevant people practices
that need to be possibly adopted are being explored as an outcome.
SHRM Conclusion
The first step towards any successful initiative is having an in-depth understanding of the current
state of affairs, which is quite an involved journey in and of itself. This case illustrates in great detail
the efforts made to get this baseline understanding of the differences and preferences of various
generations at the workplace. This is one of the few studies that has examined multigenerational
diversity in an Indian workplace scenario, using the categorization of definitions created for India
based on defining events like the freedom struggle and liberalization of the Indian economy. The
implications of the findings of this study have a great bearing on future HR practices and merit being
researched further across various industries and locations.
Puja Kohli is an Organizational Interventionist and a core member of the NASSCOM Diversity
and Inclusion council. She has released a white paper on ‘Generational Diversity’ through
NASSCOM and has been involved in research centred around ‘The dilemma of generations
and the organization’ for the past two years.