Project Management

Employers: Different Abilities of Older & Younger Workers Matter

From the Eye on the Workforce Blog
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Workforce management is a key part of project success, but project managers often find it difficult to get trustworthy information on what really works. From interpersonal interactions to big workforce issues we'll look the latest research and proven techniques to find the most effective solutions for your projects.

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Employers believe there are differences between the characteristics of early career employees and late career employees. According to the National Study of Business Strategy and Workforce Development, the differences they see have important implications to the future of workforce management – and your projects.
 
Here’s a slice: Employers value low turnover rates. It is important to build an organizational base of expertise, after all. They see late career employees as low turnover, but employers see early career workers as being high turnover. Score one for late careerists. Employers want employees to take initiative. They see early career workers about equal to late career workers as having that characteristic. Finally, employers want employees that are creative. They see early career workers as more creative than late career workers. Score one for early careerists. Looks like we have a draw.
 
So what? To survive the future, companies will have to adapt quickly to any number of new competitive challenges. Organizational leaders will require a mix of age groups to bring in the necessary characteristics. But each career group must be receptive to the strengths of the other group! Late career workers must adopt new technologies and creative solutions that disrupt the status quo. Early career workers must be able to respect and use the expertise of the late career workers.
 
It’s a delicate balance. If your employer does manage this balance adequately, then you may find it difficult to succeed in your projects. Too much mistrust and conflict. You may have to attempt to maintain the balance within your project. But, good grief, that’s a difficult gap to fill for a project manager who is already pulled from many directions and the odds are not great for success.

Posted on: May 02, 2007 03:25 PM | Permalink

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