Why foster intergenerational triads?
Workplace Architecture is a digital magazine and research exchange produced by Challenge Factory that explores the structural underpinnings of workplace culture and strategy. The Fall/Winter 2022 issue, released this week, focuses on ageism in the workplace. This is an excerpt from one of the pieces featured in the magazine.
To learn more about intergenerational triads, you can download the full issue of Workplace Architecture, Fall/Winter 2022: Flippin’ Ageism.
Intergenerational triads are groupings of three people of different ages who come together around shared values. They are an approach to workplace interaction, teamwork and collaboration that elevates the culture of organizations.
More than a decade ago, Dave Logan and John King recognized how specific types of relationships and networks function in healthy organizations. They identified the personal benefits that individuals reap in their careers and personal lives when they have meaningful, lasting relationships with others that are built on groupings of three.
Forming intergenerational triads of people who may or may not work on the same team or in the same department fosters stronger knowledge translation, deeper career supports and richer cultures of innovation. Today, more than ever, they can also be used to re-establish relationships among staff who work closely together but actually know little about each other. They can help everyone who lost the opportunity for spontaneous sponsorship and mentorship during the pandemic.
What makes intergenerational triads strong?
Triads don’t have to consist of people of different ages. They are powerful for any three people, but they are especially powerful for groupings that have different backgrounds, worldviews and experiences.
New employees bring curiosity and experiences (whether from previous workplaces or education) that can challenge organizations to grow and change. At the same time, they often need help understanding cultural norms and the best way to get things done.
Mid-career employees understand how their organization works and are in a position to help others as a mentor, while also looking ahead at their own next steps. They are often in roles where they can get things done and advocate for change, but are short on time and resources as they balance mid-life challenges and expectations.
Later-career employees seek ways for what they know and have learned to be meaningful to others. They are often starting to imagine what comes next in their life and career, and may not be certain what they want or what’s possible. Many benefit from trusted relationships that challenge them to think differently about what might be possible or where opportunities might exist.
Having relationships with people who are older and younger than ourselves has been shown to reduce isolation that each cohort experiences for different reasons. It can also be a powerful way to explore a diversity of ideas, experiences and expectations. This helps break down ageist biases that are both self-directed (at oneself) and imposed by other people and institutional norms.
Employee recruitment, leadership development and succession planning are often treated as standalone activities, with resources prioritized to one activity or another depending on immediate business needs. Intergenerational triads allow organizations to focus on the entire lifecycle of careers within their organization all at the same time, signalling to employees that everyone is important and vital to the future of the organization.
How do intergenerational triads shift culture and break down ageism?
In 2016, Challenge Factory worked with a very forward-thinking organization that knew more than 50 per cent of its experienced employees would become eligible to retire within 10 years. In this organization, due to long business cycles, it typically took 15 years for someone to become an “expert” in their job. They had run out of time to bring new people into the organization who would become experts in time for the coming retirement departures.
We helped this organization implement intergenerational triads at the core of its new career programs for all employees. New employees brought external, industry and academic ideas to their triad. Mid-career staff both provided and received mentorship. Older employees were inspired and supported to rethink the next stage of their work life in ways that maintained ties to the organization. Most importantly, employees got to know each other in more meaningful ways. From these triadic relationships, new networks formed, engagement increased, productivity was enhanced and the culture of the organization shifted.
Lastly, the emotional connection and understanding that form between members of intergenerational triads created space for ageist biases to break down. These biases are both internal (directed by individuals at themselves) and external (institutionally imposed on individuals by systems and structures). Prejudice builds in the gaps — the unknown and the silence — between strangers. Intergenerational triads go a long way to closing those gaps.