What happens when the smartphone generation clocks in for their first job? Generation Alpha, born between 2010 and 2025, is set to join the workforce in less than five years’ time.
According to research published in August 2023 by marketing firm RazorFish, 40% of Gen Alphas will have used a tablet device by the age of six. The same research cited that one third of Gen Alphas want to make a difference, help others or help the planet.
During our HR Lunchtime Debate, hosted in partnership with software firm Sage, panellists discussed how HR leaders can prepare for the arrival of this new generation into the workforce. Here are four key learning points from the discussion.
Have an open mind
The ways in which Gen Alpha will learn and collaborate will be different to how generations before them did, stated Angela Gallagher, Sage’s vice president people business partner EMEA. “We need to find different ways for people to collaborate. How will they learn? How will they get that hands-on experience?”
Read more: Boomers, millennials, Gen Z: Do generational labels do more harm than good?
Tiger de Souza, executive director of people and culture at mental health charity Samaritans, emphasised the importance of not focusing too much on how past generations work. He said: “Rather than clinging on to what we have in the past, we need to think about how we embrace the future. How do we design our approaches to engage the workforce, building collaboration in a way that resonates with all the generations that we’re going to have intermixing?”
Adaptability is key
Managers need to adapt to the skills that Gen Alpha will bring, stated Fiona McKee, founder of consultancy The HR Practice. She said: “Gen Alphas won’t have the problem-solving skills that we had to have.
“We need to think about how managers adapt to that style. Managers are used to people coming with problems; they are hoping to have solutions. Resilience and problem solving will be key for organisations, to ensure that learning interventions are in place to support that generation.”
Gen Alphas are educated in the same way as past generations but are coming into a completely different workforce, de Souza added. He said: “There’s a need for organisations to be adaptable and to think: We’re going to get individuals landing in the workplace that have been traditionally trained and developed, but they need fundamentally different skills and capabilities.”
Use data to inform your planning
Gallagher stressed the importance of having single-source data to inform workforce planning. “Once you’ve got that [single source of] data then you can map it to external data sources, and look where you should be,” she said. “But the underpinning data has to be accurate.”
She added: “Data is one touchpoint. You’ve still got the human element that comes with it, around working with people. You’ve got to speak to humans, to people, the round tables. Those things still matter.”
However, de Souza pointed out, having the correct data to make decisions and plan can prove difficult. “Having the data and the information to make accurate choices and decisions and to understand what’s happening within the workplace is really challenging. We’ve relied on balancing the paucity of data that we’ve got with engagement with our staff and with our volunteers, to understand what their experience is looking like.”
Read more: The agile workforce model is essential for future success
Many small businesses have to rely on external data as they don’t have the resources to collect data themselves, added McKee. “Certain clients I work with, much smaller businesses, are using spreadsheets,” she said. “Lots of SMEs will go externally for data, because they don’t have rich data within their small business.”
She added: “The cost of investing in technology outweighs the work of doing it manually. But in time, a lot of those organisations potentially could be left behind, if they don’t have a plan.”
Don’t overthink it
“It’s not about overthinking,” said McKee, “it is about awareness, and what we think this generation will need.”
Every generation brings new opportunities to a workforce, Gallagher added. She said: “I don’t think we need to over plan it. We’ve got so many generations in the workforce now; there’s a bit in every generation that brings great opportunity to an organisation. We shouldn’t over index on it.”
This article was published in the May/June 2025 edition of HR magazine.
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