„Perennial plants”, i.e. perennial plants, cope well in harsh and difficult climatic conditions, and every year they become more durable, larger and more resistant to change. Perennials are characterized by the same characteristics, and it is these employees who are an invaluable, although often underestimated component of many organizations.

Gina Pell was the first to describe this group. The entrepreneur noticed that these are eternally flourishing and open to development people of different ages, curious about the world around them. Perennials can therefore be called dynamic, creative and passionate people. These are all those who go beyond stereotypes and do not allow their generation to define themselves. They follow current events, are up to date with technology and at every step they are looking for space to acquire knowledge and use their skills.

Due to such a set of characteristics, perennials are extremely effective workers. A meta-analysis of research on engagement found that almost 50% of it is dependent on personality traits. A correlation was also noted, in which conscientious, sociable and optimistic employees show greater commitment, proactivity and enthusiasm at work. This means that organizations employing perennials, and taking into account their needs when designing L&D (human resource development) activities, can count on increased profits, a higher level of employee well-being, as well as better productivity at work.

Modern career paths have become much more dynamic and complex, and these changes affect virtually every generation. The reasons for this state of affairs are ubiquitous digitization, the high pace of economic change, as well as the prolonged period of professional activity. Employees over the age of 65 are the fastest growing age group and are increasingly willing to change their career plans, retrain or open new businesses. On the other hand, we have more and more managers aged 20-30 who are selected for their positions due to their high potential and effectiveness. Currently, no one is surprised by the situation in which a young manager manages a team of specialists who are definitely more years old than him.

A study initiated by the World Economic Forum found that 68% of companies consciously form multi-generational teams to fully exploit the collaborative potential of multiple age groups. However, according to the Deloitte survey, only 6% of respondents agreed with the statement that their managers are prepared to effectively manage such teams. Despite the diverse work environment, employees want to be perceived individually, taking into account their individual talents and the contribution they make to the operation of the organization. However, many companies still look at employees through the prism of demographic data m.in century.

The Deloitte Global Human Capital Trends 2020 report shows that shaping talent development strategies in organizations is still largely based on generational differences and data on demographics m.in age, gender, seniority. Much less often in planning L&D activities, segmentation based on individual behavior or the presented attitude is used. At the same time, a large proportion of respondents believe that collecting such data would be effective, because with the changing profile of modern employees, generational differences may not be a sufficient point of reference.

42% of respondents agreed with the statement that segmentation based on behavior, e.g. whether a given employee is a specialist or manager, will be the most important determinant over the next three years. However, only 27% of people admitted that their organizations classify employees according to this criterion. The issue of collecting data on the individual characteristics of employees is similar. 41% of respondents believe that development paths adapted to aspects such as introversion, extroversion or the ability to work in a group will be extremely important in the next three years. Meanwhile, only 22% of organizations use this type of approach.

An analysis of the changes that have awaited companies during the pandemic has shown that the differences between generations in companies are not as obvious as it may seem. It turned out that between employees from different age groups, there are no significant differences in the ability to adapt to new technological tools. The percentage of people reporting difficulties in this area is constant for each age group. Another conclusion of the analysis is the fact that younger employees were more likely to report difficulties in general adaptation to change than employees aged 60+. This may mean that with age the ability to adapt to new conditions increases – just like in the case of a „perennial plant”.

The phrase „ever-flourishing” used in the definition of perennials means that it is a group of people of all ages, so that it cannot be defined solely by generational categories. They share a proactive attitude, curiosity and a high level of commitment. That is why, in order to develop the competences and skills of perennials, L&D specialists should go beyond the age criterion. Much more attention should be paid to the behaviors, values and attitudes presented by employees and it is on the basis of this data that talent development paths in the organization are designed.

In addition to meticulous collection of data on individual characteristics, values and needs of employees, it is also necessary to take care of the model of knowledge management and development activities in the organization. The answer to the constant hunger for knowledge of perennials may be a development platform, with the help of which they will be able to constantly improve their competences at a convenient time. Thanks to individual development paths with different forms of learning – short (videos or one pagers) and long (e-learning), employees can expand their knowledge, even in areas that are not directly related to their position, but contribute to greater effectiveness.

Another way to support perennials is to pose new challenges to them, which will be the driving force for their development. In this way, we can benefit from their involvement while giving them space to take on new roles in the organization. It is a good practice to invite active and willing people to share their knowledge and feedback with other employees. In this way, their experience and working methods will be disseminated throughout the organization, which will stimulate curiosity and motivate colleagues.

Source: https://hcmdeck.com/blog/perennialsi-kim-sa-dlaczego-ich-potrzebujemy/

Projekt otrzymał dofinansowanie z Norwegii poprzez Fundusze Norweskie 2014-2021, w ramach programu „Dialog społeczny – godna praca”.