We don’t work for the same reasons at 25 as we do at 55, yet companies and people could mistakenly treat us in the same way. It is not anyone’s fault it is about change, about what matters, what is visible and what transpires in our professional life.

What We Seek at Work Changes with Time.

We all have our career journeys and every one of them is unique, yet there can be some patterns that many people can relate to.

In our twenties, we chase opportunity, hungry to prove, to build, to belong. In our thirties, we search for growth and balance trying to hold ambition in one hand and life in the other. In our
forties, we begin to start seeking purpose, wanting our work to mean something beyond the paycheck.

By our fifties, respect and meaning matter a lot more than titles or ladders. And then as we near retirement, we think less about climbing and it is more about giving back, sharing, leaving a trace of ourselves behind.

What we seek changes with time, but do our companies change with us or recognize this change in aspirations.

HR does talk about engagement and retention and yet belonging is not always built through surveys or slogans. It grows quietly when organizations see people not as roles, but as journeys.

As employees, we too have a part to play. To say what we value, to listen across generations, to mentor and be mentored. To be open and communicative.

As AI enters HR, maybe it can help us understand people better. Will it? I don’t know, but empathy will always remain a fundamental human art.

Few questions come to me personally as I am in the process of writing my professional plan for the next 5 years.

1. How has my relationship with work evolved with my age, where did I start, where am I now and where do I go from here ?

2. Has my workplace evolved with me, have I evolved to accept and be aligned with my work place?

3. What is in my control to change in the next three months ?