The Different Needs of Employees According to their Age and Experience
Researchers from the Yale School of Management find that employees have differing working preferences, which corresponds to their age and gender. For instance, you might find the gang over at Rexoriginals.com to be younger, fueled by coffee and a high-energy, fast-paced environment, while at a more traditional, corporate setup with lots of senior heads the mood would be totally different. There are two aspects to their differences: the activity a person wants to do, and how much time they can devote to that activity.
It’s important to note that the activities and the duration of the activities differ for each employee. Most employees, however, have what we call activities that are suitable for short-term assignments. For example, employees who are newer or low in seniority may only have specific functions to perform on a daily basis, such as making photocopies. Meanwhile, an employee who is more senior may be interested in more career-development opportunities, such as being able to mentor a less experienced colleague.
Of course, working a typical full-time job may seem like quite an effort for someone with a relatively low level of expertise. But let’s assume that the working environment is good and it’s possible for the employee to have full-time assignments with varying duties.
If the employee is willing and able to perform the tasks, they can have unlimited time to work and, according to the researchers, the shorter the time, the better.
If, however, the tasks are extremely time consuming or demanding, then the employee will not be able to do much. They may have to work very short-term assignments and spend most of their time commuting to work.
Once you have the employee’s characteristics in mind, it’s important to put their desires in the context of their working experience. You can then decide what sort of assignments the employee would want to do if the job was permanently available.
The Benefits of Employees Feeling More Responsible
People generally like feeling responsible and, according to the researchers, having limited working time can encourage responsibility.
If the employee does not have full-time assignments, it’s likely that they will only be responsible for working on tasks that they can do within the time they have, such as occasional meetings, studying for classes, or editing documents. These tasks will not put them in a position where they feel responsible for others.
So, if the employee only has limited working time, it is likely that the tasks will be relatively simple.
When the employee is more senior, however, the assignments are likely to be more demanding. The employee will be responsible for more significant assignments. That way, the employee can feel more responsible for the work done. It would also be great to consider the peripheral services offered as part of their employee packages, like how a medical insurance plan for the senior staff could incorporate something like coverage specifically for senior foot care.
However, as the researcher point out, it is difficult to put in place incentives that will encourage employees to spend more time at the office. The youngest of the employees could be thinking about nothing other than the fastest crossbow they can buy with their next salary, during a time when they could rather be more productive had they not had to idle some time away.
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