Why multi-generational teams are the future of Tech Teams

Hiring TipsEmployer Branding

After many years at Cisco, David Barry was looking for a job. Ideally, he wanted to find a position on the East Coast with a company that has a strong focus on market innovation. A recruiter approached him about a position at Infragistics, a design and UX company.

Barry was enthusiastic about the company's marketing and technical focus, and a special perk at the office sealed the deal for him. Kombucha vending machine? Foosball machine? It was the pool table in the office and the inclusive culture it symbolized, according to Barry, who joined Infragistics three years ago as a senior content writer.

"It provides a unifying experience for all employees," he said. Before the pandemic, employees of all ages would gather around the pool table during lunch breaks to play, talk and get to know each other.

Barry, a 25-year tech veteran, describes himself as a "young boomer," making him a rarity in the industry.

5 REASONS TO HIRING OLDER WORKERS

• Extensive industry experience
• Knowledge of older products and services still in use
• General competence and experience in the workplace
• Ability to mentor younger employees
• Greater loyalty than some younger workers

Why hire older people?

Companies like Infragistics recognize the benefits of a multigenerational workforce, from Generation Z (oldest is 24 years old) to Millennials (25-40 years old) to Generation X (41-56 years old) and Boomers (57 years and older). A multi-generational workforce offers the strength of decades of experience, not to mention workplace insights and competencies.

"Diversity of any kind is especially beneficial for engineering teams, given the rapid pace of technology advancement over the past few decades," said Gene Linetsky. Linetsky is chief technology officer at fintech firm TrueAccord, where about 7 percent of the company's technical staff is older than 50.

"This means that older employees have seen some paradigm shifts, while younger employees are more familiar with the latest developments," he said.

"Skilled workers have the scar tissue and wisdom that can only come from making and correcting numerous mistakes over many years and companies," added Linetsky.

If the target audience of a product or service spans multiple generations, then it's just good business to have a cross-generational design and UX team. For example, a 20- or 30-year-old might specify a light yellow color in a design and think that the product looks and works well with that color.

"If you put the same product in front of someone in their 50s, they'll say, 'I can't imagine that,'" said Danielle Boris, founder of ConnectFor that supports the company in advancing equal opportunity and integration in their teams. "Such a person is invaluable for the creativity and innovation that comes from it," says Boris.

The truth about older workers

True or False: The experience of older workers means they want too much money and leave the job after just a few years.

In fact, more experienced workers are willing to work for less money, so much so that 21.1 percent of Boomers said they would quit their job if they were underpaid, compared to 35.5 percent of Gen Z workers a study by Ajilon. And older workers are staying with the company longer, an average of 10.1 years for workers ages 55 to 64, compared with 2.8 years for workers ages 25 to 34, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data.

"There is no upper limit to a person's ability to learn or contribute, or aptitude to learn".

Dan Ni, CEO of Messaged.com, an email marketing service for SaaS companies, agrees with the study. "All of my employees who are over 50 far outperform their younger peers," says Ni. "They have more experience and a work ethic that today's younger workers lack. They are familiar with situations that younger workers are not familiar with, their critical thinking is more advanced and their networking skills are stronger," he said.

Ni advocates an age-balanced workforce. "It gives you access to a more experienced and talented pool of people with a wide range of skills," he said.

NECI, a provider of industrial automation solutions and services, is hiring older workers for a practical reason: "The technologies and skills we are looking for are often difficult to find in people early in their careers because they just aren't getting on with the years have the experience needed for what we do," said Douglas Smiley, director of talent acquisition.

For example, knowledge of Delta V, a control system used by many of NECI's customers. "We can't send anyone (to our customers) who doesn't already have in-depth knowledge of this area," says Smiley.

MANAGEMENT TIPS FOR INTERGENERATIONAL WORKPLACES FROM DANIELLE BORIS OF CONNECTFOR

• Deliver company-wide training on new technologies, no matter how simple they may seem.
• Avoid jargon or acronyms unless you're 100 percent sure everyone understands what you're saying. Clarify the communication by spelling out acronyms, defining jargon, or using a simpler word.
• Be inclusive in the truest sense of the word. Include both generations in gatherings.
• Be mindful of activities outside of the office. An invitation for a drink after work could interfere with the care of an older parent, as well as that of a young parent who has to pick up their toddler from childcare.
• Be aware of your responsibilities. No kids or an empty nest doesn't mean you don't have responsibilities. "Everyone's life outside of work is important," said Boris. "Nobody should be expected to work longer hours or be more flexible just because they don't have children.
• Bridge cultural differences. An older worker may not know Billie Eilish, just as a younger worker may not know Billy Preston. The generations should at least get to know some of each other's pop culture references.

At Infragistics, the 150+ strong technical team has 39 senior employees, approximately half of whom are over and half under the age of 41 (the age at which federal law protects workers from age discrimination in the workplace). The age range in the team is from 30 to 65 years. "There is no upper limit to a person's ability to learn or contribute," said Dean Guida, founder and CEO of Infragistics. The team consists of both employees who have worked at Infragistics for years and new employees who are older.

Guida points out a difference between older and younger engineers: older designers are used to waterfall, a linear, methodical approach to projects, while younger ones tend towards agile, a more flexible, less linear approach. This benefits Infragistics in its work in Asia, where the waterfall approach is more prevalent, Guida said.

Content author David Barry knows what his experience means to Infragistics. "I bring a deep understanding of how to communicate about technology," he says. Aligns white papers, blogs, and other content with narratives that address customer issues or industry trends, and uses visuals to make content easy to understand; both strategies he says have increased audience engagement and retention. He also helps other writers and marketers improve their skills.

Barry sometimes feels old, which he attributes to the "phenomenal changes" in marketing and technology at Infragistics and across the industry.

"We're constantly innovating at Infragistics, and some of my younger colleagues are flying around like it's nothing," he says. "I'm chugging a bit, but I can do it. It just takes a bit more time and focus."

The Learning Curve

Another myth about older workers: They may or may not keep up with current technologies. Research shows that this is both true and untrue. Older people may learn more slowly than younger people, but "older" means 25 years, the age when the brain becomes less flexible, some research shows. Another detail: Older people can take longer to learn - if they neglect learning throughout their lives and allow those skills to stagnate. Adults who learn new skills throughout their lives can acquire new skills relatively quickly.

Others point out that the industry itself seeks out people willing to learn. "When you go into tech, you're not inherently afraid of new technology," says Barry Waldbaum, a software engineer at TrueAccord who describes himself as a member of Generation X. "If you're afraid of it, you should do something else," he said.

Still, at least one tech company has changed its hiring process to accommodate older workers. "They're the most qualified of all because they have the benefit of experience," said Tim Perry, vice president of engineering at CloudBolt, a provider of cloud management systems.

Previously, CloudBolt required applicants to complete a four to eight hour homework assignment to demonstrate their technical proficiency. We found that we were losing candidates and that was due to the "friction" that this approach introduced," Perry says. CloudBolt now uses the interview to present a live test case to applicants to see how to solve the problem.

"An applicant's thought process and ability to be imaginative in coming up with an answer is what matters most," Perry said.

"Our new approach seems to do this more quickly and accurately," he said, and all applicants, not just the older ones, seem more comfortable with the approach.

Support in the workplace

To support an intergenerational workforce, Avanade is launching an Intergenerational Employee Network at its Brazil office. In the group of 20 employees, the age ranges from under 21 to over 50 years. The combination of much younger and slightly older employees in a network "encourages the inclusion of the diversity of ideas and experiences to create value for our company and our customers," according to an Avanade spokesman.

Avanade's US offices have an intergenerational mentoring program that allows older and younger employees to learn from each other.

Dave Medd, 49, a senior vice president, and DeAnna Tipton, 30, a senior consultant, began mentoring each other in March 2021. Both have gained both insights and practical information from the conversations with the other.

Medd, for example, no longer thinks of "jerky" when she sees a resume that lists brief stints at different companies. "My generation tended to go to a big company and do what the company told them to do," Medd said. "Younger people want to specifically build their careers in an area that is close to their hearts." He is now looking for a common thread of skills, not necessarily years of experience in a company.

"My generation tended to go to a big company and do what the company told them to do. Younger people want to specifically build their careers in an area they are passionate about."

Tipton gained insight into the life of a senior executive and also learned to focus her extracurricular energy in the workplace on activities that will advance her career. For example, she was one of the first people to receive Databricks certification. "I'm honing my skills in this emerging technology," she says. "I look for ways to learn them and then I can teach them to others.

The two have also taught each other life skills. Both are trained pianists. Medd sits down at the keyboard to play away the stress of the day. Tipton is now doing the same instead of scrolling through social media to forget the worries of the day.

Medd is having more productive conversations with his teenage daughter -- and with people he cares for outside of the workplace -- about the future. "I'm a little more open to what she wants to do, what her passions are and where she wants to go," he said. "I see with DeAnna that if you follow a passion, it's entirely possible to have a career.

Both strongly recommend finding a mentor from another generation, even if it is not through a formal workplace program. "You can't be inclusive in this industry if you don't understand where the others are coming from," Tipton said. "Without the mentoring, our paths would not have crossed."