Do our cultural orientations
allow this?
Do adults know better?
 |
| https://pixabay.com/en/photos/ |
My 25+ years of working
experience means that in my office I have team members who are in the age range
of 21 years upwards. I am living in an era where many things have changed – for
example the growth and use of technology, the diversity of people working in
organisations and the generally different terrain of today’s work place.
A growing number of Africans are
living and working in other African countries. People from varying religious
backgrounds are working together in teams. People with different belief systems
and experiences find themselves having to collaborate at work places. The
workers are also becoming younger and younger in most organisations.
I am interested in how we can tap
into this diversity for knowledge transfer, learning from each other,
mentoring, coaching and promoting innovative ways of working.
I worked as a computer programmer
in the 90s and early 2000s. I then became a manager of technical teams. I know
that I have much to learn from the young people concerning the current tools
and platforms that are being used for example by systems developers/programmers
in this new age. I admit that young people know certain things that I do not
know.
My experience of working in some
countries in Africa is that the young people’s voices cannot be easily heard in
organizations. The older people have the final say. The young people will not
speak up and oppose the views of an adult. I find that this suffocates
learning, collaboration and knowledge transfer.
How I learn from young people
- I established ‘Tuesday Meetings’ where the department meets to share. The golden
rule is that everyone’s views matter.
- We
hold joint learning sessions. This is based on an agreed area of joint
learning. Young people get the opportunity to research and present as a method
of joint learning.
- I
assign young people to solve real organisational problems. This is of course
done under supervision, but they lead the process.
Advantages of having young people in the work place
- They
have more energy and zeal
- They
are technology-savvy
- They
have new ideas. With guidance some of these ideas could benefit organisations
- They
quickly adapt to new environments
What the older people bring to the work place
- Older
people bring valuable experience. Nothing beats experience. But experience must
not come in the way of new thinking
- They
know people and have networks associated with their profession
- Loyalty
– the young could benefit from this
- Have
more organisational skills
We can benefit from understanding
the value that young people and other diverse groups can bring to the
organisations. If diverse teams are properly nurtured – this can result in
organisations that easily ‘learn’, ‘adapt’ and anticipate new directions to
take.
Thank you for reading my article.
What has been your experience as a young person in an organisational setting?
What has been your experience if you are an older person? Do our cultural orientations
promote learning from the youth?
