BRIDGING THE GAP
Margot Andersen
“OUR STRENGTH LIES IN OUR DIFFERENCES,
NOT IN OUR SIMILARITIES”
-STEPHEN R. COVEY
N
ext year marks the year that
the iGeneration (the generation
post ‘Gen-Y’ who were born
1997 and later) start university. Whilst
for many of us our immediate question
is where did the last 10 or even 20
years disappear to, it also highlights
the reality that we are about to enter
one of the most interesting times in our
workforce history.
It will be the first time that will see
five generations working side by side.
Or to put it another way, it is the
first time that we could see people
working with those young enough to
be their grandchildren or even great
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GLOSS JULY 2015
grandchildren. Coupled with the ever
growing global nature of our markets
and there is no doubt that diversity
is not just our reality but also the hot
leadership issue of the day.
As well as seeing a more generationally
diverse workforce, we are about to
see the greatest representation of this
workforce sitting in the youngest two
groups. The Harvard Business Review
suggests that Gen Y and iGen will
make up 46% of the entire workforce
in the next two years and by 2025 they
will represent 75%.
Bringing together such multi-