FTI Experts’ Hub: Office Management Strategies for Multigenerational Teams

Rob Raymond, Managing Director, FTI Consulting. Image courtesy of FTI Consulting

Managing workplaces for the generational divide is more challenging than ever. Younger employees feel like they don’t need to be in the office to be productive, while older generations tend to stick to what they’ve known for years: going to the office for work. How can team managers lead when their workforce has such different views? And what does all this mean for office landlords?

Most companies are still pondering their optimal office footprint, particularly as a growing number of Gen Zers enter the workforce. They are known as huge supporters of not only flexible work, but also flexible office hours. When they choose to come into the office, they expect to see a productivity-boosting, fully amenitized space that offers them exposure to leadership and the possibility to easily interact with their peers.

FTI Consulting Managing Director Rob Raymond noticed that younger companies and startups with younger workforces tend to have smaller, agile office spaces, while the older companies desire the traditional office space, closer to what we knew before the pandemic. But when multiple generations work under the same roof, leaders have a hard time catering to all their different needs. In the latest episode of FTI Experts’ Hub—our quarterly podcast series with FTI Consulting specialists—Raymond told Commercial Property Executive Senior Editor Laura Calugar that empathy is key when managing a multi-generational workforce.

Here’s what else they talked about:

• Top 3 challenges when leading multi-generational teams today (0:52)
• Is customizing benefits offerings to core demographics a good idea? (1:42)
• Managing office space today (2:26)
• Attracting the younger workforce to the office (3:32)
• How Gen Z perceives the office environment (4:51)
• Employee loyalty and turnover (8:10)
• How employers can show Gen Zers they appreciate them (10:06)
• Adapting management styles to motivate each generation (11:07)
• How the younger generations will reshape the workplace and its purpose in the future of work (13:12)
• Office footprints and the brewing recession (15:17)