Employers canít stand still to win the war on generations of talent

New research from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development explores many of the in vogue generational differences employers address when recruiting and retaining good people to sustain businesses performance.

Tapping into Talent: the Age Factor and Generational Issues warns employers not to fall into the trap of giving people trendy new generation labels and argues that factors such as age or gender are far more important.

But some generational differences carry weight. The research highlights that organisations need to become more inclusive in their employee offering. In particular, employers should:

offer more inclusive approaches to flexible working - younger generations (X and Y) are less likely than older generations to consider flexible working as something that is only for women and older people also have an interest in flexible working as an alternative to retirement

give a clear commitment to diversity as younger generations are more likely to actively seek to work for employers who attach importance to diversity and to be put off working for those that donít

enable the development of communication skills as younger generations, particularly employees who entered the workforce after 1990 are more likely than older generations to be familiar with and comfortable with using emerging information and communication technology.

Dianah Worman, Adviser, Diversity, CIPD says:

ìWhile the business case for diversity is well made, the new evidence shows that employers must develop good practice to attract and retain a diverse workforce.î

ìThe more you inspect the diversity agenda, the more it is apparent that focusing on people as individuals and delivering fairness for everyone is vitally important to become an employer of choice. This research shows that while labelling people is not the best way forward employers need to stay alert to evolving employee expectations. It underlines the need for government action to instigate the publication and communication of clear guidance to help employers meet their legal duties under the new Equality bill which aims to provide an enabling legal framework fit for the progress of diversity and inclusion in the future.î