Medibank Report: Managing Diversity and Inclusion in Workforce

This report provides an in-depth analysis of the age-diverse workforce at Medibank, a major health insurance provider in Australia. It begins with an executive summary outlining the report's objectives and key findings, followed by an introduction that emphasizes the importance of managing a workforce comprising various age groups. The report then delves into the overview of Medibank, highlighting its business operations and market position. It identifies issues related to managing an age-diverse workforce, such as generational differences and communication challenges. The report further examines Medibank's current workforce demographics, organizational culture, and diversity and inclusion policies. It explores how Medibank fosters collaboration between employees of different ages and addresses potential conflicts. The report concludes with recommendations for Medibank to manage its age-diverse workforce effectively, promoting a positive work environment, and maximizing employee contributions. The report also includes a statistical breakdown of the employee age groups within Medibank and concludes with a list of references.

Running head: MANAGING DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION
Managing Diversity and Inclusion
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1MANAGING DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION
Executive summary
The following report has aimed to discuss about the diverse age workforce within the
organizations. The management of diverse age workforce is a very critical thing. Many important
things regarding this topic have been discovered in the light of Medibank Pvt. Ltd. The overview
of the organization has been given with the importance of diverse age workforce management.
The current scenario for the organization has been discussed. Some issues have been identified
as they work as challenges or barriers to create a proper workforce working towards creating a
better organization. Medibank Pvt. Ltd. has employed people of different age groups in their
organization. Therefore, this might create some issues in their future. The organizational culture
of Medibank has been described as well. The most inspiring factors for newcomers to work with
elders in the organization have been discussed. Many good things have been seen while
employees work together and conform to achieve the business goals of the organization. Some
challenges in this context have been discovered while probable recommendations have been
given on how they can cope up with these challenges and become successful. Therefore, this
report has presented many crucial factors regarding diverse age workforce management.

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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Discussion........................................................................................................................................3
Overview of the the Medibank organization...................................................................................4
Issues related to the age-diverse workforce.....................................................................................4
Age-diverse workforce at Medibank...............................................................................................5
Proper organizational culture at Medibank......................................................................................7
Recommendations............................................................................................................................7
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................9
Reference List................................................................................................................................11

3MANAGING DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION
Introduction
The purpose of the following report is to describe about the importance of the age-diverse
workforce within the organizations of contemporary times. In the various multinational
companies, the workers hail from different age groups. This is very much helpful for the
organization since more experienced people in the workforce will share their experiences with
their young colleagues. However, many issues can arise in this context as well. This is why the
HR department of the organizations should look at this issue with more focus. In this report, the
issues regarding age –diverse workforce for Medibank organization will be discussed.
The policies of the organization regarding the age-diverse workforce will be covered in
this paper since this has emerged as one of the problems for the organization over the years. The
literature will be discussed on how the organization has planned to manage this issue in their
operations and how they will be able to manage this issue properly. Some recommendations will
also be given in this paper regarding how they can improve their operations for the overall
industry. So, the issue of age-diverse workforce has become a grave factor to be considered in
the history of Medibank and health insurance industry.
Discussion
Several issue, positive and negative factors of the company regarding age-diverse
workforce will be discussed within is report. The company has faced some issues as per the
above mentioned topic.

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Overview of the the Medibank organization
Medibank is one of the largest organizations in the health insurance industry in Australia.
They work for catering health insurance policies for the customers and disease management
systems. The company was set up in the year 1975 (Medibank.com.au 2019). The CEO and
Managing Director of the company is Craig Drummond. The headquarters of the company is
located at Melbourne in Australia. There are more than 2000 employees working for this
organization all over the country. They provide several health insurance covers for people at
different levels in the society (Medibank.com.au 2019). Therefore, it is regarded as a frontrunner
in the society. The service of this company has been regulated very highly so that it can protect
their customers.
Issues related to the age-diverse workforce
The proper management of a age-diverse workforce is a massive challenge for the global
managers in the contemporary times. The managers have to take some measures that would
allow them to confront with the psychological factors that people of different ages face. The
medical advancements in the recent years have made it quite possible for old age people to live
in a healthier manner (Finkelstein et al. 2015). This has impacted on the longevity of their lives
as well. People like to stay healthy and fit so they can carry on with their work for a longer
period of time. The organizations have the responsibility to nurture the workforce they have at
their disposal and take proper steps how all the people can be utilized according to their talents.
The workplaces in the contemporary times have multi generational employees. This is why
managers have a very difficult task at their hand (Bhuvanaiah and Raya 2014). Currently, many
employees want to carry on their professional duties for a longer period of time since they feel
they have enough positivity and energy left in them. The main challenge is the issue that

5MANAGING DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION
employees of different generations have different worldviews. Therefore, employees of older
generations have to communicate with their younger employees to carry out their works. In this
juncture, the clashes of ideas of have taken place (Finkelstein et al. 2015). This is why managers
feel quite problematic when these kinds of challenges arise. When highly tenured employees
communicate with young and junior employees, they feel quite embarrassed at some points since
those young junior employees do not have a proper knowledge about corporate world
(Bhuvanaiah and Raya 2014).
Age-diverse workforce at Medibank
Diversity and inclusion policies are very crucial for almost all the organizations.
Therefore, it has been quite interesting for the employee welfare as well. Medibank Pvt. Ltd. is
no different from this (Boehm, Kunze and Bruch 2014). Therefore, they have included some
diversity management policies that would be highly beneficial for the employees. The
management of the company believes that they all are different from each other (Aguinis and
Bradley 2015). They are also of the opinion that this difference among employees will motivate
them to work better. These differences are ranged from age, gender, ethnicity and others. These
differences will lead them to know about each other’s worldviews about different things and
complete their works collaboratively. The competitive market is changing very swiftly and
employees must be able to adjust with these changes (Belias and Koustelios 2014)
The employees of the company are from different age groups. There are new young
joiners with booming enthusiasm and there are old people with lots of experience and tenure
(Boehm, Kunze and Bruch 2014). The managers believe the blend of these two things will serve
highly for them since they will be able to serve their community with better services every time.

6MANAGING DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION
The point of view of the managers is the fact that they should take care of the health of their
stakeholders, both the customers and their employees. In order to do so, they will have to get an
idea of the desires and wishes of their communities (Saxena 2014). The managers of the
organization believe that they should always support this diversity and inclusion for the overall
betterment of their processes. They will be more competitive once they choose to follow their
diversity policies (Mupepi 2017).
Many times some conflicts have arisen because of the confusions created due to the point
of views of these people from different generations. The Human Resource managers must deal
with this issue with much softness. If their response to these conflicts is partial for any side, it
will be hard for them to retain their employees (Saxena 2014). This will have high negative
impact on their employee retention rates. No biasness should be entertained by the managers.
They should sit down with both sides and convince them that their togetherness is very essential
for the overall well being of the company. One of the most important factors in this scenario is
the fact that these employees of different generations might face some difficulties when dealing
with each other (Holian 2015). They should speak out what is in their minds. This will clarify the
doubts and confusions. Otherwise, this will create a fuss and negative for the reputation of the
organization (Hu and Liden 2015).
When an employee sees an unacceptable behavior by his or her colleague, they should
protest against it. Otherwise, a sense of hatred and insult will work within them. When older
employees work with these younger employees with full enthusiasm and help them to get
accustomed with the system. This will be helpful for them in the long run indeed (Njoroge and
Yazdanifard 2014). The new generation employees are much more creative and innovative than
conservative old age generation people. These challenges will have to be mitigated for the

7MANAGING DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION
betterment of the situation. If conflicts are not mitigated, this would create the atmosphere of
isolation within the Medibank organization (Holian 2015).
Proper organizational culture at Medibank
Medibank is an organization that has been known for preserving a good and effective
organizational culture for their internal and external stakeholders. Their thinking is that older
generation employees will utilize their vast experience for the benefit of the customers. It is
because they have a better and clear idea about how to satisfy the needs of the customers. If they
recognize that customers will need better and innovative products and services, they will address
this to the newcomers (Hogan and Coote 2014). The newcomers will use their creativity to
design better products and services. This is where proper communication will determine better
service deliveries in the future from all aspects (Gargiulo 2014). This will provide several
opportunities for development for the newcomers. They will be able to learn the work by
thorough guidance of old generation employees. This will make them confident and they will
utilize their enthusiasm for their professional improvements. They will succeed in their roles if
they get proper response from their seniors (Mumby and Kuhn 2018).
Recommendations
This is probably the way by which Medibank will look to manage their age-diverse
workforce. They have realized that each of their employees, be it junior or senior, all have their
unique set of skills and capabilities. These skills can be helpful only when they are motivated.
Senior and older employees have gone through both good and bad times in their tenure.
Therefore, they have the proper knowledge when and how they can take the proper step to make
the maximum benefits for their organization (Hogan and Coote 2014). The Medibank employees

8MANAGING DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION
are very much motivated and they will always thrive to make the most of their chances to cater to
the organization’s needs (Driskill 2018). A proper organizational culture can be built only when
both junior and senior employees will have respect for each other. When employees are mentally
satisfied, they will opt to give their best efforts for the betterment of Medibank. Thus, their
service delivery systems will improve. The physical and mental welfare of those customers
should be taken care of (Belias and Koustelios 2014).
It cannot be expected every time those employees of different age groups will always be
flawless and work as per their maximum limits. Obviously they will have deficiencies and
discrepancies in their working skills. Therefore, employees of diverse age groups work hard to
compensate each other’s deficiencies at Medibank. This has always been the key scenario for
success at the company. Employees of different age groups exist in this group and a rough
statistics of this should be given to have a better idea. A table can be given supporting this idea.
Age Group Percentage of employees
<25 4%
25-34 31%
35-44 31%
45-54 22%
55-64 11%
65+ 1%
Source: (Medibank.com.au 2019).

9MANAGING DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION
These statistics suggest that employees of different age groups work together happily
through the maximum number of employees hail from the age group of 25 to 34 and 35 to 44.
However, employees over the age group of 50 are very rare. It is probably because they wirk in
more traditional and conservative ways. Their communication abilities are not so sharp as well.
This is where lack of communication occurs between them.
 Proper communication strategies should be built up between the employees of these age
groups. This would mitigate basic challenges within this discourse. All grudges and
resentments should be cleared between employees.
 Proper team work should be encouraged between the employees of different age levels.
This will create a better working environment when performances of employees
belonging to different age groups will depend on each other.
 Managers will have to think of several ways by which all conflicts could be resolved in
this complex working environment. Differences of opinion and viewpoints should be
acknowledged and their contributions for the team should be respected.
Conclusion
On a concluding note, it can be said that employees of Medibank from diverse age groups
should learn to co-exist. They might have differences of viewpoints of seeing a thing. They
might see similar things in different ways but it should not create a barrier for the development
of the organization. Their contributions should be acknowledged and they should share a
relationship of respect and trust. Therefore, it would create a better working environment for
Medibank by removing challenges. Proper team work and motivation will be highly beneficial
for junior employees. Thus managers will feel relieved if they are able to manage the age diverse

10MANAGING DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION
workforce positively. Apart from that employees of different age groups will have the
responsibility to resolve all the conflicts and disputes within their working sphere. Respect for
employees on each other will create a better working environment indeed. Thus the company
will look to make the most of their diverse age workforce.

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Reference List
Aguinis, H. and Bradley, K.J., 2015. The secret sauce for organizational success. Organizational
Dynamics, 44, pp.161-168.
Belias, D. and Koustelios, A., 2014. Organizational culture and job satisfaction: A
review. International Review of Management and Marketing, 4(2), pp.132-149.
Bhuvanaiah, T. and Raya, R.P., 2014. Employee engagement: Key to organizational
success. SCMS journal of Indian Management, 11(4), p.61.
Boehm, S.A., Kunze, F. and Bruch, H., 2014. Spotlight on age‐diversity climate: The impact of
age‐inclusive HR practices on firm‐level outcomes. Personnel Psychology, 67(3), pp.667-704.
Driskill, G.W., 2018. Organizational culture in action: A cultural analysis workbook. Routledge.
Finkelstein, L.M., Truxillo, D.M., Fraccaroli, F. and Kanfer, R. eds., 2015. Facing the challenges
of a multi-age workforce: A use-inspired approach. Routledge.
Gargiulo, T.L., 2014. The strategic use of stories in organizational communication and learning.
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Hogan, S.J. and Coote, L.V., 2014. Organizational culture, innovation, and performance: A test
of Schein's model. Journal of Business Research, 67(8), pp.1609-1621.
Holian, R., 2015. Work, career, age and life-stage: assumptions and preferences of a
multigenerational workforce. Labour & Industry: a journal of the social and economic relations
of work, 25(4), pp.278-292.

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Hu, J. and Liden, R.C., 2015. Making a difference in the teamwork: Linking team prosocial
motivation to team processes and effectiveness. Academy of Management Journal, 58(4),
pp.1102-1127.
Medibank.com.au (2019). Medibank Private Health Insurance | For Better Health | Medibank.
[online] Medibank. Available at: https://www.medibank.com.au/ [Accessed 29 Apr. 2019].
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https://www.medibank.com.au/annual-review/people-and-culture/#participation [Accessed 29
Apr. 2019].
Mumby, D.K. and Kuhn, T.R., 2018. Organizational Communication: A Critical Introduction.
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Mupepi, M. ed., 2017. Effective talent management strategies for organizational success. IGI
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employee motivation in a multigenerational workplace. Global Journal of Management And
Business Research.
Saxena, A., 2014. Workforce diversity: A key to improve productivity. Procedia Economics and
Finance, 11, pp.76-85.