Have We Reached the Age of No Age Limit Yet?

Ageism is one of the most unfair, but seldom talked about, situations in the workplace.  After putting in decades of energy, focus, learning and hard work into their professions, many older worker find themselves penalized for having done just that.  Quite the paradox I would say.

Conversations about diversity, equity and inclusion are common place today but rarely focus on age.  There are programs, career paths and celebrations around emerging leaders, 30 under 30, up and coming, high potential middle managers,  40 under 40 and more.

 But we don’t hear much about opportunities, celebrations or career paths for those over 50.  This disregard and assumption that individuals should head out the door once they are in their 60’s is antiquated and clearly a missed opportunity.  Age diverse teams bring talented people together and when carefully managed can offer improved decision making, more productive collaboration and off-the-charts superior performance, creating a new sustainable competitive advantage in the noisy and competitive marketplace.  Why would any organization watch its younger folk repeat the mistakes that the older folk could help them avoid.  If you want new hires to ramp up quickly, provide them with a seasoned Sherpa to act as a guide during the ascent.

 I recently had a conversation with an individual who specializes in board placements and the trend to raising age limits for directors to 75 came up.  He was telling me that during the debate on this he heard that 75 was “too old” because that person would have retired and has probably lost touch with the working world today.  Seems to me this assumption needs to be challenged.  We should be placing our value on people themselves, not how long they’ve been on the planet. 

I guess we have to start with believing that different generations have something to learn from each other.  Imagine if a young “up and comer” could learn about an industry, improve their communication and leadership skills, learn what things to avoid and what things really matter, along with developing their management skills from an older, and maybe a bit wiser colleague.  What enormous value that would hold for an organization.  And what if a 70 year old could get coaching on how to use new software, technology, social media or the agile practices of a millennial.  It’s obvious how powerful this concept is.

Does your organization acknowledge the contributions from each generation inside its walls?

Are all ages considered when career paths are designed or project managers assigned?

Do you truly have an inclusive culture?