Letting younger employees take the lead

BE honest. If you were in charge of governing innovation in a bank, who would you entrust the leadership of innovation to: "the old guard" who seek and strive for stability, security and predictability or the younger "fintech trailblazers" who can help to combat the big bang disruptors that enjoy a huge advantage over corporations that have yet to install customer-centric, digital service channels? A smart answer may sound like this: "Well, it depends - ideally both groups should work together for the benefit of the organisation."

Unfortunately, common sense is not always commonly practised in business despite the trend of a rapidly ageing population with a shrinking workforce. As a result of shifting age demographics, many companies employ members of four to five different "generations". This rather imprecise term refers to groups of people categorised as belonging to a particular age cohort and who have lived during significant socio-historical events: Millennials/ Generation Y are born roughly between 1981 and 1994; Generation X are generally born between 1965 and 1980; Baby Boomers born from 1946 to 1964. Then we have Traditionalists, born between 1930 and 1945; and the Silent Generation, those born between 1900 and 1929. The last two groups may include those who have been re-employed by their employers. Add the Facebook generation born after 1994 (the so-called Linksters), and the list is complete.

Innovation potential