When a 20-year-old works alongside a 60-year-old, it gives the organization strength

In the last decade, diversity has become the name of the game in the world of employment, with an emphasis on inclusion, accessibility and providing opportunities to as wide a range of employees as possible – not only when it comes to gender, ethnicity, religion, or sexual orientation, but also age.

“Today it is clear to everyone that more diversity is better,” says Orit Halamish, Director of Organizational Development and Global Learning at Sodastream. Irit Kishinovski, Vice President of Human Resources at Motorola Solutions, also presents a similar view and explains that “the difference between the perspectives and their combination gives the organization many strengths, because it gives it the ability to contain and take into account a wide range of perspectives, which encourages innovation and critical thinking.”

Alongside important areas such as gender and ethnic diversity, one of the important emphases of organizations and companies today is on age diversity and multi-generational diversity. “Each age brings with it different qualities,” explains Liat Shmueli Lichtenstein, VP of Human Resources at Direct Financing, “and the joint work of young people alongside adults is very fruitful for both parties.” “We see how diversity actually makes people to be together, to learn from each other,” adds Ella Babich, Deputy Director of Human Resources at the Migdal insurance company. “The older ones come with more experience and professionalism, and the younger ones come with more technology and progress.”

Age – what organizational culture does it lead to?

“Each generation brings with it its own advantages, and therefore employees of different ages bring the results and the most balanced organizational culture,” explains Halamish from Sodastream. “The young people bring with them a lot of passion and desire to learn, and the older ones bring with them stability and connection to the organization.”

“You can say that workers from the age of 35 and above are more stable,” says Shmueli Lichtenstein from Direct Finance. “They usually have families, a mortgage, etc., and their frenzy between organizations is lower. They are looking for a stable place that will allow them to develop professionally.” On the other hand, says Halamish from Sodastream, young workers put themselves in the center. “They treat their managers as mentors, and their workplace as a source of self-development and meaning.”

However, the joint work has a great impact on both the young and the old workers. Babich of Migdal says that since the Corona period, it is clearly seen that not only the older workers are seeking job stability – but also the younger workers. At the same time, the search for meaning in the workplace, which seems to mainly characterize the younger generation, permeates all employees. Keren Erez, Global Director of Employee Experience, Brand, Internal Communications and Global Human Resources at Sodastream says that “Today everyone is looking for meaning in their work. When Sodastream sent a delegation of workers to a refugee camp in Poland following the war in Ukraine, we saw that employees of all ages mobilized. The contribution to the community and the knowledge that you work for an active organization is significant today for everyone.”

“The search for meaning is increasing at all ages,” adds Shmueli Lichtenstein from direct financing. “That’s why we put an emphasis on contributing to the community and social activities throughout the year, such as volunteering with Holocaust survivors and joining the “make a wish” association for children with life-threatening diseases. The community activity contributes to the employees’ sense of belonging and their personal and organizational meaning.”

From bachelor-bachelorette parties to dental insurance for grandchildren

Alongside this, workers of different generations have different needs that must be taken into account, arising both from the differences in their family situation, and from the differences in their expectations from the workplace. “Most of our employees are in their late 30s, but because we have a variety of ages, to all ends, we take care of activities and benefits for employees and their families while taking into account the different needs of each generation,” says Babich from Migdal. Among those activities, she mentions formation days that include several performances – so that they will suit the taste of all employees, activities for children and grandchildren during the summer vacation alongside fun days for bats and bar mitzvahs and activities for recruits, and even evenings for bachelors and bachelorettes.

“We give gifts to employees according to their life cycle, from a wedding and the birth of children to the birth of grandchildren,” adds Kishinovsky from Motorola Solutions. “In addition, when we give gifts for the holiday, you can choose from a long list that includes gifts for both 20-year-olds and 60-year-olds, from gadgets to things for children and the home. We also provide dental insurance that can include the grandchildren, because we understand that our older employees want to provide their family with as much welfare as possible.”

“We take care of the needs of our employees at every age and at every stage of life,” adds Shmueli Lichtenstein from Direct Finance. “We have many benefits for parents, such as an additional two days of vacation per year for parents of children up to the age of 12, summer camp subsidies, additional sick days and even an extra half hour of breastfeeding. Recently, the company also established a special club for female employees on maternity leave, which includes special meetings and workshops, and we also have assistance for women in fertility treatments.”

Consideration for women of different ages can also be found at the Sodastream company, where recently they began to emphasize the topic of menopause and the physiological and mental changes it brings with it. “There are a lot of menopausal women who think there is something wrong with them, because there is not enough awareness of the issue,” says Erez from Sodastream. “We wanted to give our workers the set of tools required to deal with this stage in life. As part of a new program called ‘Pause’, we gave our workers two days to talk to experts about menopause, and we also prepared the managers for the changes that the workers go through.”