Thinking Differently About Older Workers: What Recruiters Want Employers to Know

What do recruiters want employers to know about the age 50+ workforce?

Well, by definition, recruiters' jobs and success are to source the best talent for any given position.?

So when I asked leading recruiters and experts what they wanted employers to know about job seekers and employees age 50+, they were quick to weigh in.

Their responses, collectively, brought me back to one of my favorite Apple campaigns of all time: Think Different. Except that it’s not a crazy idea to think that in a time of dramatic talent shortages across industries, we need to think differently about WHO can become and continue to be part of our success.

Here’s what the experts I reached out to had to say.

1. Thinking differently: Older workers are a missed opportunity.

Chelle Johnson is an executive recruiter and talent advisor for high impact companies, the CEO of Best You Talent Advisors and a Forbes.job exclusive recruiter.

Here's what she wants employers to understand:

Employers may be missing out on the most loyal, productive and adaptable employees on the market.? Recruiting and hiring older workers will immediately?add value and boost the bottom line.? Older workers have decades of diverse experiences, have driven positive results, are agile, focused, and have the energy to meet the demands of today's workplace.??

Chelle went on to say:

It's unfortunate that age bias restricts many employers who have preconceived stereotypes that are just incorrect.? Older workers have been through more change, are more independent, and have the grit, determination, and soft skills that most employers crave.?

If you want to leverage that opportunity to immediately add value, what are some of the things that you should be doing as an employer?

2. Thinking differently: "Flip" the conversation about older jobseekers, address discrimination and confront stereotypes and assumptions.

Andrew Hudson , a longtime friend and colleague who leveraged his vast communications and marketing experience to start Andrew Hudson’s Job List, connecting professionals with employers in Colorado and beyond, ALWAYS is willing to lend a hand to jobseekers. He shared with me his best advice for employers who want to source the best talent.

"All too often, common negative and false stereotypes and assumptions about older professionals sneak into the hiring and promotion process.? While many would argue that this is unintentional, the bottom line is ageism in the recruiting process is illegal.? Everyone in your organization (not just HR staff and recruiters) needs to be actively trained and monitored so that older job seekers and current employees are not discriminated against due to their age and that these stereotypes?are not eliminating older professionals from employment and promotional opportunities.

Employers should intentionally 'flip' the conversation about older job seekers!? Specifically consider the valuable traits older job seekers can bring to an organization:?

• Maturity and leadership
• Institutional industry knowledge and connections?
• Experience, accomplishments and successes related to the roles you are hiring
• Mentorship experience for younger professionals in your organization
• Specific skills, experiences and accomplishments related to your organization's challenges and goals

All too often, I see language in job postings that is discriminatory or simply unfriendly to older job seekers.? Not only is this unfair (and potentially illegal!) but it also eliminates incredible talent from your pool of applicants.? ?While it is totally appropriate to find talent with specific skills and years of experience, use language that is age neutral that can cast a wide net to recruit job seekers and avoid unfair blanket assumptions about how old someone has to be to fill a role."

And Andrew concluded by addressing what is often the elephant in the room:

Don't immediately assume that an older job seeker is 'unaffordable.'? Yes, you should compensate everyone fairly based on the role and their experience but don't immediately eliminate an older job seeker from consideration without having a conversation.? ?I've?consulted with many older job seekers whose experience and background are incredibly valuable but they are not necessarily expecting a high level role or a six figure salary.? Many would be thrilled to land a role that has less management or supervisory responsibilities!? But again, flip the conversation: will they be willing to share their talents and experience as a contract consultant or work on a part-time, project-specific basis??

3. Thinking differently: Eliminate bias from hiring.

Joan Kennedy, a Boston-based Senior Talent Acquisition Partner, Fractional Recruiter, and a SHRM-certified professional, had this advice for hiring managers:

Hiring managers should start with a self examination of their own attitudes about older people from their personal experiences and upbringing. If possible, seek out Unconscious Bias training to avoid jumping to any conclusions that may not be based on facts and reality.

She continued:

"I always recommend hiring for skills and ability, thinking about how this unique person can contribute towards successfully completing work that needs to be done. Don't "hire from the negative", looking to auto-reject candidates based on any false assumptions like the term "overqualified". Instead focus on the unique abilities, work ethic, years of wisdom as it applies."

4. Thinking differently: Design jobs for age-inclusivity.

Vivien Edwards , a recruiter specializing in age diversity and inclusion, and founder of Mature Recruitment, an international age diversity recruitment agency, weighed in on the importance of job and culture design.

Employers need to think of flexible working arrangements, ensuring they can offer or accommodate remote work, part-time roles or flexible hours.

Vivien went on to point out how this flexibility benefits the entire workforce.

These working arrangements are attractive to all ages however if you are trying to attract older worker who may have other responsibilities—such as caring for older parents, or a partner—this would be very attractive.

Vivien also emphasized the importance of professional development.

Create a culture of continuous learning and shout it from the rooftops; older workers are often overlooked when it comes to ongoing professional development at all career stages,? and employers must make it an attractive selling point.

"This showcases that employers value their growth and see their potential for contribution, not just past achievements. This will create an environment where intergenerational teams can thrive, with knowledge sharing flowing in all directions."

5. Thinking differently: Embed age-inclusivity into your culture and metrics.

Research shows that age is often not included in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion initiatives, and is not measured.

Kim Anderson, a National Diversity Council Certified Diversity Executive, and founder of GreySource, ?has some advice for employers about making age-inclusivity real.

Forward thinking employers desiring to?succeed at bringing older workers into their talent pipelines and fostering high functioning multi-generational teams should challenge themselves with these questions:

1. Have we identified the key metrics within our organization that can be measured, evaluated, and reported to our key stakeholders that demonstrate the economic impact of our multi-generational teams?
2. Do our company culture and practices VISIBLY emulate value for the attraction, retention and sharing of both new ideas AND institutional knowledge across all our workforce generations?
3. What accountabilities have we put in place to ensure that this core value is ?executed and “living” at all levels of our corporation?

How an employer answers these questions and what they do about it will be the differentiator between those who are seen by older professionals as authentically welcoming places where they can contribute and thrive and those that are not.??

What will YOU do?

Here are a few steps that you can take to reap the benefits of becoming more age-inclusive:

• Read my prior article on Why Employers Should Include Older Adults in Their Talent Strategy , and direct message me if you’d like to engage me to provide a workshop to your team, organization, or ERG.
• Take the Implicit Association Test on the Harvard University website (scroll to the bottom of the lists of tests to select the Age Test). Recognizing our own bias is the first step to developing a more age-inclusive culture.
• Have a recruitment need? Reach out to one of the savvy recruiters quoted in this article, each of whom understands the benefits of intergenerational teams.

? Janine Vanderburg, 2024.

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