Give youth a seat at the table
For an industry so in thrall to youth, the creative industries are alarmingly slow to give young people a seat at the table, says Creativebrief's Izzy Ashton.
)
Few companies have shattered the gap between company brand and employee experience like Glassdoor.
The site, founded in 2007, allows current and former employees to anonymously review companies, providing candour in spades as brutal experiences and opinions on leadership and company culture are shared. Regardless of job title or position, employees can make themselves heard.
With a churn rate higher than any other, the creative industries have a lot to answer for when it comes to empowering the younger members of its workforce.
Glassdoor has become a serious KPI for company CEOs as they struggle to reach a compromise between reviews published online alongside the day to day internal sentiment of the office. With a churn rate higher than any other, the creative industries have a lot to answer for when it comes to empowering the younger members of its workforce.
Yet while IPA data shows the average age of industry employees is the resolutely youthful 33.9, the conference platforms and column inches are still dominated by older people. Those whose job titles will supposedly sell tickets; those who have supposedly earned the right to be up there.
Hierarchy in the creative industries is meant to be dead. But you wouldn’t know it if you looked at the voices given the most airtime.
Five generations in the workplace
With five generations in the workplace, the need to foster cross-generational collaboration has never been greater. Gen Z, Millennials, Gen X, Baby Boomers and the Silent generation; each comes with different expectations and desires.
How do you create an environment to best communicate with everyone?
This poses an interesting challenge for workplaces. How do you create an environment to best communicate with everyone? To create a business that reflects and accepts the behaviours, hopes, concerns and attitudes of all its staff, regardless of age. Because creating space for inter-generational relationships is key to establishing a progressive and empowered workforce.
By listening to and engaging with every age group in your organisation, you would create a place for fewer misunderstandings and increased productivity.
It comes down to a longstanding business truth: do not speak on behalf of the group you are wanting to talk about. Rather invite them to talk with you; open up the space for honest discussion. By listening to and engaging with every age group in your organisation, you would create a place for fewer misunderstandings and increased productivity.
+ membership
Access the world's largest advertising database. With an intuitive toolset that helps you explore, present and collaborate more effectively.
Learn More
Elevate the next generation of talent
We need to challenge industry stalwarts to elevate the next generation of talent. The younger perspective is often not included at events or internally because, historically, people focus on experience rather than the strength of the idea or perspective.
Bring someone more junior with you to an event; give them the confidence to ask questions.
Inviting young people onstage allows for their stories and perspectives to be reflected, as well as validating them. Almost every industry event speaks on behalf of young people. Panels formed of those from a different generation lament the problems both facing and caused by youth. If they’re not the ones living these experiences, how can they know?
If you want to be a true role model for the next generation, speak to them and swap knowledge with them.
As a start, bring someone more junior with you to an event; give them the confidence to ask questions, to network and to feel welcome. See it as a vital part of their development and an investment for their future.
Swap knowledge
If you want to be a true role model for the next generation, speak to them and swap knowledge with them. Find out what they care about, what they want and how you can help. Have a presence at schools and lecture halls and speak to the people there.
If you want to recruit and then hold onto the best talent, show them they’re wanted and give them the space to thrive.
Almost 60% of creative students are women and yet only 12% of creative directors are; 40% of Londoners are from BAME backgrounds but only 5.5% of those at C-suite level are. If you want to recruit and then hold onto the best talent, show them they’re wanted and give them the space to thrive. If the youngest members of the team were valued as much as the oldest, perhaps these statistics wouldn’t be quite so stark.
To produce the most creatively brilliant work, to have insightful, diverse conversations, and to bring about fundamental change, you need to invite everyone into the room, regardless of their age.
