Intergenerational management: challenges and opportunities. Interview with Elodie Gentina and Jérémy Lamri
In a professional context where several generations - baby-boomers, generation X, Y and Z - work side by side, “intergenerational management” is both a challenge and a tremendous opportunity for companies. While each generation brings its own vision and skills, stereotypes have also emerged that can hamper collaboration. In their new book (published in French), Élodie GENTINA (IÉSEG) and *Jérémy LAMRI explore how HR managers and leaders can go beyond clichés. In this interview, the authors shed light on the specific characteristics of each generation and managerial approaches that can help overcome biases, also drawing on the testimonies of human resources experts and business leaders.
11/19/2024
6 min
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How would you define intergenerational management, and why has it become an essential issue in organisations today?
Jérémy Lamri: Intergenerational management is much more than simply managing age diversity within a company. It requires a truly differentiated approach to the skills, values and behaviour of four different generations, from baby-boomers to Generation Z. This situation is all the more pressing in that we are also witnessing rapid technological change, new hybrid ways of working and expectations about the meaning and purpose of work.
However, it would be simplistic to view intergenerational management solely through the prism of age, and this is what we wanted to emphasise in our book. Our life paths, cultural contexts and personal aspirations are just as important as generational differences. For example, some young professionals prefer face-to-face collaboration, while older employees may be comfortable using sophisticated digital tools. Managers therefore have every interest in taking an interest in individual circumstances and promoting an inclusive approach that values personal career paths.
More and more organisations are moving towards practices such as reverse mentoring – where younger people train older people in digital skills, while the more experienced share their strategic expertise. Others are exploring initiatives such as mixed-generation teams, to encourage continuous, two-way knowledge transfer. By taking account of individual realities while relying on inclusive strategies, organisations have the potential to turn generational and individual differences into a source of wealth and innovation.
Your book deals with many generational stereotypes, such as ‘young people are impatient’ or ‘older people are overwhelmed by technology’. How important is it to deconstruct these stereotypes in the workplace?
Elodie Gentina: Preconceived ideas about the characteristics and skills of each generation, such as seniors’ lack of flexibility or young people’s lack of commitment, can fuel discriminatory attitudes and create a climate of mistrust and rivalry between people of different ages. Generational stereotypes contribute to creating misunderstandings, conflicts and even a kind of myth of two planets with: ‘young people’ and ‘older people’. We therefore need to deconstruct age-related representations and move beyond the rigid classification of employees according to age or generation, since these artificial separations can lead to cultural silos, where the exchange of ideas and opportunities for innovation are restricted. Employees can feel trapped in roles defined by their age rather than their skills or interests, reducing their engagement and willingness to contribute beyond stereotypical expectations. Age stereotypes therefore need to be actively deconstructed, by raising employees’ awareness of cognitive biases and valuing the diversity of profiles and backgrounds within teams.
With this in mind, the book develops a whole range of awareness-raising and training initiatives that can be put in place to deconstruct these representations and promote a culture of respect and inclusion, where every employee feels valued and understood. This means taking the time to understand the motivations, needs and aspirations of each team member, regardless of their age. Such an approach fosters a more inclusive and dynamic working environment, where every employee feels valued and understood, for example by creating spaces for dialogue and reflection on the differences in values, ways of working and relationship to digital technology between the generations, by implementing generational job sharing, reverse mentoring, etc.
Your book includes testimonies from a number of HR directors and managers. Can you share some of the key stories of how these companies are taking intergenerational issues into account in their strategy?
J.L: In the book, the accounts, gathered from more than 20 HR managers and leaders, show a growing awareness of the intergenerational issues and the emergence of innovative strategies to deal with them. A number of them mention specific programmes for each generation, whether in terms of induction, training or career paths. Others cite experiments aimed at encouraging collaboration between several generations, through specific projects, structured teams or even one-off challenges. These two examples clearly illustrate the two main strategies of intergenerational management: on the one hand, understanding generational differences, and on the other, ensuring effective and harmonious collaboration between all the generations in the organisation.
But such initiatives are not without their challenges. For example, young managers report difficulties in establishing their authority with more experienced staff, which requires them to have specific influencing and team management skills. Initiatives such as co-development allow face-to-face exchanges to overcome the reluctance of certain team members, while using digital tools to maintain fluid communication adapted to their preferences.
These experiences show that the key to success lies in the ability to build bridges between the generations by taking advantage of complementarities. This also means managing tensions: misunderstandings linked to differences in values, or resistance to change, are realities to be considered. Companies that succeed in transforming generational diversity into a strategic asset don’t just bridge gaps, they foster a learning culture where everyone becomes both trainer and learner, which is in their own interest and that of the organisation.
Your book talks about unifying management. What do you think are the key qualities of a manager who is capable of uniting multi-generational teams?
E.G : Managing intergenerational teams means first and foremost changing the way we look at the policies we need to implement for our employees, and in particular moving away from the view that we absolutely have to recruit young people to replace older employees. The manager who is capable of uniting multigenerational teams is the one who knows how to deconstruct the representations of others as well as himself/herself. They are the ones who know how to move from a segmented HR approach (by generation) to an intergenerational, inclusive HR policy, by being able to :
- Deal with individual situations while making the most of the collective measures in place.
- Adopt a tailor-made approach while capitalising on the experience of organisations.
- Take into account the heterogeneity of individual situations and the aspirations of both seniors and juniors within the organisation, by offering a variety of support on all HR management issues;
- Define common tools and measures that are accessible to all employees, enabling senior employees in particular to recognise that they are receiving special attention in view of the challenges they face. The manager must develop cohesion between the generations through various actions, such as implementing an intergenerational onboarding programme, with a junior-senior mentoring scheme on arrival in the organisation. Another action that managers can develop is intergenerational job sharing, whereby two people with an age gap of at least 10 years share a job to form a duo with complementary skills.
More information on their book « Le défi du management intergénérationnel. Comment transformer la cohabitation en collaboration vertueuse » (“The challenge of intergenerational management. How to transform cohabitation into virtuous collaboration”) is available here (Editions Dunod).
Elodie Gentina is an expert and author of numerous books and publications on the Generation Z. She has a Ph.D. in management science and advises and works with companies in adapting their marketing and management strategies to the needs of this generation. She is regularly interviewed by the French and international media about the Generation Z.
Jérémy Lamri is a French entrepreneur and researcher specialising in the development of employability and human potential. He has co-founded a number of organisations, including Le Lab RH, Monkey tie, Hub France IA, and more recently Tomorrow Theory, where he is CEO. He studied physics at Oxford and strategy at HEC Paris, and holds a Ph.D. in psychology from the Université Paris Descartes. The author of several books published by Dunod and EMS, and an international speaker on the future of work and organisations, he is also a professor at Sciences Po Paris. Committed to conscious and responsible technological progress, Jeremy is a strategic advisor or board member of various organisations, such as JobTeaser, Maki People and the Institut de la SocioDynamique.
