Leadership in the Balance

Life Beyond Work: Retaining All Generations

To retain employees of all ages, organizations need to address expectations of the job, career and compensation. An organization's attitude toward employees' life outside of work is also a factor, according to CCL's Jennifer Deal, researcher and author of Retiring the Generation Gap: How Employees Young & Old Can Find Common Ground.

As part of a larger study on generations in the workplace, Deal found that people of all generations said they want to do a good job at work, but they also want to have a good quality of life. Whether they are raising young families, preparing for retirement, caring for elderly parents or pursuing personal interests, employees often feel that their organizations forget that they have a life outside work.

"Many employees indicated that their organizations would need to stop trying to encroach on their nonwork time, or they would leave the organization for one that had more (apparent) respect for them," writes Deal.

Although people from all generations thought that work-life balance was an issue that had a significant impact on whether a person is willing to stay in an organization, Late Boomers and Early Xers said this more often than other generations did, as did people who identified themselves as professionals in their organizations.

Organizations and leaders can help all generations navigate their need for work-life balance by:

Clarifying priorities. People in the CCL study reported that they have trouble figuring out their priorities when everything at work is deemed urgent. They struggled to give higher priority to time with family when the work pressure doesn't ease up.

Realistic resourcing. People have too much work to be done during normal work hours, so they routinely put in extra hours. They said they feel forced to decide what isn't going to get done or accept substandard work when they take necessary time with their families. The perception is that their organizations don't care enough about their employees to bother resourcing the work appropriately.

Reducing stress. Extreme stress is one reason people leave their jobs or turn down interesting positions. Some people feel forced to choose between a job that would be interesting and challenging and the kind of life they want to lead.

Creating flexibility. Many people said they would be more likely to stay with their organization if they could work on a flexible schedule. People with children thought flexibility would allow them to get more work done and would be more convenient for their families. Many older people thought that a flexible schedule would be more convenient for them as they approach retirement. People of all generations requested telecommuting as an acceptable option.

Flexibility Counts

Offering a flexible schedule is a sign of the respect the organization has for its employees, according to employees of all generations.

"Allow me to step down into a less demanding and stressful position and perhaps work a 4-day workweek." -Silent (born 1925-1945)

"Allow flexibility in work schedules ... possibly telecommuting a day or two a week as an option." -Early Boomer (born 1946-1954)

"Understand that my family commitments come first and allow flexibility in my hours of work." -Late Boomer (born 1955-1963)

"Offer flexible work hours." -Early Xer (born 1964-1976)

"Show commitment to allowing employees to focus on other aspects of their life." -Late Xer (born 1977-1982)

This article is adapted from Retiring the Generation Gap: How Employees Young and Old Can Find Common Ground, by Jennifer J. Deal (Jossey-Bass/CCL, 2006).