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January 2025
Ella Jaczynska
How many different working-age generations do you have at your workplace and how does your coaching programme meet their needs?
We are currently in an unprecedented position where the working demographic can span up to five different generations. (Silent Traditionalists, Baby Boomers, Gen X, Millennials, Gen Z)
Whilst the Millennials make up the largest proportion of the UK workforce, it’s important to recognise that Generation X (born between 1965 and 1980) make up a third of the UK workforce. Crucially, they make up over half of all managers.
Is Gen X Overlooked?
But think about how many articles, books or thought pieces you’ve read recently on “Tackling Millennial job-hopping”, “Tips for supporting Millennial career progression”, or “How to ensure retention of your Millennial cohort”.
The spotlight certainly seems to shine more brightly on this group, but have you stopped to think about how much focus is given to the older age bracket? Do your 45+ aged employees feel “seen”? What coaching opportunities are there for Gen X in your organisation to support their learning and development?
The Silent Workhorse
The characteristics of this generation of self-reliance and independence can translate into an understated presence that is less vocal than that of their Millennial counterparts. This can be damaging to their career prospects. A PeopleScout survey revealed that 79% of Gen X employees feel neglected at work and are overshadowed by both younger and older colleagues.
As the demographic make-up of a workplace shifts and changes, it’s really important to recognise that your employee’s profile and identity should undergo similar development and adaptations.
It’s possible that the development of their profile and identity may happen organically, but it is important that managers have regular further development conversations with their Gen X staff members. It may be that the individual isn’t sure how they want their profile to evolve or quite what their identity now is. It is here that some guided coaching can be very beneficial. Some targeted, bite-sized facilitated experiential workshops will likely ensure that this profile progression happens in a structured, meaningful way.
Nurturing Multi-Generational Flexibility
Generation X is typically a resourceful and adaptable cohort. The benefit of this is that they are keen to take proactive action to develop their profile within an organisation. They are likely to place a high value on authenticity and professional development. Provision for learning and development should be mindful of these values.
We work closely with all age brackets, and our experience shows that punchy, “bite-sized” coaching packages or learning workshops are really well-received by this particular demographic.
An example of some coaching areas that we work with Gen X-ers on are:
- How to behave, interact and manage in a multigenerational workforce. For example, managing tension points, reducing misunderstandings of different behaviours and expectations, and managing different communication styles.
- Understanding how the workplace has evolved now. How do they want to adapt and set themselves up for success going forward?
- How to be recognised for the value they add.
- Increasing their belonging at work.
- What does a flourishing environment need to be for them and their teams.
- Managing stress – research shows that Gen X has the highest levels of stress and needs help on how to manage it, articulate their needs, and manage the impact stress can have on others around them.
How are you approaching learning and development for this age bracket? If you’ve found this post interesting, subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more. Or check out our coaching page or follow us on LinkedIn.