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Brain Circuits
Are you tapping into the talent of older workers?
Use the questions below to check whether the way you allocate resources for talent spotting, development, and progression suffers from generational bias.
Beware the bias: a checklist
Many organizations hitch their wagon to younger generations – digital natives with open minds, fresh perspectives, and all the other indicators we typically associate with potential. At the same time, we tend to default to outmoded assumptions about more mature employees: they no longer have what it takes to disrupt, innovate, or make the waves the organization needs to sustain competitive advantage.
Check whether these biases are baked into the organization by asking these questions:
- Is the language of our job adverts littered with terms such as “vibrant” and “exciting,” which tends to turn off older workers?
- Are older workers underrepresented in our apprenticeships and other new-joiner programs?
- Are our teams homogenized according to age?
- Are we proactively developing generational diversity in teams?
- Are older workers being encouraged to mentor younger colleagues to fill the development gap caused by the rapid adoption of AI?
- What opportunities are we creating for multi-generational teams to work on our business challenges?
The key to making this work is to abandon a top-down assignment approach and enable creative solutions.
How to harness the talent of older employees
Mix it up
Give the same business problem to one team in their 20s and another in their 50s. Give each team one day to identify the root cause of the problem, explore the variables, devise a solution, and present their findings. These interventions should be fun. More importantly, they’ll generate different perspectives that broaden the range of possible solutions.
Seek the counsel of your ‘elders’
Provide regular think-tank opportunities for older workers to consider a challenge the business is facing. Let seasoned employees bring their experience to bear on the problem and see what insights emerge. The key to making this work is to abandon a top-down assignment approach and enable creative solutions for what the organization might do differently.
Build complex capabilities in younger generations
AI is driving efficiencies and delivering faster wins across functions, including learning and development and HR. While this may improve productivity, it also removes opportunities for younger workers to develop the complex mental models and interpersonal skills that come with practice and experience. Older workers can engage in mentoring, shadowing, coaching, and action learning with younger colleagues to fill this gap.
Key takeaway
Businesses that challenge outdated assumptions and standardized approaches to talent identification and development will be best placed to attract and develop high-potential teams in the disruptive age of AI.
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