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As Generation Z employees occupy a higher proportion of jobs and older workers retire in later agesorOnboarding is a challenge for tech heads. Generational differences can lead to different comfort levels with technology, with AI often acting as an accelerator.
CIOs are looking to help all workers adapt to new tools, using friends and coaches and maintaining a diverse set of training modules, whether virtual, face-to-face, or a combination of the two.
The goal is to help workers benefit from the strengths of their counterparts, regardless of age.
The cyber security assessment firm Schellman learned some lessons about technology adoption while upgrading its case management system from legacy software developed more than seven years ago. The company switched from a legacy “walled garden” list-based system to a more flexible platform-based architecture. The upgrade meant bridging the labor generation gaps.
Younger workers who can seamlessly switch between different technology platforms in their personal lives may feel more comfortable with an ecosystem-based approach where multiple software tools connect to each other. They may be frustrated with an old system that they feel is too restrictive.
Conversely, older workers accustomed to having all their information in one place may have trouble using a platform that requires them to navigate through multiple tools arranged in a non-linear fashion, he said. Schellman CIO Christopher Kouzios.
“Younger workers might say, ‘Can you add more features?'” he said Kouzios. “People who are used to the older platform might say, ‘Why is there stuff all over the place?’ I had a routine, and now my routine has changed’”.
Resistance to change
Xavier Rebeuf, director of product and technology at Paris-based banking software company SBS, said the company wants all of its developers to use technology to conduct API testing. Adoption has lagged for some workers over 40 who are used to delegating manual testing tasks, he said.
SBS uses two types of technology to perform testing, including the open source tool k6and a generative AI testing tool, Rebeuf he said
Some older workers “just want to specify the test and delegate it to someone else to run it, which is not the pattern we want to use right now,” Rebeuf said. “There’s a learning curve to understanding how to code it.” k6according to Rebeuf. Older workers have also expressed trust concerns related to the generative AI testing tool.
Other companies also report that older workers may be wary of AI and therefore less likely to adopt it compared to their younger counterparts. For example, software company Pegasystems recently launched a contract summarization AI tool. Seasoned employees used to researching contracts without assistance gave the tool a lukewarm reception.
“They’re just used to doing things a certain way. Maybe they’re doing all the research on their own, summarizing it, and then making decisions,” Pegasystems said. CIO David Vidoni. “They’re warming up, but I think it just comes with not trusting [it].”
Training older workers in new technologies is especially important because fluid learning skills, which allow people to acquire new skills without prior context, can decline with age, he said. Stefan Tams, professor in the information technology department at HEC Montréal.
The advantage older workers have over their younger colleagues, however, is more crystallized intelligence, or skills and knowledge gained through experience, Tams said. Both should be weighed as companies approach technology adoption and learning strategies for employees, he said.
Reverse tutoring
Companies have come up with a number of learning approaches to encourage technology adoption across age categories. One way is through a “buddy” system, where older workers are matched with younger ones.
This approach allows older workers to benefit from younger colleagues’ fluency with technical tools, while younger workers can benefit from the experience of older colleagues as they seek to gain more value from workplace tools, Kouzios said.
Schellman offers technology training modules that combine face-to-face and virtual instruction, as older workers tend to prefer traditional classroom instruction, while their younger counterparts may be more willing to use virtual self-service tools.
In addition, the company pairs embedded employees with workers familiar with important technologies, Kouzios said.
“Bridging the gap is Gen X,” he said, noting that many fellow volunteers are either Gen X or older millennials — workers who can be equally comfortable working with new and old systems.
In the same way, SBS has introduced a system where technology “champions” from younger workers help older colleagues, especially to increase the adoption of AI-based tests. Rebeuf said the buddy system is helping older workers trust the technology and increasing adoption.
“[The] The automated test case using AI is increasing,” he said. “Little by little, people are starting to trust the tool. We all know that maybe people feel threatened by generative AI, so it gives confidence that ultimately what we’re looking for is to accelerate our development.”
Employers should increasingly rely on “reverse mentoring” — instances where younger workers help their older colleagues — to help the workforce adapt to technological change, he argues. Cristina Janzer, Senior Vice President of Research and Analytics at Slackwhich also oversees an internal research unit called the Workforce Lab.
In September, the Labor Force Laboratory published a study of 5,000 full-time desk workers and the different people discovered that employers need to understand as they implement AI in the workplace. Among characters, four out of five maximalists, those who frequently use AI and encourage others to use it, were under 44 years of age.
Meanwhile, that person’s polar opposite, called the rebel, most of whom don’t use AI at work and feel it’s a threat to society, deviated the most, with more than half of 45 years or more
“There is an opportunity and an expectation that Gen Z will help the rest of the workforce,” Janzer said. “We’re giving Generation Z a chance to give back and help the older generation.”
