Talking Point: Do you really know how to get the best out of your older workers?

As published on HRzone

Posted by Dianne Bown-Wilson, chief executive of in my prime in Managing people, Business lifestyle on Tue, 27/03/2012 – 15:43

Of all the things that we aspire to during our career, being an ‘older worker’ probably isn’t one of them.

Yet, as we age, this identity is thrust upon us and, with it, a range of stereotypes based on other people’s perceptions.

As a 56-year old manager recently pointed out: “Suddenly all that people seem to see is your grey hair, and their attitudes toward you start to change.”

But as studies have confirmed, individuals don’t primarily identify with being ‘older workers’ themselves, but rather as still being the person that they feel they have always been. No wonder that this situation can generate conflicting feelings about one’s position as an older person in today’s workplace.  

Herminia Ibarra, INSEAD professor of organizational behaviour and author of ‘Working Identity’ maintains that our identity at work is an amalgam of how we see ourselves in our professional role, what we convey about ourselves to others and, ultimately, how we live our working lives.

But for older workers facing change at a number of levels, this scenario may generate a variety of problems. For example, after many years in a given role, older employees may have an entrenched view of their work-related identity.  

They may also become defensive as they realise that their career has plateaued and become increasingly withdrawn as they perceive a future where working life is likely to just involve ‘more of the same’. But many identity issues for older workers also emanate from changes to the nature of their work.

Negative stereotypes

In his book ‘The Start-up of You’, LinkedIn co-founder, Reid Hoffman, says: “There used to be a long-term pact between employee and employer that guaranteed lifetime employment in exchange for lifetime loyalty; this pact has been replaced by a performance-based, short-term contract that’s perpetually up for renewal by both sides.”  

For many older people who started work in a time of jobs-for-life, dealing with today’s lack of security and uncertainty in career progression terms can be traumatic and challenging. At worst, they may feel short-changed; at best, uncertain of how to negotiate this unfamiliar terrain in order to continue to being successful.

The situation has only been made worse by phenomena such as globalisation and technology, which have fuelled demand for new skills, increased levels of flexibility and continuous learning.

As a result of all of this, older people can fear losing their status and expertise and start questioning their purpose and relevance, while wondering whether and for how long they can keep up the pace. These pressures can also lead to generally unspoken fears along the lines of ‘who am I these days?’ and ‘what do others expect from me?’

One of the issues is that stereotypes about older workers tend to be based on a range of either conscious or unconscious assumptions. These include the belief that they are resistant to change; are slower and less flexible; are reluctant to participate in training or re-training and resent younger managers or colleagues.

The majority of older workers can overcome these perceptions by virtue of their own continuing high performance, adaptability and resilience levels, however. But some do inevitably struggle with change and this scenario can lead to behaviours and attitudes that serve to reinforce negative stereotypes.

For example, older people may be fearful of losing their jobs and of being unable to find another one due to their age. They may also feel threatened by younger colleagues and afraid that they are starting to underperform.

Such fear and defensiveness can lead to individuals feeling resentful and aggrieved, but such feelings not only serve to entrench ageist perceptions but can also damage their own position.

Differing requirements

As a result, HR professionals and line managers who recognise this situation and appreciate the validity of such concerns should take steps to deal with them straight away in order to prevent them from becoming entrenched.

But dealing with older workers’ attitudes and behaviours effectively does entail understanding something of each individual’s personal circumstances. For instance, for many people, as both their children and parents age and grandchildren start to arrive, it is a time of great personal change and potential role conflict.

But the practical implications of supporting younger and older generations at the same time may generate new financial and emotional pressures. Retirement starts to loom, but it may be viewed more as a concern than something to be welcomed.

As for continuing to work, older employees have a range of different aspirations – some will want to continue progressing, for example, while others may want to slow down and put in fewer hours or take on less responsibility.

Some may want to change roles, careers, or even become self-employed but they may also lack the confidence to do so. Others might feel frustrated and marginalised on realising that they are perceived as ‘older’ and on feeling that they are being overlooked in terms of further development.

Still others may be bored and lack an interesting challenge, however, or they may be stressed, facing burn-out and lacking any kind of work/life balance.

Awareness of these and other concerns should ideally come naturally through ongoing informal communication at line manager level, where issues can be dealt with sensitively and appropriately.

Appropriate support

Pertinent responses might include discussing various options such as flexible working, particularly for those with caring responsibilities, or re-training/upskilling for those who need to be reassured of their continuing value.

Appraisals and performance management processes are likewise fundamental as a means of providing focused feedback and they should be used as a forum to set goals and future direction.

However, much can also be done on an informal basis. Mixed age teams, ‘buddying’ schemes and the involvement of older people in project work can both benefit the organisation and help older workers increase their comfort levels around change.

Mentoring and coaching programmes can likewise reinforce older people’s sense of value and assist them in exploring their changing identity.

Alongside such support, however, training around financial, life planning and work-life balance should be also provided for workers of all ages rather than just the usual ‘too little, too late’ pre-retirement programmes.

Health and wellness initiatives are likewise vital and should involve all generations in order to reinforce the message that older workers must be included and valued rather than simply maginalised.

Ultimately, supporting older workers effectively comes down to recognising that, although some are having to work longer purely for financial reasons, many find personal meaning in their employment and are committed to it.

“I am an engineer and a good one,” a 67-year old told me recently. “This is who I am and as long as I can deliver what they need, why does it matter how old I am?”

Dianne Bown-Wilson is chief executive of workplace age management and diversity consultancy, in my prime.

 

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6.1 million over 50s set to work past retirement age

According to retirement specialist LV=’s newly released Working Late Index, 28% of working over-50’s are planning on average to work past state retirement age for an extra six years, which based on today’s retirement age would see them retiring at age 71 for men and 66 for women. One in five over-50s (19%) said they expect to work for at least a decade past the current state retirement age.

Two thirds of those ‘working later’ apparently will do so because they can’t afford to retire.

The report goes on to state that one in five over-50s – equivalent to 4.3 million people – who had retired have since gone back into work. Of those who have gone back into work: 

• 11% returned in a part-time capacity, 6% into voluntary (unpaid) work and 3% back full-time
• 37% went back to work because they felt they were too young to retire
• 32% missed being part of the working environment
• For 30% it was financially-related: 20% said it was a necessity as their personal and/or state pension wasn’t enough to support them in their retirement, and one in ten (10%) needed to go back to work to help continue financially supporting their family

However, going back into employment after retirement has given some over-50s an opportunity to fulfil other ambitions. A fifth (19%) made a complete career change and 12% set up their own business. Many have chosen to go back to work in a role that requires fewer hours than before (27%), and 18% are doing a job that is less stressful than their previous job.

In terms of these findings this is an interesting study. However LV’s use of the phrase “state retirement age” isn’t helpful in a society in which we have now abolished mandatory retirement. Obviously they mean state pension age as they say “as the state retirement age increases to age 65 years for women in 2018, and to 66 for men and women in 2020”.

This wouldn’t matter except that it seems clear that the sooner we decouple the concept of retirement from that of drawing a pension the more helpful this will be for people in terms of understanding the options open to them in later life.

Older workers and performance appraisals – it takes two to tango

According to recent research from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development* older workers are being neglected in terms of training and performance management.

 Having surveyed 2,000 employees they found that less than half (46%) of respondents aged 65 and above had had a formal performance appraisal either annually or more frequently compared to 65% of the overall workforce.

Unfortunately the CIPD report tells us nothing new; research shows that for decades older workers have been disregarded for training and development often with the excuse that “they aren’t interested” or “they’re resistant to change”.

The advantage of the recent anti-discrimination and equality legislation is that it gives older workers the right to be treated equally i.e. to insist on the same treatment as their younger colleagues in terms of performance appraisals and training and development activities. But, they need the motivation to take such a stance

While employers need to be reminded of the advantages of performance management for all (65% falling well short of an adequate percentage) equally older workers need to be encouraged to be proactive in requesting performance appraisals and related development activities.

For many this may involve working out with their manager or employer how best to pass on their skills and experience to younger, less experienced colleagues, to the benefit of the company, their colleagues and themselves. 

As my own recent research has confirmed, most older people are highly motivated by concepts of contribution, giving back and developing others. Reverse mentoring may also be beneficial as a means of helping older people keep up to date with new practices and developments, while having the additional effect of improving intergenerational communication and teamworking.

Employers are missing a trick by failing to utilise the natural conduit that is the performance appraisal as a means of instigating these and other activities.

*’Employee Outlook: Focus on an Ageing Workforce’ available from the CIPD

Older workers: doing the right stuff

Back in 1992 an academic article* was published examining differences in the rates of career progression between male and female managers. It took the approach of examining the importance for female managers of “doing all the right stuff” in terms of the behaviours that their male counterparts demonstrated that got them promoted (e.g. getting a similar education as the men, maintaining similar family responsibilities, working in similar industries, not moving in and out of the work force, not removing their names from consideration for transfers).

While, unfortunately, the article demonstrated that doing all these things was still not enough to overcome the significant disparities in men’s and women’s salary progression and geographic mobility it was a fascinating approach and one which might usefully be applied to improving the position of older workers in today’s employment arenas.

It appears from numerous reports that discrimination against older workers, despite legislation, is still ingrained and invidious across many workplaces even though it is no longer acceptable for older workers to be turned down or disregarded for opportunities due to vague notions of inadequacies relating to their age. This being the case, identifying what “the right stuff” is for employees within a particular organization could at least open a dialogue and potentially make the achievement of those qualities more accessible to older workers.

Taking this perspective would help clarify exactly what the key behaviours for success are considered to be within that organization. For example, if employees are expected to be “dynamic” and “innovative”, what types of behaviours demonstrate this? What might younger people be doing in behavioural or attitudinal terms that their older colleagues are not?  Having decided this, those of any age who required development to better achieve and exhibit those behaviours could then be given support to improve their position and performance and their chances of future employment success.

One of the criticisms which is often leveled at older workers is that they are resistant to training and development activities. Research has shown that where this occurs this may be because they perceive the training on offer as irrelevant to their needs. Perhaps this approach might engage older individuals more and help to bring them into organization-wide talent development programmes that at present, seem to largely exclude the over 50s.

In the worst case scenario such an exercise would at least demonstrate – as in the article mentioned above – that even doing all the right stuff will still not be enough to ensure older workers receive the same opportunities as younger people.

Hopefully, though, any organization that had been through such a process would have improved recognition of the need for fairness for all.

* All the right stuff: A comparison of female and male manager’s career progression. Linda Stroh, Jeanne Brett and Anne Reilly, Journal of Applied Psychology, Vol 77(3), Jun 1992, 251-260