Is your organization ready to address future staffing needs? Planning for the future through employee coaching is a great way to know, without assuming, who is ready to move up the corporate ladder and who should move on. Whether you're an executive, a manager or a team leader, the following information will be beneficial to you.

Even employers with the best of intentions are guilty of assuming too much. As they see workers of different ages, genders and racial makeup working side-by-side, they might think that this one fits in a group that wants to multitask at a fast pace because she is young, while her counterpart from another generation is interested in slowing down.

As we learn from experience, assumptions are often wrong. That young person may prefer devoting her attention to one workplace issue at a time, while her older co-worker is the multi-tasker. Many things, including life stages, could affect each of them. And if a leader changes work assignments based on erroneous assumptions, he could end up with disgruntled or absent employees, high turnover and unfinished projects.

The only truly effective method of managing diverse employees is to look at each one as an individual and to understand what motivates them. Then, coach them regularly to get the behavior you want.

Last month we stressed the importance of coaching and how effective coaches connect with individual employee needs. Supporting our goal of knowing what it takes to engage our workers and coaching them regularly to higher performance levels is research we conducted with The Concours Group and Age Wave. The findings, published in the manual WHY We Work, helpfully define six different segments of employees working in our organizations. This research found that different groups of people need different things to remain engaged on the job. This finding is widely relevant because most organizations, especially large ones, contain some of each group.

Briefly, the six worker segments include:

1. Fair and Square Traditionalists, who make up the largest part of the workforce at 20 percent. They are loyal and traditional, as their name implies, and want their work to provide stability and a secure future.

2. Stalled Survivors, who represent 19 percent of the workforce. These workers see their jobs as a necessity. It is not the most satisfying part of their lives. These are often a firm's younger workers.

3. Accomplished Contributors, about 17 percent of the workforce. These loyal players often go above and beyond. They place a high value on teamwork.

4. Demanding Disconnects, 15 percent of our workers. As their name suggests, they are the least satisfied with work and the least committed to it.

5. Maverick Morphers, also about 15 percent of the workplace. These workers are generally young, like excitement, and do not fear taking risks.

6. Self-Empowered Innovators, about 14 percent. These employees make up the most engaged segment of the workplace and derive personal satisfaction from the job.

As Baby Boomers retire in larger and larger numbers, the workforce will contract. That means you will have a smaller pool of potential employees to choose from, and they will reflect all of the differences you see in our changing society. To succeed at coaching and managing, employers will have to study their workforce more intently than they did before and learn what makes them tick.

You are likely seeing these different segments in your workforce now, and perhaps did not fully understand the transformation taking place or realize how widespread the changes were. Now that you know, why not take the time to find out what your employees want on the job?

Assessments can aid you in identifying job fit and worker satisfaction, which can lead you to the best segment makeup for your organization. They can tell you which employees are well suited to their positions and which ones might benefit from a change. Once you know your employees, you will know which ones work most productively together and the combinations that could lead to disaster. And as your organization delves more deeply into coaching, your leaders will thank you for charting the territory in advance.