Teaching senior management to take younger colleagues seriously

Most companies realise the importance of diversity among employees and the necessity of letting in some fresh air if the company is to be innovative, modern and sustainable. Thus the ideal model for any company is a combination of experienced serious managers and younger, innovative and ambitious workers. However, it often happens that older colleagues do not take the younger ones seriously. What can be done about this and how to avoid such a situation or, if necessary, put an end to it?

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Set up a company culture based on innovation

The first step, according to HR Zone, is to establish a company policy based on innovation, change and new trends. If you do not try to be a modern company that moves with the times, you can hardly expect employees or senior managers to be ready to deal with suggestions for changes and improvement. Take measures to base your company culture on acceptance of change and seeking new solutions.

Take employees' suggestions seriously

Suggestions for innovations and improvement should be taken seriously by management, no matter from whom they come within the overall structure of the company. This approach cannot remain at the purely theoretical level, but should truly manifest itself in the specific everyday behaviour of both top brass and individual managers. Accept employees' opinions, discuss and implement them, and keep in mind that those in the front line often know best how things could be done differently.

Set up regular meetings of all parties

A good way to make older management take younger colleagues' suggestions seriously is to provide a suitable platform where these suggestions and ideas may be exchanged. Therefore you should start organising regular meetings of groups and individuals so they have to listen to each other. It is also good to assign individual projects to groups consisting of miscellaneous representatives of various age categories and seniority within the company, thus forcing individuals to cooperate with one another and come up with collective solutions.

 

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Article source HR Zone - British website focused on HR
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