Companies are scrambling to ensure millions of younger managers from the so-called millennials generation, or Gen Y - those born from roughly 1981 to 1997 - are ready to step into leadership roles as Baby Boomers bow out of the workforce.
In the US, about 10,000 Baby Boomers reach retirement age every day. “Many large, older companies are caught up in a tsunami of Baby Boomers retiring and are unaware of how much tribal knowledge they are taking with them,” says Dorothy Leonard, professor emeritus at Harvard Business School.
Until last year, boomers made up the largest portion of the population, and Generation X represented the biggest share of the workforce. Now millennials/Gen. Y lead in both categories according to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data.
To prepare for the generational change many organisations are using educational training and mentorships to help bridge the generation gap. They want their leaders to function more as coaches. While other organisations have a so-called ‘onboarding program’ to help new executives adapt to the corporate culture and learn from senior executives.
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Reference: BusinessWeek, January 25, 2016
