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Let them do work!
That's the Labor Day anthem for mature workers according to a newly-released
study by Age Lessons, a Chicago-based intergenerational consulting firm, that
identified the workplace "3 Rs" that keep Baby Boomer employees up
at night--fear of redundancy (layoffs, firings), relevance (keeping skills current)
and resentment from younger associates.
The Age Lessons study,
comprising 50 depth phone interviews with workers age 50+, explored issues surfaced
in the firm's national Ageism: Managing on the Bias research completed with
Harris Interactive.
Laurel Kennedy, president
of Age Lessons, summarized key findings, "Older workers believe that younger
associates drop them from critical informal communications networks, turning
the office grapevine into a sour grapevine and blocking access to important
political and business developments." Another key finding was defined as
senior shutout, where companies inadvertently close-off career paths and training
opportunities to mature workers, assuming that they either are uninterested
or unwilling to accept a new challenge."
"Whether it's overt,
or unintentional, the net effect is the same," noted Kennedy. "Mature
workers gradually get foreclosed from water cooler banter on-line and off, and
shunted to the sidelines. Without access to emerging news in the workplace,
mature workers find it difficult to make good strategic decisions and career
moves."
Other communication issues
identified in the research involved body language during team meetings when
an older worker held the floor, such as yawning, lack of eye contact and doodling,
and, a more recent distraction, sending text messages or checking instant messages
on iPhones and PDAs under the table.
Kennedy suggested
some simple fixes companies can implement which include:
-- awareness training during on-boarding about generational differences, office
and meeting etiquette,
-- adopting age-neutral hiring and educational policies that look at the candidate
pool irrespective of age,
-- forming intergenerational work teams to ensure cross-pollination across age
cohorts, and
-- extending continuing and professional educational opportunities to older
workers.
As individuals, older workers
can reach out to younger counterparts by trying new approaches such as initiating
social outings, and learning to text or instant message colleagues if that's
the preferred communication medium of collegial exchange.
"Most Boomers intend
to work into their 70s and want to make a meaningful contribution to their employers,
while staying intellectually stimulated and engaged," added Kennedy. "Age
represents yet another rich source of diversity for companies seeking to leverage
their investment in human capital."
About Age Lessons
Age Lessons is the pre-eminent intergenerational think tank in the U.S., converting
knowledge of the Baby Boomer generation and other age cohorts into business
opportunities and policy recommendations for private and public sector clients.
For more information, visit www.agelessons.com.
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