Graduating classes have been called the “lost generation.” Young professionals have been told they will suffer career and economic scarring for the rest of their lives. Employers have been told all their younger staff are going to quit and all their older staff are going to retire. We’ve also been witness to irreversible climate degradation and shocking social injustices.

It’s easy to be overwhelmed by these doomsday messages.

We want to flip discussions to focus on trust and courage across generations and work experiences.

In the summer of 2022, Challenge Factory conducted a series of focus groups with three cohorts from today’s workforce: early career professionals, executive-level leaders, and older professionals.

Our goal was to take their pulse to see what challenges are looming large for these three cohorts, as well as where their mindsets were at as we transitioned into yet another new phase of pandemic experience. Above all, we set out to connect with members of our community in an exploration of the growth and development that has occurred during the challenging years of the pandemic.

Explore the following profiles of three intergenerational perspectives—in their own voices—on pandemic work, challenges, and change. Think about what you’re noticing in the trends that emerge between them. Then, take a look at what we noticed. What lens did we bring that you didn’t consider? What lens do you bring that is different and unique?

Early career professionals

1. Pandemic change: We’re optimistic about the changes to work that the pandemic brought. We never had work experiences before the pandemic, so we don’t feel any sense of loss or make comparisons to pre-pandemic work.

2. Seeing the end of crisis: We dealt with our experience of pandemic crisis, and tried to move through it, by intentionally seeking out and finding community.

3. Work expectations and employee engagement: We expect employers to provide clear direction while being empathetic, supportive, and flexible. We want to be treated as individuals, not as numbers or cogs in a machine. We feel we’re expected to be available around the clock, especially while working remotely. We want work-life balance and the right to disconnect. We know that high performance is expected of us, and we’re eager to learn and do a good job. It’s demoralizing when we’re given “busy work” that feels meaningless.

4. Connection and community: We crave socialization at work. We’re aware of ableism and other forms of discrimination, and we want to work for organizations that strive to build more inclusive workplaces.

5. Most urgent question: How can we continue to work remotely without missing out on networking opportunities?

6. Biggest need: We need clarity on workday structure and socialization.

Executive-level leaders

1. Pandemic change: We’re thinking more tactically and operationally because it became impossible to plan for the long-term. All our plans take a six-month to one-year time horizon. We have so many concerns, but we’re also looking to capitalize on opportunity. We’ve become adept at reacting and responding to rapid change.

2. Seeing the end of crisis: We know that we’ve reached the end of crisis when we begin planning for the long-term again. On a day-to-day basis, we see the end when we have moments to actually stop and think, as well as to delegate again instead of having to make crisis management decisions.

3. Work expectations and employee engagement: Retention and engagement challenges have changed because priorities have shifted—not at a generational level, but at an individual level. We know providing support to our team members is very individualized, but it has also become more difficult in a virtual world to build relationships so we can see the cues when someone is struggling. The pandemic created more thirst for vision and direction, as well as an acknowledgment that this has always been a core expectation of the relationship between leaders and their teams.

4. Connection and community: We’ve felt the loss of one-to-one connections. There is a new virtual guardedness because of screens and the need to schedule time together. At the same time, there has been a big shift to more authentic leadership and intentionally letting guards down. It’s now okay to connect and share in ways that weren’t as common before the pandemic.

5. Most urgent question: Where do we go from here, and are the needs of our intergenerational workforce compatible with our business needs?

6. Biggest need: We need clarity on hybrid work and the ideal work model.

Older professionals

1. Pandemic change: The pandemic has been both a welcome challenge and a crisis of regression. Change accelerated, and our years of experience became more important than ever. We felt a sense of responsibility to help solve the new problems facing our organizations, whether or not we wanted to be doing certain types of work. We also felt a bit guilty or awkward when we thrived by pivoting into new endeavours, while so many others were facing calamity.

2. Seeing the end of crisis: Coming together through shared purpose, action, and decision-making is how we will come out of the cycle of continuous work-related crises.

3. Work expectations and employee engagement: Retention and engagement challenges have changed because worker expectations have changed—especially those of younger workers. Being able to manage expectations (about work, working relationships, what success means, what’s possible, etc.) has become more important.

4. Connection and community: It was impressive how quickly our industries rallied to get everyone online. That has created new, valuable connections and opportunities for both business and community. There’s also a renewed sense that meeting in person remains important for building shared purpose and belonging.

5. Most urgent question: Where do I go from here? How can I make sure my colleagues and networks won’t forget about me?

6. Biggest need: We need clarity on hybrid work and shifting intergenerational expectations.

What we noticed about the intergenerational perspectives

1. Pandemic change

Early career and older professionals express a sense of moving forward with optimism and focus on the future, while executive-level leaders remain concerned about tactical and operational details.

Next step: Consider how to harness the perspectives and optimism of younger and older workers in ways that help executives identify opportunities they want to capitalize on, but often don’t have the time or capacity to address. One powerful tool is intergenerational triads.

2. Seeing the end of crisis

Early career and older professionals talk about the importance of community and coming together. Early career professionals relied on these opportunities to navigate through the thick of the pandemic, while older professionals see them as indicators that we are moving on from the pandemic (as it relates to work). Community engagement and fostering intentional relationships matter to these groups.

Executive-level leaders struggle to see beyond day-to-day or short-term challenges, although they look forward to being able to consider bold or longer-term initiatives. Current economic, supply chain, staffing, and other challenges are maintaining feelings of crisis.

Next step: Identify how early career and older professionals can foster community without it being an executive-led activity.

3. Work expectations and employee engagement

Expectations surrounding work have changed for everyone, with a recognition that leaders need to address career management at an individual level for staff while also maintaining organizational standards.

Both early career and older professionals have recognized in new ways the importance they place on having meaningful work.

Next step: Create new career management rituals using tools from Retain and Gain to help staff of all ages and career stages connect  deeply with what they find meaningful about their work.

4. Connection and community

The pandemic heightened everyone’s need to be “more human,” at the same time that the ability to socialize or meet together decreased.

Being part of the “rally and response” to the crisis initially energized older professionals. Now, they believe that the learnings from these past few years should be incorporated into a new focus on fostering shared purpose.

Early career professionals see the tension that exists in efforts to balance the benefits of 1) in-person social opportunities, and 2) the inclusiveness of online events.

Next step: Capture this moment and identify the core values you want to maintain as part of being a more human workplace. Use these values to guide how you identify and offer in-person and remote networking opportunities.

5. Most urgent question

Early career and older professionals are both worried about losing (or not establishing) connections, with network relationships featuring prominently.

Everyone, including early career professionals, wonder what younger workers want. This is always true of the most recent generation to enter the world of work as they are adapting to new cultures and life stages. Opportunities to explore and test drive different ways of working would be valuable.

Next step: Consider how you might reset relationships, networks, and informal ties within your organization. Challenge Factory’s Leadership Reset workshop might be a good first step.

6. Biggest need

Everyone agrees that both individuals and organizations don’t understand, practically or operationally, what hybrid means for them and how to do it.

Next step: Determine what you mean by wanting clarity on “hybrid.” Is it really about work hours, schedules, and locations? Or are these issues serving as a proxy for other workforce and workplace challenges that you are facing (or are afraid to face). Spend 10 minutes writing continuously (without lifting your pen) in response to this prompt: “I wish I knew…”

Examine what surfaces as concrete risks (to your decision-making, organization, or career), and what is tied to emotion. Focus on writing what matters to you, rather than reading about what matters to other people.