In today’s workplace, there is often a mix of both younger and older employees, and strategies should be in place to ensure that business owners and managers are creating a flexible and attractive work environment.
There are certainly challenges creating a flexible working environment for all employees including attracting and retaining younger staff, transferring the knowledge and experience of older staff approaching retirement and meeting the needs of today’s ‘virtual’ employee who expects varying hours and work-life balance.
Here are some tips for creating a flexible workplace for all:
Manage and understand millennials
Accounting firms and business, in general, should respond to this generation and understand their career motivations. Tips for creating flexibility in the workplace for this group of workers include providing transparency around career pathways and focusing on providing opportunities for growth and development. Millennials bring a great deal to the table in a workplace including a deep understanding of processes, policies, programs and technologies, they are also able to adapt to change which is essential in today’s ever-changing environment.
Create a mentor and mentee program in your office
As the ageing worker approaches retirement, the focus should be to ensure a smooth transition and upskill other staff members (particularly younger ones). Implementing a mentoring program will help to develop a constructive work environment that promotes learning, build a transfer of knowledge and provide a range of growth opportunities for other staff members. Future leader programs and the like are fantastic ways to develop talent and create pipelines for future roles in your business.
Create flexible workplaces
No matter the generation, a flexible workplace is becoming the norm. Features such as unpaid and additional leave, flexible work times to meet child care needs, working from home and job sharing arrangments work to ensure a feeling of value within your employees. Being able to access cloud computing has opened up a world of opportunities for employees and allows for a mobile team, providing increased job satisfaction and empowerment of employees.
Embracing the ever-changing work environment and taking steps to set up strategies that focus on a flexible workplace is the way of the future.
A flexible work environment brings a range of benefits to employees of all ages and ensures your business is progressive and implementing the systems to suit today’s worker demands.
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