Discovering the benefits of mixed-age teams
Written by Dan Parry • 24 April, 2026
Leadership & Management Skills Article
Are intergenerational teams the key to making the most of AI? An increasing body of evidence suggests that well-managed, mixed-age teams outperform in tech-driven work processes. What’s the reason for this? Global Intergenerational Week is a good moment to ask.
Organisations are struggling to see the impact of AI on their bottom line. A survey of nearly 6,000 global executives (published in February, 2026) found that 89% had seen no impact on their workforce’s output. How could AI be used to better effect? A potential solution focuses on how the teams who use it are put together.
In July 2025, a Deloitte survey of 1,400 US professionals found stark differences between teams that captured high value from AI and those that didn’t. Deloitte found that larger teams that were more connected and cognitively diverse were likely to be more successful.
Hiring from across an intergenerational workforce is a straightforward way to capture cognitive diversity. Mixed-age teams can combine experience and judgement (often older employees) with speed and experimentation (typically younger people).
In an intergenerational workforce, people from different age groups offer a range of perspectives and experience. Teams may include members from four generations: Generation Z (born 1997-2012), Millennials (1981-1996), Generation X (1965-1980), and Boomers (1946-1964).
Stereotypical labelling aside, there is much evidence that employees of all ages broadly value the same things. In an intergenerational workforce, similarities might well outweigh differences – people of various ages work together more easily than might be imagined.
While we’re knocking down myths, it’s also worth noting that mixed-age workforces can no longer be characterised as a pyramid of much larger numbers of younger employees and relatively few older people. Populations in major advanced economies across the world are ageing rapidly. In the EU, the expected duration of working life rose 4.1 years between 2002 and 2022, and this trend is likely to continue.
By 2050, there will be one person aged 65 and over for every two persons aged 20-64 in OECD economies compared to one for every three today. And the share of the population aged 50 and older will increase from 37% in 2020 to 45%.
People are living longer and retiring later – stretching the gap between the oldest in the workforce and the youngest. Five generations working alongside one another could become more common in the future. There could be 50 years between the newest employees and those with the lengthiest experience – leading to significant benefits and challenges.
The benefits of successful intergenerational communication rely on effective culture, leadership, and training. In organisations that get these right, there is the opportunity for a valuable blend of experience, perspective, and energy.
Older employees can contribute institutional memory, judgement, professional networks, and a sturdier response to crises. Younger colleagues may bring fresh thinking, recent training, digital confidence, and a willingness to question outdated habits. When these strengths are combined well, organisations benefit from continuity and renewal, particularly in areas such as:
Decision-making: Teams with varied perspectives are more likely to test assumptions rather than sink into groupthink. Experience helps identify risks, newer perspectives help spot opportunities.
Mentorship: Senior employees can mentor others in leadership, client handling, and judgement. Younger people can share emerging skills, technology habits, and new market insights.
Culture: Workplaces that value all ages tend to feel fairer, more inclusive and more human. Employees can see pathways for progression while also believing that experience is respected.
These benefits, when actively encouraged, can help to strengthen engagement and retention. This is especially important at the moment, given that global employee engagement has sunk to 20%, its lowest level since 2020, according to Gallup’s annual State of the Global Workplace report.
Gallup found that from 2022 to 2025, employee engagement among non-managers hovered around 19%. In the same tight timeframe, however, engagement among managers plunged from 31% to 22%. While only 21% of people aged 35 or over were engaged at work, Gallup found that for those aged younger than 35 the figure dropped to 19%. Disengagement appears to be rooted in wider questions about leadership and cultural challenges rather than tension in one generation or another.
Leadership in uncertain times is never straightforward. However, regarding AI at least, there are specific steps that leaders can take to increase productivity and performance.
Contrary to common perceptions, evidence across OECD countries shows that older workers can boost productivity through their own experience and know-how, but also by enhancing team performance through the interaction of age and skill between younger and older workers.
This theme is developed in a report by Deloitte which asks “Are team dynamics the missing link?” The authors note “that teams tend to realize far greater value from AI when they are larger, blend varied experience and skill sets, and are highly collaborative…By combining diverse skills and experiences with strong collaborative practices, they bring together broad expertise and deep domain knowledge, creating the conditions to realize value from AI.”
The report suggests that leaders should consider:
The World Economic Forum found that only 0.5% of global gross domestic product is invested in adult lifelong learning. More investment in reskilling and upskilling could boost GDP by $6.5 trillion by 2030. The OECD suggeststhat to benefit from interaction between generations, organisations must adopt appropriate policies and practices, beginning with three points of action:
Attracting and retaining talent at all ages: Eliminating age bias in recruitment practices and encouraging age-diverse cultures where all workers feel comfortable and appreciated regardless of age.
Ensuring a good working environment and a healthy working life: Health is paramount to people remaining productive into their seventh or eighth decade – both physiological health and mental health.
Developing and maintaining skills throughout careers: Lifelong learning and training improves organisational performance – delivering a skilled workforce, underpinning productivity and efficiency, and increasing employee motivation.
Without thoughtful leadership, stereotypes, communication gaps, and differing expectations can create friction between generations. Tensions can focus on:
The core challenge is turning age diversity into collaboration by replacing assumptions with informed understanding about the benefits of balance.
From AI to engagement, via resilience, critical thinking, and productivity, the biggest issue facing an intergenerational workforce is not age but training. Deloitte’s Tech Trends research suggests that 93% of respondents’ tech-related funding is spent on the technology itself, while just 7% goes to training the people who use it.
At Working Voices, our Intergenerational Communication training course tackles disconnect between generations by asking participants to share insights, experiences, and empathy. By challenging intergenerational stereotypes, and reframing people not as ‘young or old’ but as ‘trained or untrained’, participants are encouraged to see individuals for who they are.
AI has the potential to deliver major productivity gains, but only when organisations close the training gap and deploy it inclusively across generations. The winners will not be those with the newest tools, but those that bring every generation with them.
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The founder and CEO of Working Voices, Nick Smallman has been at the top of his profession for 25 years. Advising global blue-chip clients on engagement, productivity, and retention, he counsels leaders on increasing revenue via simple cultural adjustments.
Overseeing the successful expansion of Working Voices across the UK, the US, Asia, and the Middle East, Nick supports the leadership and communication capabilities of clients in a wide range of sectors. In particular, he has advised companies such as JP Morgan, Barclays, Sony, Nomura, M&S, and Blackrock for more than 15 years.
Developing his reputation for thought leadership, in recent years Nick has been leading work on The Sustainable Human, the subject of his forthcoming book. A concept unique to Working Voices, The Sustainable Human offers a package of solutions focusing on leadership enablement, future skills, and cultural harmony.
Working closely with HR specialist Mercer, Nick has developed solutions to four key modern workplace challenges:
“I’m excited to share the conclusions of three years of research that, if implemented, can make an immediate practical difference to leaders and their organisations.”
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