As workplaces become more generationally diverse, the challenge of meeting the varying needs of different age groups has never been greater. Emily Warren, Director of Inclusion, Diversity & Wellbeing at Avanade, is at the forefront of this shift. With a career shaped by her own experience with burnout, Emily has become a driving force behind Avanade’s global wellbeing strategy, spanning 26 countries and over 17,000 employees.
At The Office Event, Emily will be speaking on the panel “Mind the workplace gap – from boomers to zoomers,” where she’ll share insights on how organisations can create inclusive, resilient work environments that support the wellbeing of employees at every stage of their career. In this interview, Emily discusses her journey, the importance of generational inclusion, and how businesses can future-proof their workplace strategies.
Can you tell us about your role as Director of Inclusion, Diversity & Wellbeing at Avanade and what inspired you to focus on employee wellbeing?
Like many others who work in wellbeing, my interest originally came from my own struggles and experiences, and realising how much it helped others when someone was brave and shared their story. While I was still a software consultant, I got involved in projects like establishing a Mental Health Allies programme in our UK business and had already made the move into Employee Experience when COVID struck and there was an urgent need to step up our wellbeing offering. I’ve always been motivated by improving people’s experience, so a job where the core goal is to make people healthier and happier was a good fit. Over time, we have integrated wellbeing into our existing I&D ecosystem – the two are so overlapping and complementary, that it made sense to drive them forward together.
Your personal experience with burnout has clearly shaped your approach to wellbeing at Avanade. How did that experience influence the initiatives you’ve implemented?
When I had my burnout, I distinctly remember the shame I felt at not being able to cope and how lonely it was because I didn’t know anyone else who had been through it. Of course, I later found out it was very common, people just weren’t talking about it – there are so many issues people experience that are made worse by our reluctance to discuss them.
On an individual level, my openness has meant people have been willing to approach me for help without worrying about being judged. However, I think the real impact is the conscious investment we have made in highlighting other common struggles that are difficult to talk about and shining a light on them. Every time we do that there is someone who feeds back “I thought I was alone with this, now I know I’m not”.
My experience also gave me insight into the support I needed and the organisation’s role in our wellbeing. That’s led to a large-scale training of leaders to help them nurture safe and healthy environments, notice wellbeing issues before they become critical and navigate difficult conversations and situations so people get the support they need.
Your panel focuses on bridging the generational gap in the workplace. What are some of the biggest differences you’ve noticed between what different generations expect from their work environment?
Well, the first thing to say is that the generations aren’t monoliths, and not everyone has the same thoughts and behaviours. That being said, there have been some general patterns I’ve observed.
When I look at the younger employees coming into the workplace, I’m staggered by how well informed and self-aware they seem to be. I had no real understanding of things like mental health, resilience and burnout when I entered the workforce, and my working life may have looked very different if I had. I love that this new generation knows what healthy looks like for them and are willing to ask for it. But I can also understand why that makes people from previous generations feel uncomfortable or even angry. Why should people get an easier life than the one they had? Why should they have to learn new skills for working remotely when they’ve spent their careers perfecting how to do it in person? Why should the needs of the individual always outweigh the needs of the group?
I think what concerns me most is not the different perspectives on the work environment and what good looks like, but the lack of respect for the different views, the judgement that comes with it, and the power imbalance often associated with it. Using phrases like “quiet quitter” for anyone who has the temerity to simply do the job they are being paid for without “going the extra mile”, or dismissing people as dinosaurs out of touch with the modern world does not help us build mutual understanding.
How can organisations create a workplace culture that meets the needs of both experienced employees and younger generations starting their careers?
It needs to start with dialogue, empathy and a genuine attempt at understanding the different perspectives; cultures should be built collaboratively, not just dictated from the top.
Taking a common area of friction – it’s clear that hybrid working is here to stay in some form or another, so we need to make it work. It’s very easy to tell people they will be more productive working in an office when you have your own private room for quiet working and can retreat behind a closed door whenever you want. Most people are in noisy, open plan offices; doing deep and complex work with someone talking loudly on a video call two desks away can be unnecessarily stressful. I would like to see many more executives come out of their offices for a few days, and experience the environment most of their workers have to navigate, then invest in redesigning office environments so that they work better for people and there is a clear benefit to them for being there. In particular, we need more spaces for quiet working that are separate from collaboration areas.
I think we also need to invest more in the development of people’s skills and confidence. That might mean training older employees in how to collaborate effectively and build strong relationships while working remotely, and training our younger employees, who have grown up online, how to do those same things in person. There’s a very different etiquette in the different generations, and when we don’t understand each other’s social rules, then people can get unintentionally offended.
Avanade has made significant strides in embedding wellbeing into the employee experience. What have been some of the most effective changes you’ve implemented?
Adding a wellbeing measure to our company scorecard and making leaders accountable for it instantly put it in the spotlight. There’s a lot you can do at grass roots, but to be truly effective, you need leaders to engage and embed wellbeing into how you do business as an organisation.
Historically, we’ve not been training or selecting leaders with wellbeing in mind, so training people how to lead for wellbeing and explaining how it underpins sustained high performance is really important. We’ve now trained over 1500 leaders to lead for wellbeing and inclusion.
Making it normal to talk openly about wellbeing, both the positives and the negatives, and having leaders demonstrate this can really shift the culture. When we talk about tough subjects, it opens the door to people sharing, but we can’t just talk about the bad stuff and times of crisis, we need to talk about how to help people thrive as well, and how that looks different for different people. If we talk about wellbeing during good times, it’s much easier to talk about it in difficult times.
Looking ahead, what do you see as the next big challenge or opportunity for workplace wellbeing and generational inclusivity?
One of the big challenges already coming is the backlash against DEI initiatives, and the generations can take very different stances on this. Wellbeing and inclusion are so intertwined there is no way this won’t impact people’s wellbeing; they can’t coexist without each other. If people feel less able to be themselves or like they don’t belong, we know that will have a detrimental impact on their wellbeing. What’s interesting is how little discussion we’ve seen about how low wellbeing, particularly low financial wellbeing, might be driving some of this backlash. We know that when people are stressed or defensive they exhibit more “us and them” behaviours. Tackling poverty and wealth inequality, including the disparities in generational wealth, is going to be critical in creating a healthier and more inclusive world.
But I do have hope; the pace of technology change is disrupting the status quo, and where there is disruption, there is opportunity as well. Despite the social turmoil, the last industrial revolution eventually led to increased education, improved diets, better worker’s rights and wider distribution of wealth; this transition may eventually lead to positive changes as well.
You can meet Emily in person at The Office Event where she’ll be speaking. The Office Event is a unique and timely trade show with free-to-attend content that offers a one-stop-shop for organisations who are rethinking their approach to workplace design, workplace experience and facilities management. Now in its second year, The Office will take place on 7th and 8th May 2025, at ExCel in London. Co-located with The Watercooler Event for the full 360-degree workplace culture and employee wellbeing experience. You can find out more here.