Harnessing Multigenerational Workforce

Thanks to globalization, several new career options have come up during last three decades in industries suchas IT-ITES, Modern Retail, Telecommunication, E-Commerce, Aviation, Media & Entertainment, Hospitality and Banking. As a result different job roles and profiles have been created requiring diverse skills, competencies and use of technology. The conventional 9-5 job has been replaced by multiple shifts, flexi working or work from home; Office set up is being substituted by un-conventional work stations; Formal dress code is taken over by the casual attire and cabins are being changed by cubicles; Addressing superiors by their first name instead of Sir / Madam is becoming a norm in most of the MNCs; While Laptops, iPad, tabs are replacing the landline phones and desktop computers, employees largely communicate or update themselves through mobile apps, internet, WhatsApp, LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, etc.

The organizations, their CEOs and HR managers are now facing the most challenging task of engaging the workforce that comprise of both from pre-liberalization as well as post liberalization era. The employees who joined three decades back and are still serving the organization are those born in late fifties or later i.e. those belonging to baby boomers (born 1946-64) or Gen. X (born 1964 - 1980). Later more workforce has been added belonging to Gen. Y (Born 1981 -1994) followed by the new entrants now from the Gen. Z (Born 1995 –till date). Besides, proportion of female workforce has also increased considerably, especially in the service industry over last two decades. These Gen Y and Gen Z shall be steering the organizations in future and much of the economic growth would depend upon how these millennial workforce, which is highly volatile, is groomed and trained to take on the global challenges and leadership positions. This workforce is tech-savvy, connected through social media, highly ambitious, has entrepreneurial spirit and does not appreciate strict controls. Many of this might like to work individually rather than in team. For it, both monetary as well as non-monetary compensation are equally important. Therefore, in the present scenario, it is not that employee has to fit into the organization, rather organizations have to adapt themselves according to changing needs and aspirations of the new entrants. Today, the most important issues faced by top management as well as HR, across nearly all industry sectors in manufacturing as well as services, are;

• What are the key challenges in managing the diverse workforce and whether the organizations today are really prepared to engage these three generations working simultaneously and at times on the same project?
• Is HR competent enough to perceive the changing micro and macro environments and review strategies accordingly?
• How best can HR make use of the latest technologies to attract and motivate the millennials?
• How can HR harness the potential of present generation in order to make them leaders of tomorrow?

The problems of HR managers get further compounded in organizations, where they have to deal with workforce from diverse cultures and nationalities.

The present HR Summit would delve on the above or related issues and strive to find out the best possible strategies for the managers to deal with them. Speakers shall include the top management and HR professionals from the leading organizations. Participants would be executives at the middle & lower management levels from across various industries, as well as the management faculty.