What's my age again?

When you started working, what was your ambition? Were you hoping to be working at a certain level; earning a certain wage, comfortable that you are able to not only blend work and life, but work towards taking time out to fully live life in retirement? I ask, because if you are a Gen X (or even a baby boomer) or an older Gen Y, then maybe over the last few years your opinion on retirement might have changed.

Age and work

Unlike many baby boomers before us, who have been able to comfortably retire around the age of 60 and enjoy life, many of us are faced with the realisation that we’ll be working into our 70’s. I wonder what you think about that? Does it depress you or excite you? If you are approaching middle age, then you still have over half of your life to live and learn! Where 40 is the new 30, and 60 is the new 50, there has never been more opportunity for people to work, learn and achieve more of their goals in life than ever before.

Understanding the differences

As I look around my workplace and the workplaces I visit, I notice that the age demographic in our organisations is gradually shifting. Some time ago, Manpower research told us that in 2020 there will be 35% of Millennials in work and 24% would be Gen Z. This leaves 41% of employees who will be Gen X or Baby Boomers. With this research came recommendations for how to accommodate millennials into the workforce. There is a lot of great work being delivered by schools, organisations and companies to drive education and skills for the working environment to close the skills gaps between the skills needed at schools and the skills needed in life.

There are many articles on the importance of understanding Millennials and Gen Z and rightly so; we need to ensure that we are understanding their drivers and aspirations, and are able to create work and workplaces that enable them to have a great experience to fully utilise and grow their talents. A workplace that recognises the importance of wellbeing, drives motivation and enables personal growth. After all, these are our leaders of the future so we should take care of them.

Positive age focus

However, with the increasing age and generational profile of people widening in the workplace, are we in danger of forgetting Gen X, and the older generation who are 60 and older? Because the reality is that with the retirement age ever increasing, and with us all living healthier and longer lives, the expectation is we will need to work for longer.

Josh Bersin (HBR) shared that ‘People age 60 and over are projected to outnumber children under the age of five within the next year, and by 2025 we expect 25% of workers in the UK to be over the age of 55. In fact, this same cohort of workers is the fastest growing age group in almost every country’.

However, the biggest age group who can find themselves unemployed are those aged 50 and older, and it can be long term. People are having fewer children, which must mean that at some point we will need all generations to fulfil the work that needs to be done. (Whilst AI is happening, it’s foolish to think this will take away too many jobs, as the reality is that many new jobs will be created in their place).

We're working longer

You may be one of the fortunate ones who can retire at 55 or 60. But the majority of people will likely work into their 70’s. We don’t yet know what might change in the next 20 years but as the workplace continues to evolve, I wonder are we focusing enough on this older age group and supporting them and enabling them to continue to learn and grow?

Does your organisation believe that people in this age group have the desire still to be promoted? Are there a mixture of age groups in your project groups? Do you recognise that investing in training is important, and are you likely to see this age group on your talent identification programs?

Does your organisation believe that people in this age group have the desire still to be promoted? Are there a mixture of age groups in your project groups?What’s your approach to age?

Josh Bersin researched the perception of age for Deloitte and asked around 10,000 companies, “Is age a competitive advantage or competitive disadvantage in your organization?” Over two-thirds of the companies considered older age a competitive disadvantage. So, he says, ‘if you are older, you are likely to be considered less capable, less able to adapt, or less willing to roll up your sleeves and do something new than your younger peers’.

Are we assuming that these people will just want to wind down and eventually leave? Do we think that part time people can’t be invested in the same as full time people? How do we ensure that this age group are supported and provided with every opportunity to continue to grow and learn?

Are there work opportunities for all?

There are articles that suggest that people over 50 are one of the largest groups setting up their own business due to the need for more flexible working or to increase their income alongside another role. However, setting up a business and making profit are two different things, and it can take years to be able to draw an income, or one that enables you to save anything for retirement.

I decided to google ‘working in your 50’s’, here’s what Google told me are often questions asked similar to mine:

? How can a 50-year-old get a job?

? Is 50 too old to change careers?

? What are good jobs for 50-year olds?

? Do companies hire 50-year olds?

I was surprised to see these questions, because it suggests that this age group might not feel noticed at work, might not have opportunities to progress, and perhaps are a bit lost. In reality there is still a long life ahead to live, there is still so much time and opportunity to achieve so much more! Our brains and bodies do not stop working, and our capability to learn, grow and develop does not decrease as our age/number rises!

Is this something that you would want to experience when you reach this age? Is this something you have already experienced? Perhaps you are one of the lucky ones in a role and an organisation that values you for your talents? But what about when you get older? Can you sustain the work you are doing now into your 60’s? What might need to change and is there support in your organisation for this? Do you know what work you’ll be doing in your 60’s? What would you like the opportunities to be like?

Is there a barrier?

The CIPD’s recent report ‘ageing gracefully - the opportunities for an older workforce‘ has kickstarted a bigger debate in the HR community about this. But the reality is how age is perceived, supported and managed shouldn’t just be driven by HR departments, but right from the top of the organisation throughout all of their people. Questioning the unsaid biases, the processes and decisions that are made that creates bias against older age groups. The biggest challenge for all organisations is driving greater awareness and belief in the capabilities of older people, to give them the same opportunities so that they can continue to perform, grow and add value to the organisation. Age shouldn’t be seen as a barrier to delivering good work.

There’s been some interesting headlines recently in various HR publications about this older age group too:

? ‘Over 45’s feel discriminated against at work’ (CIPD; Aviva study)

? ‘As society ages unequally, older workers face a precarious future’ (CIPD)

As workplaces are working to become more transparent and understanding the benefit of human centred and a more connected approach to their people, there are ways that we can help support them, start to drive more positive perceptions, mindsets and beliefs around age and build an inclusive culture:

Recognise growth in the gap year(s)

You are recruiting for a job and you are looking at the CV and you notice an employment gap of a year or two and the reason is ‘for personal reasons’. Perhaps this person has taken time out to care for a relative or for a health reason and couldn’t work during this time. How do you judge them? What might it suggest to you about their ability to jump into the role you are recruiting for and hit the ground running? (Because let’s be honest that’s what everyone expects).

Many organisations work at a fast pace with ever challenging goals and targets, and face equally tough competition. Onboarding is delivered and people are thrown into the deep end with workloads and expectations.

Now, let’s change this scenario; the CV you have in front of you is a twenty something millennial who has taken a gap year or two to travel and work abroad. Would you perceive this gap in the CV any differently?

So, when we are recruiting and we see a gap year, we should also view a gap in a CV for caring or sickness similarly. All of these experiences enable a person to grow, reflect, manage change and challenge, build resilience and develop emotional intelligence.

Check your unconscious bias

The example above is a demonstration of how easily your thinking could be impacted by unconscious bias. Sometimes we just don’t even recognise where our thinking might be biased. It’s not always driven by beliefs or opinions, but general culture and attitudes can shape it too. We might prefer people like us, be selective in the information we hear that might reinforce our initial opinion of someone, and so much more. If you check out the cognitive bias codex image in google, you’ll see there are over a hundred different ways we can be biased in situations.

Manage your mindset

It’s worth considering your own beliefs and assumptions about age. How do you feel about aging? What are your thoughts about recruiting a worker in the 50 plus age group? When you are interviewing, do you notice a person’s age before they say anything, and then does it impact on your ability to see their potential? What’s your own network like? Do you have a mixture of personal and professional colleagues and friends of different ages; some younger, some a similar age, and some older than you?

Drive a learning organisation

According to Manpower, 65% of the jobs Gen Z will perform do not yet exist. Which surely also means that some of these new roles will need to be filled by older generations too? As work evolves people must be able to continue to evolve in their role and learn new skills. It will mean that they are more likely to be adaptable as the role requirements, thinking and skills for the work that needs to be done evolves or changes. What skills do you think your organisation might need going forwards? How can you prepare your people and processes for it?

Our minds never stop learning

Our capacity to learn new things and stay mentally alert doesn’t stop as we age. In fact, it can keep us more alert and have a higher state of wellbeing. Work gives us a sense of purpose, provides us with the opportunity to socialise and helps us remain intellectually active. If we don’t socialise, remain intellectually active and physically active, we are more likely to age significantly. How often do we hear about people who retire and lose their purpose and zest for life?

Widen your peer group

If you believe in lifelong learning as I do, you’ll think that there will always be opportunities and work that you can do. Anyone, regardless of their age who expects to sit in a job that doesn’t change is living in the wrong era. Organisational change, external markets, technology, and everything else is moving at a fast pace. I often talk about change being a constant. So, it makes sense that whatever age we are, that we are always looking to learn and evolve in our knowledge and abilities and how we grow and adapt our role.

This gives a great opportunity for everyone to learn from each other. However, everyone has to be open to listen and learn. People have told me they don’t need to learn something; they have too much experience, or they have all the tools they need. Usually, those people are the ones who need the development the most! So as recommended for a fulfilling in life, at work too, who do you choose to talk to and get advice and feedback from? Is it the people who are a similar age to you? Your biggest learnings and growth will be from getting a mixture of perspectives, from those who are younger and older than you too.

Encourage reverse mentoring and networking

Reverse mentoring, doesn’t have to be a big formal, clunky process, it can just be about encouraging people to talk to each other, widen their working networks, and listen and respect people with different perceptions. Create project groups that reflect a mixture of age groups too.

It’s good for business too. As you age, your clients or customers will likely become younger than you, so building networks and learning across generations can help older generations to understand the younger generations better, which will help drive more relevant decision making, and keep them closer to understanding their customer.

Create voice

How can we create more open conversations for people to share their ambitions and aspirations whatever their age? This isn’t something that only effects the older generation, many people find it difficult to speak up or be honest about their aspirations or ambitions. Development and opportunity isn’t always about a new job title or pay rise, it can also be new projects, cross functional working and learning and growing in the role you are in. Usually if you do this then you’re more open and ready for the next step.

By creating conversations at 121’s or using tools and techniques to understand our strengths and development areas, we can ensure that we are always working towards learning and growing and ready for the next opportunity. Try to get involved in the right conversations and projects, building your credibility and image and gaining exposure, so that people know your talents and capabilities.

Wellbeing for all life stages

We know that at different life stages we’ll place importance on different things, so it makes sense to ensure that your wellbeing programs consider all of the generational groups and how they might need different things to support their physical, mental, emotional, social, financial and values-based wellbeing. One size doesn’t fit all and can actually disengage and disempower people if it’s always about nights out, ping pong tables and exercise clubs.

The sandwich generation 

People in the fifty plus age group are more likely to have caring responsibilities too. Add that to a full-time job and I frequently hear that they get less time for themselves or the headspace for time out. Having an open supportive culture where people can really say what support they might need (temporarily or permanently) without fear of losing their job or being seen as uncommitted is important.

Flexibility to thrive

With the opportunity available for anyone with six months employment to request flexible working, we have to be open to understanding that the traditional nine to five role isn’t the only option to get work done. Job sharing and part time work alongside other flexible working options can also enable people to balance responsibilities and still perform at a high level.

The reality is that with working lives getting longer, all of us; directly or indirectly, will likely be impacted by caring responsibilities of some sort during our working lives. Having policies and support in place means less time for an employee spent worrying and using lots of headspace trying to manage everything. Instead with the right support in place they can care for their dependants and then have the full head space at work to utilise their talents and strengths fully and effectively.

Drive a culture of openness and trust

To facilitate high performance, create a culture and environment that provides the opportunity for everyone to be vulnerable and be truthful around what they need, and how to make it happen.

If you just read that last sentence thinking that you could never be like that in your organisation, then it might be time to start thinking about what needs to change. If you cannot have honest conversations then you probably have lots of untapped potential being underutilised. Culture change takes time, requires trust, consistent behaviour and delivery of promises.

What do you really want?

Frequently I talk to people who are unhappy or frustrated about something. Often after a while of going around different options, we come to the question I always ask ‘what is it that you really want?’ Sometimes people are able to sense it straight away, other times they need time to reflect. The real answer requires them to have a level of trust. Often the answer is very different to the problem, need or frustration they came in with. This helps me to explore with them ways in which they can find support, or opportunities that the organisation can support them with.

Likewise, when working with all generations in an organisation, a culture of trust enables openness, to get right to the heart of an issue or challenge so that it can be effectively resolved before it becomes an issue that is impossible to solve. This includes identifying when there may be mindset blind spots or unconscious biases informing decision making.

Is your culture inclusive?

Take a look at how you make decisions; who is included on projects, are there patterns? What do your policies, processes, and social and culture norms tell you about how age is perceived in your organisation? How might this cause people to feel different?

Create a culture that removes the mask

Most of us don’t want to go to work wearing a mask, we want to be able to be ourselves as much as possible. Don’t let age create a barrier for opportunity and an environment of actors. You won’t get high performance or engaged people.

Are you and your organisation ready for the 50+ years?

How do you think and feel in your 50’s and 60’s? If you’re not there yet, how might you want to think and feel when you hit this age group and older and still want to work? How do you want to be treated? What opportunities would you like to have? If you are a leader or manager in your organisation, do you notice age? Does it inform your decisions, or are there some unconscious biases or mindset truths that you need to explore?

Take a look around at the culture and practices you have now. See through new eyes how you and your organisation might support a wider age group even better. Then create a more inclusive way of being and working that drives a present and future of opportunity for everyone.