by indrajeet senguptaevery time i walk into an employee induction session i am caught looking at all the new faces representing a multigenerational workforce for a new recruit it is never a surprise on the first day to get introduced to an under35 something supervisormanager a plus 50yearold team member and an aspirational bunch of millennials all wanting to change the face of healthcare and making a difference to the lives they touch every day it is both humbling and exhilarating at the same time a new workplace setting and unfamiliar faces can make us nervous there are hidden apprehensions about working with older or younger colleagues one might even wonder if they would be taken seriously but if the workplace is designed right in a short few weeks new employees can find the environment where innovative ideas are valued and implemented friendships are formed to inspire each other and drive collaboration at workplacegiven that more than half of indias population is less than 25 years of age the differences between generations manifested in their attitudes values motivations and communication styles are far more pronounced here than it is elsewhere besides with socioeconomic cultural and political complexities already in place a generational difference only amplifies these complexities further resulting in a workforce that is as diverse as it can be difficult to managehr leaders are challenged with managing a multigenerational staff with hidden biases that could hamper productivity and make a workplace dysfunctional in an age where businesses constantly seek smarter talent management strategies for its growing millennial workforce it is important that firms also take up the challenge to leverage diversity in every form and bring out the best in all their employees on merit if you look around any organisation today you will find the majority to be millennials if managed carefully wisdom experience and innovation along with technical skills of all the generations at work can be shared to deliver lucrative business solutionsanother challenge is the workspace design itself in 2012 the average space allotment per person was 200 sqft in 2013 companies shifted to 150 sqft for twothirds of their people and 100 sqft for another 20 this is shrinking the traditional 10 and 5year lease terms are under strong pressure to become shorter and more flexible richard kadzis 2013 workplace trends survey richard kadzis consulting 2013 so what does this mean for all of us it will be tough creating synergy between peoples work experience and physical environment will be an ongoing challenge sitting across each other in shared spaces is a difficult experience if designed well they can turn into a supporting environment allowing personal space and collaborative spaces to coexistmaking it fun innovation means many things to many people if we can allow ideas to flow freely and let our team act it can become fun too apeksha ahluwalia one of our young hr leaders along with some of her colleagues formed a fluid team cutting across functions to redesign