Age isn’t just a number: enabling mentally healthy multigenerational workplaces

The latest Australian census pointed to the changing demographics in Australia in terms of the age groups that make up our population. A large number of Australian workplaces are currently served by five generations of employees, each with their unique traits and ways of working.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) defined age-based categories as follows:

Five generations in the workplace

Age-based diversity in the workplace can present challenges for how employees are recruited, engaged, and retained. While most members of the Interwar generation may have already retired or be on their way to retirement, this generation’s approaches to hierarchical, top-down management styles still account for how many workplaces, and even whole industries, were designed and continue to function.

The generation of Baby Boomers who followed, laid the foundation for the democratisation of workplaces and flattening of hierarchies, and paved the way for increasing globalisation and workplaces that reflected changing socio-economic values and trends. Generation X employees witnessed large-scale failures of traditional institutions and ways of working, and continued to spearhead participatory, innovative ways of working, leading, and building organisations.

Digital natives comprised of Millennials have continued to live through rapidly changing socio-economic landscapes with a lesser degree of certainty and security that previous generations were afforded. While collaborative environments increasingly became the norm with Gen X workers, Millennials have driven a further shift to highly customisable working arrangements that have become a necessity because of the challenges this generation face. Generation Z epitomises the fast-paced, constantly connected world that has come to mark the always-online nature of work over the last decade. The rise of the gig economy also saw the cementing of highly flexible ways of working while also becoming the hallmark of economic uncertainty and diminished security for this generation.

The burnout generation

We are on the cusp of a generational shift with Millennials (25 to 39 year-olds) becoming the nation’s largest age group, alongside Baby Boomers (55 to 74 year-olds). While Millennials are projected to account for over 75 per cent of our workforce within the next three years, organisations are likely to see a shift in employee wellbeing trends that reflect this change. In Australia’s most recent census, mental health was found to be the leading reason for chronic health challenges for Australians.

Researchers have pointed to the intense pressures on Millennials driven by a never-ending pursuit of self-optimisation for the high rates of burnout felt by this group. In addition to balancing precarious job and economic conditions, Millennials also engage in a higher rate of intensive parenting practices and caregiving, including performing higher degrees of voluntary work. While this generation has also been characterised as holding high expectations and being overly perfectionistic, evidence points to the crucial role that unpredictability, low control and a high degree of external demands play in perpetuating ongoing burnout amongst Millennials.

The negative impacts of the pandemic have been felt disproportionately by women, older Australians, culturally and linguistically diverse groups and workers from lower socio-economic backgrounds. Nonetheless, Millennials and Gen Z appear to be the generations worst impacted by ongoing socio-economic, cultural, and environmental shifts, with the highest rate of anxiety and depression, the least positive outlook on life, the most emotional distress, and the highest degree of challenges with being able to afford food, education, and other basic needs. In addition, Gen Y and Gen Z also appear to have the least financial resources to afford mental health support, as well as diminished opportunities for advancement and overall care. These groups experience the worst outcomes amongst all Australian population groups in mental health as well as in other areas of overall wellbeing.

More than resilience

Focus on building resilience among employees to avoid burnout and prevent poor mental health has been a popular wellbeing strategy within organisations over the last decade. However, emerging research points to a link between increased resilience and a higher risk of burnout. While increased resilience certainly bolsters the capacity of individual employees against ongoing workplace stressors, other factors play an important role in increasing the risk of burnout. Some of these factors are increasing complexity, inadequate training, lack of breaks and respite from work, unpredictability, and poor working conditions. These factors have become commonplace through the pandemic and consequently, Millennials and their younger counterparts appear to be the worst impacted with the least degree of support to weather these harsh conditions.

Generational inequalities have an impact on how employees engage in work - from being able to afford appropriate homeworking equipment and arrangements, to experiencing very high rates of isolation and lack of social support when compared to previous generations. Research findings also suggest that there are generational differences in how different groups respond to burnout. For instance, Millennials have a higher propensity to leave their jobs when emotionally exhausted when compared with Baby Boomers.

Given that Millennials are also the most diverse generation amongst all workplace groups, with unprecedentedly high rates of representation of women in their ranks, the intersectional demographic composition of this age group accounts for the higher degrees of cumulative stress they have been experiencing. The real impacts of discriminatory practices against people based on their gender, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, religion, age, and disabilities extends beyond direct impacts on the targets of these behaviours. Practices that may be enabled by systemic inequalities diminish the attractiveness of an organisation as an employer, as younger generations opt out of working for companies that do not demonstrate their ongoing commitment to values such as social justice, sustainability, transparency, and fairness.

What can workplaces do?

The complexity of catering to the needs of multiple generations of employees is a daunting task, particularly amid staff shortages and labour market changes. Nonetheless, it is vital that organisations take stock of who their employees are, what their needs are, and how organisations can step up to meet these needs to ensure that organisational as well as employee wellbeing can be achieved.

It is imperative that resilience-based interventions be supplemented with wider organisational changes to ensure that contextual stressors that may be contributing to an increased risk of burnout, be addressed within the workplace.

Offering customisable support to employees based on their needs allows professionals access to vital mental health support irrespective of their personal circumstances and eliminating barriers to care that may exist within the public mental health care system.

Undertaking psychosocial risk audits that allow an organisation to map its multi-generational workforce and their unique needs can help to provide a blueprint for organisations to partner with their employees towards achieving wellbeing.

Implementing a multi-pronged wellbeing programme that upskills leadership as well as employees to proactively address systemic, organisational and individual needs in the workplace can help an organisation become an employer of choice, nurture its workforce and continue to sustain these gains.

References:

Winston, Andrew. 2019. The World in 2030: Nine Megatrends to Watch. MIT Sloan Management Review
Sargent, Kay. 2010. A Pivotal Shift: Generational Workplaces
Petersen, Anne. 2020. Can’t Even: How Millennials Became the Burnout Generation
Samra, Rajvinder. 2019. Millennial Burnout won't be Helped by 'Resilience Building'
Lowrey, Annie. 2020. Millennials Don’t Stand a Chance
Marzban, Samin et al. 2021. Learning to Work from Home: Experience of Australian Workers and Organizational Representatives during the First COVID-19 Lockdowns
Coe, Erica. 2022. Addressing the Unprecedented Behavioural-Health Challenges Facing Generation Z
Hamer, Ben. Why Attracting and Retaining the Top Millennial Talent is Key to Future Success
Workforce Institute, 2019. Gen Z and the Gig Economy: It’s Time to Gig in or Get Out
Australian Bureau of Statistics. 2022. 2021 Census Shows Millennials Overtaking Boomers

Rachel Clements is the co-founder and director of psychological services for the Centre for Corporate Health & Resilia