Speaking at a Diversity and Inclusivity Finance Forum (DIFF) Leadership Forum, Gareth Herbert, distribution director at Mortgage Advice Bureau (MAB), said there is “great young talent” in the mortgage industry, but it was crucial not to put “older people out to pasture”.
“They’re good in our industry. We [have] got some great people, whether self-employed or employed, we have got to learn from them. I collected insurance on the doors when I was 17, I came up the hard way, and I’ve had two jobs in 38 years. It’s not many people [who] can say that and I’m proud of that.
“The newer generation is more transient. They want to work abroad, they want to travel, they want to [have] different experiences. It’s changing, so we have to adapt and change with it; there’s nothing wrong with that,” he added.
Karen Basnett, partner and marketing director at New Homes Mortgage Services, said that with “older, more experienced people”, you “can’t buy that experience”.
“I think giving them the opportunity to continue to learn is important, because although they might have lots of skills and knowledge, they still want to challenge themselves. So being able to keep up with the latest trends and things often helps [them].
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“I think allowing the opportunity for newer people that come in with putting them together as like an intergenerational team we’ve seen works really well, because the newer people will challenge the way we currently do things.
“They’ll have fresh ideas, and they’ll be really enthusiastic, but also pairing it with someone who is more experienced brings out the best in people. We’ve seen lots of really successful business outcomes and improvements from having a joint team of different ages,” she explained.
Success of intergenerational teams is based on ‘mutual respect’
Basnett said one of the crucial things with intergenerational teams in terms of building trust and psychological safety was “having mutual respect for each other”.
“It is encouraging everybody, whoever is talking, whether you’re first in the door, or the last one in the door… or the longest in the company, but everybody’s voice matters… and then everybody feels free to talk, and no ideas are ever not valid.
“Another thing is really raising awareness across all members of staff about age diversity, because quite often, people don’t realise they’re potentially offending people and it could just be the fact that they just don’t know and don’t realise what they’re saying or doing, and particularly with customers as well.
“It’s about raising the awareness, so everybody understands it, and creating teamwork rather than competition. If you start to create competition in kind of a multi-generational environment, people do feel a bit pushed out, so I think creating teamwork in that sort of scenario is the best approach,” she noted.
Herbert said that internally, the firm had set up an internal leadership programme called Thrive, which works to get “intergenerational people” into a room.
“I’ve learned to listen more; I’ve seen a lot of younger generation[s] that come in… and sometimes we [the older generation] can take over and we can be overpowering. I recognise that it’s being able to step out of that and allow those people to give their views and opinions safely, listen to them and give them that responsibility.
“For the younger generation, it starts with them as well, to accept that they need to challenge, and then you need to bring the best out of them, and if you do that well, you have different people in the room contributing,” he added.
He also pointed to its academy, which ranges from 20-year-olds to police officers coming out of the force and wanting to be advisers.
Herbert said he did a lot of speeches at universities, and students initially “don’t want to be in our industry”.
“We have to change that narrative… let’s encourage people to want to be part of it, and… we all of us have a duty of care to go out to university [and] say: ‘It’s a great industry’,” he added.
