When it comes to employing people for your business, you want to choose the candidate you think will be the best asset to your company. Often candidates will fall into one of two categories; millennials and baby boomers, both of which have pros and cons.

Millennials

Fresh faced from education, millennials are the newbies of the workplace. They are experts of technology and care about the company they work for.

• It’s been reported that millennials are more accepting and open-minded than baby boomers, which can be a great advantage in the workplace as they are more likely to sympathise with co-workers and have a progressive attitude towards issues
• Technology-friendly. Millennials are whizzes on a computer and will help get your online front started the right way
• Millennials are very engaged and have the capacity to work for long periods of time with intense concentration
• Care about purposeful work– millennials focus more on what their work means to them and think about the values of the company and if they match their own
• They communicate well with online audiences and via text and email, as well as on social media sites

Baby Boomers

The Boomers have one big hold over millennials, that they aren’t new to this. Boomers have tonnes more experience in the industry than their gadget wielding competition.

• Communicate well in person or over the phone – boomers are used to networking this way which will benefit small businesses when they’re trying to build up a local following
• More comfortable in a meeting environment than communicating through technology. Used to the practicality of organising and presenting information face to face
• Experience is key for boomers, as the average boomer has had 11 years of work experience compared to the millennials 3 years, meaning they’re more experienced and confident in the workplace
• While millennials soak up information like sponges, baby boomers have already learnt the systems they need to know. Although they have a lower ability to learn new ways, they are proficient in the systems they know
• Boomers feel that rewards of hard work are represented by money, titles and recognition from colleagues and others in the industry

Who says the two have to work against each other? With such different values and contrasting ways of working, it may not seem like it but millennials and boomers can make great teams. Their different approaches to the work environment cover all bases.

If you’ve got room to hire a few employees then try and aim for a mixture to ensure the efficiency of your business. With millennials on the technology side and boomers as the physical front of the operation you’ll have a great online presence as well as a strong local network.

What are your views? We’d love to hear what you think – please leave your comments in the section below!