Huh!

Surely this is wrong. Is it?

The Employee is not a Stakeholder. The Segmented Employee Stakeholder is.

Employees are not homogenous. They are not beans in a tin can.

There is a vast difference between a new employee and someone who has been with the company for many years. The one is eager, has fresh ideas, wants to make a difference but does not know everything about the company nor the culture, whilst the older one is cynical, has seen many change programs start and/or falter.

Researchers and experts around the globe segment employee stakeholders into many types ranging from Traditionalists to Baby Boomers to Generation X and Millenials, indicating that there are differences between the way employees interact, participate, communicate, listen and learn.

In fact, some studies classify employees into four generations in the workplace:

• Traditionalists born 1925-1942
• Baby Boomers born 1943-1962
• Generation X born 1963-1978
• Generation Y/Millennials born 1979-1998 (under age 30 today)

Boomers, Generation X and Millenials differ in the way they solve problems, focus on tasks and make decisions.

For instance studies show that Boomers tend to solve problems in a hierarchical fashion whilst Millenials like to solve problems in a collaborative fashion.

But even pigeonholing some people into these categories can be dangerous. One size does not fit all.

Just because I am 52 years old, does it make me a Baby Boomer? 80% of the way in which I do things and solve problems are millennial in nature. Yet, when it comes to certain things like ethics and manners I am definitely old school.

Many years ago I remember how upset I became when I was given a letter stating that I was a certain grade in a Paterson Job Grading Scheme. In fact, I tore the letter up and stated that I was a person not a grade.

How you profile and classify employees will determine how you treat them and design training programs, communication and other campaigns.

How you profile and segment your employee stakeholder will affect your engagement strategies. One definition of engagement is that it is the  “heightened emotional connection that an employee feels for his or her organization, that influences him or her to exert greater discretionary effort to his or her work”

How can you raise this emotional connection if you have not segmented your employees?

Understanding the various profiles is vital. Profiling your employee stakeholder is vital if you want to design and develop targeted communication, engagement and learning campaigns to build a superior reputation.

P.S To assist companies with the task of building a superior reputation in the workplace, I will facilitate a  workshop on Strategic Employee Stakeholder Engagement the 28th March 2025 in Johannesburg.

During this two day workshop‚ you will learn how to boost internal stakeholder engagement & communication‚ enhance professional stakeholder management processes and enhance the organisations’ quest to be an admired employer. I will cover:

• Why Engagement is not just  a buzzword;
• What is the secret of engagement and becoming an Employer of choice;
• How to strategically profile & engage the employee stakeholder to build brand awareness and reputation;
• How to design, implement & drive an effective engagement strategy, using tools such as stakeholder management, communication, Social Media, liberated HR and OD practices & engagement techniques;
• Practical steps on how to impact relationships with the internal stakeholder in a favourable manner;
• What it takes to become an admired & preferred employer;

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