The concept of “perennials,” first articulated by Gina Pell captures the importance of understanding people on a more meaningful level beyond broad demographic categories like age. People of all ages who transcend stereotypes, make connections, and push up against their growing edge are perennials.
Deloitte's 2020 Global Human Capital Trends report provides another in-depth peek at what's going on in the workforce. Tech and organizational changes in the workforce make careers complex and more dynamic, leaving employees to reinvent themselves several times throughout their working lives. Older employees are not retiring at the previously average age of 65.
Employees deliver high-value work when their experience at work is high value. Demographic indicators alone no longer serve as a suitable basis for developing talent strategy; employees of all generations are more vocal about their expectations.
Mature Workers Want the Same Things as Millennials
This shrinking gap between generations doesn’t mean that older generations don’t seek fundamentals out of their chosen careers like meaning and purpose, it merely reflects a shift in the expectations of employers to provide them.
Despite the widespread belief that generational differences are expanding, Deloitte found that members of each generation largely agree on desires related to career like work/life balance, expectations of loyalty and job security, and expectations of advancement.
Segmenting the workforce for the future
The personalization of consumer experiences has paved the way for more and more organizations to segment their workforce to create engaging, meaningful experiences for employees. Take a page out of consumer market hyper-segmentation: gain insight into individuals to understand their interests, values, preferences, and opinions to predict broad patterns and deliver that productivity boosting, personalized, engaging experience.
Attitude based approach
42% of respondents believed that work behaviors such as whether a person is a maker, doer, or manager will be most important for segmenting the workforce in three years but just 27% said the are currently segmenting the workforce this way.
Expand your talent strategy beyond demographics alone and include attitudes, behaviors, and values that meet employee needs in a meaningful way that benefits the individual, the organization, and the bottom line.
