3-17-10 Age Diversity, Part 1

I mentioned in a previous post (2-3-10 Executive Lessons in Sports) how important it is to remember your older “players” on the team. Across the board, our workforce is aging….. Many of the baby-boomers will continue to work for many, many years. And true, it probably isn’t politically correct to single out one group of workers based on age (but I never claimed to be PC here!). The fact is, every executive NEEDS the old-timers on their team. Why?

There are a lot of reasons. But here are a few that come to my mind……

First, they have knowledge and experience. You are now thinking, well DUH! But stop and think about it. When you need something big done, or something done quickly, or just something done….. Don’t you have a “go to” person? And I’m betting that this go to person is probably one of your older workers. They have the experience and they know what you need without you having to lay out every little step. Right?

Second, they tend to just quietly get things done. Not a lot of fanfare. Not a lot of hand-holding. They just quietly go about their business, generally accomplishing a ton of work. While you must have a few of the Type A, hair-on-fire-type of people on your team, you really need more of the “quiet doers”. Typically those are your older workers.

Third, they have the requisite network of contacts. In most organizations, business is conducted through a network of contacts. Longevity necessarily means that the person’s network is vast. This translates into ease of doing business.

And finally, along with knowledge, the senior workers typically know where all of the skeletons are buried. And while that has its own pitfalls, that knowledge is typically good for business. The older workers know which rats nests to tip-toe around. Yea, I know, you think that you want those rats nests cleaned up, not avoided. But be realistic, some just won’t go away, no matter what is done. So you want someone that won’t blunder into a problem that lingers over the decades.

So what is it that an executive should be doing for the older workers?

Well, first you have to keep them engaged. NO retirement-in-place. Not always an easy thing to do. But, if you consciously make an effort to make your older workers the “go to” people, you’ve made a start. And I don’t just mean that you are the one that goes to them. I also mean that you make the effort to direct others to these workers --- over and over. We all have egos and it feels good to be the “one” that people from all over the organization come to for a particular expertise.

Next, you have to tap into the knowledge, experience, and network. Of course, this means making sure they have the opportunity to use their knowledge, experience, and network. And it also includes the absolute requirement that they use this experience to train the kids in the organization. They WILL retire someday and you want the skeletons’ locations to be firmly entrenched in the minds of their replacements.

And finally, you have to reward them. It is so easy, as a manager, to skew the merit pool towards the kids. After all, the older workers already make a lot of money, right? And it isn’t like they are going anywhere else, right? Maybe. But if you don’t reward them, then you do run the risk of retirement-in-place. And remember, for a senior worker, an annual salary increase might not be the best reward. It is okay to talk with them about what rewards they would like. Perhaps a few extra days a month away from work is a better reward…Or a lump sum merit…. Or giving them the opportunity to take their spouse on the next business trip (expenses paid, of course). The point is, ask them. You will likely be pleasantly surprised with the conversation.

Next time? What to do with the workplace kids…….

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!