IGT Tool 4: Workshop ‘Customer demands from an
intergenerational perspective’
This tool is meant to be used by managers and facilitators to facilitate mixed aged
teams in gaining valuable insights in customer demands and the expertise of coworkers from an intergenerational perspective.
It answers the question, “How can we capitalize on the expertise of the generations
in a team to anticipate or meet customer demands?”. It is meant to be used as a
guide and can be adjusted to different contexts as needed.
What is it?
A “know-how” transfer through a role-play to
better meet customer demands from a age
diverse clientele.
In a role-play, team members are the expert in
the role of a customer of their own generation.
Insights resulting from the role-play can be
utilized to better anticipate and meet customer
demands.
When can you use it?
The role-play can take place within a team
meeting, as a separate workshop or as part of a
training program. It can function as a “standalone” training, or can be part of an
implementation program of working with
intergenerational teams.
In what context?
In organisations with a age diverse clientele.
To help what problem?
When there is a need or desire in the
organisation to improve customer service in
regards to age diversity.
Employees in mixed age teams are not always
aware of the value of their knowledge or skills
specifically related to their generation and/or how
their colleagues could benefit from this.
What does the tool achieve?
The tool facilitates not only the exchange of
knowledge about customer demands from an
age perspective, but also provides employees
indirectly with more insight regarding valuable
age related skills, knowledge and motivation of
their colleague’s.
How does the tool achieve its
results?
The employees contribute their knowledge about
their own generation’s needs, wants and
motivation in their role as a client and not as a
“teacher”. This method supports an atmosphere
of mutual respect and appreciation. Because the
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employees represent their own generation in the
role play, their expertise cannot be questioned
and is transferred in a very powerful way.
Need more information?
www.hcamag.com/resources/hr-strategy-insideage-diversity-at-deutsche-bank/115419/
Lucienne.Suiker@inholland.nl
1 Using the tool:
1.1 Requirements:
The role play can be done during a team meeting, be part of a training on customer
service or as a separate workshop.
A manager or a trainer can facilitate the role-play in a setting of 8 to 10 participants.
1.2 Implementation:
Implementation is relatively easy, since the role-play requires only a facilitator and 2
team members of different generations. The customer role is “played” by an
employee representing his or her generation. The focus in the role-play is on the
specific demands, desires and motivation related to the specific generation of the
customer.
For example: To improve the service within a call centre of a large bank, a role-play
is added to the agenda of each weekly team meeting (or a separate training session
is organised). The goal of the role-play is to exchange experience and knowledge
about the changing needs of “todays customer”. The participants can suggest
different topics based on their daily interaction with their customers, like: a younger
employee plays a customer who wants to use the newest technology to manage his
financial situation, or an older employee plays a customer who wants to diversify his
portfolio and invest in environmentally sustainable companies. Since each employee
represents his or her own generation, the role-play is not only very close to real life
situations, the participants will also indirectly teach each other more about their own
age related skills and needs.
The participants take turns playing the customer, until all generations have been
represented. After each role-play an evaluation takes place of which similarities and
which unique characteristics or needs of the various generations can be utilized to
improve customer service.
2 Critical Success Factors
A learning climate in which age diversity is seen as an asset to the organisation.
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Participants from different generations who have sufficient experience with customer
needs and demands and who are willing to engage in a role-play.
3 Evaluation
For evaluating this workshop use IGT Tool 10 Evaluation form_Customer Demands
workshop
In the training pack you can find the underlying principles behind the evaluations as
well as instructions for using the forms themselves.
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