Multiple Generations in the Modern Multinational Organisation and the Compelling Case for RecruitingTheir Individual Voices,Choicesand Spaces

Abstract

The modern-day multinational organisation is striving to stay ahead in a relentless pursuit of profit, if not survival, while meeting rising expectations of customers, shareholders and society. Faced with challenges on multiple flanks, leaders and line managers seek to unleash the full potential of their multigenerational workforce, more so in a post-COVID-19 era as the world resembles a group of islands rather than one global village, and people are re-examining their life journeys. Through a case study, this paper calls on leaders and managers of multinational organisations to resist the temptation of aggregated labels and intervene where intergenerational differences are perceived to create bias. For this purpose, a comprehensive assessment is recommended of the efficacy and sufficiency of programmes and policies taken to recruit the voices of individual employees, trusting each one to make empowered choices about work and life and respecting the three spaces that matter: ‘workspace, mind space, my space’.