Older workers are individuals too

Research* shows that despite age discrimination legislation, much ageism actually occurs at line manager level. Whether consciously or not, managers often make decisions relating to an individual’s age – young or old – based on erroneous information reflecting ageist stereotypes. Viewpoint by Dianne Bown-Wilson, Author, speaker and consultant

Many managers also report that they are reluctant to manage older individuals even though they admit to having no problem “managing” their parents!
Effective management of older employees comes down, first and foremost, to addressing their individual requirements rather than regarding them as an homogenous group with shared needs and aspirations.

This means that depending on individual circumstances such as financial position, family situation, caring responsibilities, outside interests or remaining career ambitions, some older employees may continue to want to work full time, whilst others may favour reduced working hours, project or consultancy work, or a sabbatical. And of course, some will still just want to retire completely, as soon as is financially possible.

At the end of working life there are huge benefits for both employees and employers in offering flexible, transitional retirement rather than the stark “cliff edge” situation that is still so often the norm in the UK workplace. Such an approach allows for appropriate succession planning over a number of years, ongoing talent management and for renewed engagement of many older individuals who may find fresh motivation in mentoring and developing younger colleagues.

This is an extract from the Viewpoint column in the May issue of Professional Manager

Dianne Bown-Wilson is an author, speaker, and consultant. She is one of founders of in my prime (www.inmyprime.co.uk) a specialist age management consultancy. She is also currently undertaking PhD research into later life careers at Cranfield School of Management

* Rupp, D.; Vodanovich, S.; Credé, M., (2006), Age Bias in the Workplace: The Impact of Ageism and Causal Attributions, Journal of Applied Social Psychology, Vol. 36, Issue 6, pp1337-1364

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