Diversity and inclusion have been steadily gaining traction in corporate India in recent years. Much of this is centered on gender diversity, and companies are beginning to realize the business imperative of hiring women and creating an equitable work environment. But there is another aspect that human resource managers in India need to wake up to: The importance of effectively managing a multigenerational workforce.
One may argue that organizations across the world have always had to manage a multigenerational workforce. While that is true, India’s demographics are creating some unique challenges. Even as the world is graying, India is getting younger. By 2020, the average Indian will be only 29 years of age compared with 37 in China and the U.S., 45 in Western Europe and 48 in Japan. Currently, more than half of India’s population is less than 25 years of age.
Given India’s population of over a billion, these make for very large numbers. What’s more, this large pool of new workers comes with a mindset very different from that of the earlier generations. Experts note that this difference between generations is far more striking in India than elsewhere because of the country’s rapid pace of liberalization and increasing globalization since the 1990s. India has also leapfrogged through tremendous advances in technology, including the adoption of mobile phones, the Internet and social media.
Adding to the Complexity
“India has gone through more changes in the past 20 years than most countries witness over a century,” says Amit K. Nandkeolyar, assistant professor of organizational behavior at the Indian School of Business. Pointing to India’s vast socio-economic and cultural diversity, Nandkeolyar adds: “Employees come from different regions, religions, linguistic traditions, castes, communities, culinary tastes, races and genders. A generational difference adds another layer of complexity. This creates a workforce that can find itself divided in more ways than comparable workforces in most countries.”
Vishalli Dongrie, senior director at consulting and services firm Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu India, notes: “The current generation in India entering the workforce has seen abundance in options and affluence early in life. They are also more independent and more aware of global opportunities. This is reflected in the decreasing loyalty toward their employers and the increasing focus on short-term goals. Globally, the shift has not been so pronounced.”
Puja Kohli, an independent human resources consultant, points to another aspect: The dissonance between the home environment and the workplace. Kohli observes that parents in India have become far more open to including their children in decision making — what kind of house to live in, what make of car to buy, where to go on a holiday and so on — but the workplace continues to be in a “plan, control and review” mode. “This results in conflict and disengagement at the workplace,” says Kohli.
Last year, Kohli conducted a study titled, “Managing in a Multigenerational Workplace,” in collaboration with the National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom). The objective of this study was to understand the competencies needed to manage millennials in the information technology/information technology enabled services (IT/ITeS) sector, which is among the largest recruiters of youth in India. More than 60% of the employees in this sector are less than 30 years of age.
Raed more on: http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/indias-new-hr-challenge-managing-multigenerational-workforce/
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