Why Startups Should Start Considering Generationally Diverse Talent

With the industry disruption brought about by the COVID-19 Pandemic, digitalization and the shifts in the economy, businesses need the broadest and most diverse set of skills in order to survive. While more and more organizations are now committed to creating and fostering a culture of intergenerational collaboration, most startups continue to overlook the potential benefits of seeking out older employees and building a foundation of generational diversity.

When hiring talent for your start-up, you want people who are experienced and enterprising – people who have the professional background to establish innovative strategies for success, and who will be able to find solutions to the problems you will face as a new business. So why is there an age bias against older workers?      

The Main Reasons Why Start-Ups Often Overlook Age-Diverse Candidates

First, there is a technological bias,  based on the perception that older workers do not have a strong grasp on the latest technologies. The tendency to give preference to younger applicants, stems from the assumption that a senior technology executive in the 40s-50s age bracket will stick with obsolete architectures and technology stacks.  Yet, this assumption overlooks the fact that a younger applicant would be less experienced in building teams, setting up the right type of architectures, handling different types of edge case scenarios, and scaling their solutions. This can prevent startups from addressing challenges effectively, and growing to reach their potential. 

Second, is the perception of inflexibility, the belief that older workers are set in their ways and resistant to change or new methods. However, startups do need a balance between creativity and practicality in order to bring the most innovative ideas into fruition.  Older workers often appear inflexible and overly-cautious because they have the experience to recognize the pitfalls and drawbacks of an exciting idea. In an open forum, where everyone is respected for their expertise, the exciting idea can be shaped into a viable plan. 

Third, is the perceived threat to cultural cohesion, which can be an important foundation for a start-up. There is a perception that while younger workers will bond over a shared narrative, based on cultural references, working styles and methods of communication, older workers – who are not part of the same subculture – will struggle to fit in. In this scenario, it is important to note that a start-up culture is intrinsically different from a corporate culture that is generally more formal and structured, and most older workers are intentionally stepping away from their traditional job to make this cultural shift. The solution to fostering cultural cohesion lies in the leadership of the startup, creating a shared narrative that is based on commitment to the company goals, joint success and mutual respect and appreciation for different skillsets and expertise.  

Finally,  there is a concern that an older worker with years of corporate experience will have highcompensation requirements that exceed what a start-up can afford. Start-ups with limited funding need to be extremely frugal, and they cannot afford to over-invest in salaries. The general premise is that senior professionals should be hired late in the growth stage when the start-up has secured sufficient funding, or alternatively be brought in as board members. However, there are many older and highly experienced professionals out there who are prepared to take a salary cut for the sake of contributing to an exciting new project, particularly in today’s climate when people are resistant to staying in a job where they have no sense of purpose or fulfilment.   

What Start-Ups Miss Out On By Not Hiring Age-Diverse Talent

This age bias against older workers deprives start-ups of people with the knowledge and experience to recognize potential problems and challenges before they arise, as younger workers tend to have less first-hand experience with challenging scenarios. Furthermore, generational diversity is fundamental in order to attract the widest possible range of customers. Just as traditional industries need to hire younger talent to appeal to an emerging sector of the market, a B2B start-up needs to hire experienced professionals who can interact successfully with senior executives from established organizations.  Because of their lack of generational diversity, many start-ups not only struggle to win the trust and respect of senior clients or investors, but also to price their products or solutions competitively. Many, in fact, suffer the impact of price/age discrimination, where having a younger team leads to a lower price point compared to similar solutions of equal or lesser value. 

When they look beyond the clichéd view of older workers, start-ups can build a dynamic and versatile team with a wealth of knowledge and experience. By caving into the perception that older workers are restricted in their thinking, the start-up actually creates the problem it is trying to avoid – setting up an echo chamber where ideas circulate without the skills, experience  and perspectives needed to bring them into reality and navigate challenges along the way. 

According to the XYZ@Work 2020 Multigenerational Workforce Study, Millennials and Gen Z express a strong desire to learn from older generations, particularly to hone their skills in negotiation, leadership, networking, strategic thinking, attention to detail, organizational politics, professional conduct and customer liaison. When a startup can combine the vitality, creativity and tech-savviness of the younger generations, with the experience, knowledge and resilience of the older ones, they can come up with a more diverse range of strategies and techniques, and a more versatile approach to problem-solving, both collectively, and individually.

How Start-Ups Can Attract and Hire More Senior Professionals

So, what can startups do in order to attract and hire more senior professionals and bring much needed diversity into the organization? The first step is to foster a culture where everyone feels equally valuable, respected, recognized, and able to contribute, and where the team works collaboratively to define the vision, the product and the best way forward.

Second, is to establish an Employer Value Proposition that is catered to a generationally diverse audience, and highlights the benefits of working there. Startups, for example, can offer valuable career pivot opportunities for senior professionals by providing a transition into a new role where they can build on their prior experience while redirecting their career. 

Finally, startups must understand that they don’t need to compete with corporate salary packages. Instead, they can offer other incentives. One way is to explore government sponsored programs that provide extra resources for transition and assimilation of the experienced workforce into startups, as well as training and development, salary credits, and tax deductions. However, the most important incentive a startup can offer potential employees of any age group, is the opportunity to contribute to an exciting new venture, in a forum where they will feel both inspired and valued. 

Although every start-up is different, those with a diverse and motivated team and a mutually supportive communication style can achieve great things, particularly in the B2B segment. And I foresee a future where senior professionals coming out of traditional industries will pair up with younger founders and build companies that will become the disruptors of the very same traditional companies they walked away from.