Last week, I gave a presentation on age-friendly workplaces at the ISCEBS Employee Benefits Symposium in Nashville. To celebrate International Age Diversity Day, this post summarizes highlights of the presentation, including strategies to make your workplace age friendly.
About International Age Diversity Day
Sponsored by The Age Diversity Forum, International Age Diversity Day is a global day celebrating age diversity in the workplace. Formerly known as Champion Age Diversity Day, it’s celebrated every year on September 24, with 2024 marking its 6th year.
The day marks a call to action to not overlook age as part of the Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI) agenda. Considering an AARP survey of employers in 36 countries reported less than half include age in their DEI programs, we have work to do!
Age diversity is good for business
With many boomers exiting the workforce, and fewer younger workers available to replace them, many employers are experiencing labour shortages for the first time in a generation. In fact, a January 2024 survey by Express Employment Professionals reported 89% of employers expected hiring challenges in 2024, and 36% had open positions they couldn’t fill.
Labour shortages aside, age diversity is good for business. An OECD report shows businesses with multi-generational workforces realized many benefits including increased productivity, better retention of experience and knowledge, and enhanced resilience.
Despite increased DEI focus and people living longer healthier lives, ageism is the last socially acceptable form of discrimination. Advertisers, media, and large corporations perpetuate outdated stereotypes of older adults.
In addition to the AARP study referenced earlier, an international survey conducted earlier this year by Women of Influence+ reported almost four out of five women face age discrimination at work, with many of them saying they face unique challenges compared to their male colleagues.
Change is long overdue. International Age Diversity Day is an excellent time to start.
How the generations complement each other
Despite facing labour shortages, it’s a sad reality that many corporations see older workers as a cost or a burden, not valuing the wisdom that comes with experience. Older workers have intimate knowledge of an organization’s products, customer, policies and procedures, and politics. It is difficult to replace and transition that knowledge.
In his book From Strength to Strength: Finding Success, Happiness, and Deep Purpose in the Second Half of Life, Arthur C. Brooks discusses fluid intelligence and crystallized intelligence, and how the generations complement each other.
Younger workers are stronger in fluid intelligence, giving them the ability to analyze, innovate, and solve new problems without knowledge from the past.
Older workers, on the other hand, demonstrate crystallized intelligence which encapsulates knowledge, facts, and experience. This increases their ability to synthesize complex ideas and understand what they mean.
Brooks sums it up nicely when he says this means younger workers can solve problems quickly, but older workers know which problems are worth solving. Successful companies recognize this and find opportunities to get the generations working together.
Common threads across generations
Most discussions about multi-generational workplaces focus on the differences between generations. Each generation does bring a unique perspective shaped by major events that took place during their formative years. When it comes to what they want from a job, however, the generations aren’t all that different.
Research by Bain & Company shows older workers value interesting work, good compensation, flexibility, job security and autonomy. Four of those top five priorities are consistent across all age groups. For younger workers, learning and development opportunities replace autonomy as the fifth priority.
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Strategies for age-friendly workplaces
Overcoming ageism is key to solving the labour shortages faced by many organizations. Older workers are a large untapped labour pool often overlooked in conversations about recruiting and retention. It’s time to change that.
An age-friendly world enables people of all ages to participate actively and treats everyone with respect, regardless of their age.
World Health Organization
Here are five strategies for age-friendly workplaces:
Flexibility
Stats Can’s 2023 Labour Force Survey found 55% of those planning to retire would continue working longer if they could work part time.
As they age, individuals start to value time more than money. Older workers will join or stay with organizations that offer flexibility. Consider things like a compressed work week, job sharing, teleworking, sabbaticals, and phased retirement. Returnships are another way to entice retired workers back.
Training and development opportunities
Many companies target learning and development opportunities at younger workers, yet an AARP survey found 9 out of 10 older workers are interested in developing new professional skills.
Further, 38% of those planning to retire would continue working longer if given the opportunity for more interesting work according to StatsCan’s 2023 Labour Force Survey.
Making learning and growth opportunities available to workers of all ages, and talking to older workers about their plans and goals will make them feel valued and increase retention and engagement.
Intergenerational cooperation
Each generation has different strengths and can learn a lot from exposure to different viewpoints from other generations. Providing opportunities for intergenerational cooperation benefits everyone and it can have a positive impact on an organization’s culture and results.
Fostering intergenerational cooperation is about putting programs in place to bring the generations together and supporting cross-generational knowledge sharing. Formal and informal mentorship opportunities, and Employee Resource Groups, are good places to start.
Recruiting
While much of the conversation about older workers focuses on retention, recruiting workers from this demographic can help fill skill gaps.
A quick glance at the careers page on a company’s website says a lot about the type of worker the company wants to attract. If the page shows lots of images of smiling younger workers, an older worker may feel they wouldn’t belong.
The careers page should make everyone feel they would belong regardless of age, ethnicity, gender, or ability.
Benefits
Finally, benefits plan design can go a long way toward attracting and retaining older workers. Research from the Employee Benefit Research Institute shows core health and retirement plans top the list of benefits workers in the age 50 to 64 age group are looking for.
Beyond the core plan, many non-traditional benefits are important to this age group. Caregiver benefits, grandparent leave, and menopause benefits are growing in popularity. And wellness benefits can help many in this age group who are dealing with chronic illnesses.
International Age Diversity Day is an excellent opportunity for organizations to reflect on their track record on age diversity. With people living longer healthier lives, tapping into this growing demographic just makes good business sense.
What examples of age-friendly programs have you seen? Drop me a comment below to let me know.
I really do believe (and have experienced) that having a mixed group of ages can be so beneficial. It’s always good to have a diversity of experiences, perspectives, energy, etc., it adds something layered and deep to most situations. It’s nice to have a day of awareness for this!
I agree Molly. People are so quick to make assumptions about other generations, but I always loved working with my younger colleagues. You just have to be willing to listen to each other’s points of view.
You’ve hit on one of my key beliefs regarding education. An effective school is a combination of new and experienced teachers. The veteran teachers can mentor and support the newer ones while the young educators can inject some needed enthusiasm by reminding their colleagues why they got into the teaching business in the first place.
Exactly, Pete! The intergenerational cooperation is key, yet so many people don’t see that.
Thank you for this, Michelle. I will admit I did not know there was such a day but how wonderful it is. I agree with the points you shared – there’s so much richness and opportunity when we embrace differences related to age and experience, culture and more. 🥰
Exactly. We’re so much farther ahead if we accept that we can learn from people who are different from us. I just finished reading the book “Generations” by Jean Twenge. It’s a fascinating, data-based, look at different generations and why they think and act the way they do. It was very insightful.
I love that book! And Twenge’s “The Narcissism Epidemic” is also excellent. Yes, yes, yes. Accept and learn. Stay open. Thanks, Michelle! 🥰
Thanks for the suggestion. I’ll add that one to my reading list.
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I agree that workplace DEI efforts should factor in age diversity as it intersects so many communities. With age generally comes wisdom and experience that can benefit both the organization and employees, including through establishing mentorship programs amongst employees.
Thanks Ab. I agree. Aging is something we ALL have in common, regardless of what other communities we are part of. A couple of years ago, I did a presentation on inclusive language and someone questionned whether I, as someone who doesn’t belong to a minority group, was the right person to be talking about inclusivity. I replied that, even as a white woman over 50, I’ve experienced plenty of discrimination in my life.