A new year post from our MD, Rob Petersen
As we enter a new year, I was fascinated to read an article in The Times recently about the trends in hybrid working and how the different generations (i.e. Millennials, born between 1980-1994, Generation Z, born between 1995-2015, and Baby Boomers, born between 1946-1964) are adapting.
As a Baby Boomer myself (although a few of my friends cannot believe my age) I was amazed to see that this generation is still very much in the game.
In Britain, the number of over 70s in full or part-time employment has more than doubled to almost half a million since 2009, and the post-pandemic period has seen a trend of older people returning to the workplace, the so-called “great unretirement’’.
Stats show that this generation has been through many technological revolutions and recessions yet another change does not faze them. They take fewer sick days and show stronger problem-solving skills at work than younger colleagues.
Each of the generations brings its own unique advantages to the workplace and offers great value to any employer wanting to recruit, train and keep staff.
What is clear to me is that the balance between working at home while saving on commuting costs and time travelling for the younger generations needs to be balanced with the importance of the older generations (i.e. Baby Boomers) passing on their interpersonal and social skills.
With years of lockdowns and work from home policies, younger generations might have spent months or even years studying and working via computers and missing out on acquiring the kind of life skills that any person in business needs to be successful.
Over the years it has been one of my greatest pleasures to bring young graduates into my various businesses and to see how they have learned from me and other older colleagues and become successful in their careers.
Many of my former employees have gone on to run businesses of their own and some have progressed to very senior positions in large organisations across the globe. What I love is that most still appreciate the start with me and are happy to meet to remember the great times we had while working 100% as a team.
Let us hope that 2023 gives lots of opportunities for the younger generations to learn from other Baby Boomers like me and help to create a happy, successful business environment, which is so important for our economic growth and personal well-being.