Hiring new employees is a crucial part of growing your business and finding success. The team you hire will have a significant impact on how successful your business is, and your hiring should be something you take very seriously and put a lot of time and effort into.
While the techniques used to hire potential candidates are getting newer and more modern (such as using a CV scan to quickly evaluate a resume), the workforce is getting older. More and more older individuals are returning to the workplace or extending their working life. This has led to an older workforce.
This can provide many benefits for companies, but can also pose some challenges and require some adapting. With that in mind, this article will consider the benefits and challenges of hiring older workers, and identify strategies that employers can use to adapt, or help workers adapt.
Benefits of Hiring Older Workers
There are many benefits that come along with hiring older workers. First and foremost, many older workers are generally more stable and safe to hire. In today’s modern business landscape, younger workers are often hopping jobs every few years, which can be tough on the companies who hire them.
Older workers are likely to stay with one employer for longer, and this type of stability and predictability can be wonderful for businesses. Employee turnover can be a huge cost for a company, and hiring older workers can often dramatically decrease how much turnover you have. Many older workers also have years or decades of experience in the field and are well aware of how to do a job, and how to do it well.
Also, many older workers have incredibly high work ethics and are not afraid of hard work. They will remain focused throughout the workday, often take fewer days off, and are more reliable than younger workers in many cases.
Bringing in older workers can also help bring the younger members of your team to new heights, too. They have a ton of knowledge and experience just waiting to be passed on and can be instrumental in helping you train better. Long-time and older workers are also often very respectful, and many customers prefer working with older individuals, too.
Challenges When Hiring Older Workers
On the contrary, there are also some challenges that come along with hiring older workers, as well. One potential challenge is the technology gap. Younger people today have much more experience with technology, and will thus pick up new tools and software quicker than older generations will in most cases. Older individuals can indeed be trained to perform perfectly well with technology, but the process may be long and some will struggle.
As people get older, there is also a physical and mental decline that takes place. Plenty of older people can still remain sharp and able to do work, but eventually, Father Time catches up with everyone. This means that you are taking a bit of a gamble when hiring someone older, as you can’t be too sure when time is going to catch up with someone.
Also, when hiring someone older, they generally command a higher salary. Many have a ton of experience and expertise and will need to be paid more than someone who is fresh out of school.
While this isn’t always the case, older and younger employees can often butt heads. They may do things differently and be unwilling to change their views and adopt new methods. Multi-generational teams can be incredible, but you need to make sure that everyone can work together and has a common goal or mission in mind.
Ways to Accommodate Older Workers and Adapt
If you begin to start hiring older workers and/or want to make sure the older workers you do have to feel accommodated, there are some things you can do to foster a better environment and adapt your workplace and the employees alike.
First of all, consider an option to provide more flexibility to older workers. This could be reduced hours, shifts of different lengths or times that can be better accommodated by older workers, or perhaps changes to the workplace such as simplified and accessible workstations. As people age, physical limitations of all kinds can begin to exist, and you want to make sure that your older workers have the right ergonomics at their desks or workstation.
Consider job design. You may want to try creating new positions or adapting existing roles to make them fit better with the skillset, preferences, and experiences of the workers. Take time to ensure workspaces are comfortable and supportive for all, as you don’t want to leave anyone out. If an older worker senses that you are going above and beyond to help them find success, it will only boost their loyalty and help them work hard for you. B&Q - widely seen as the authority on older workers - has shown the value they can bring.
Retirement can be a scary thing, and you should have resources and assistance available for your aging employees. You can even help employees phase into retirement in some cases, as well. Supporting their retirement planning, even while they are still working, can go a long way and better prepare workers and keep them from getting overwhelmed. Be careful not to assume older workers will want to retire upon reaching certain ages. Making stereotypical assumptions can lead to allegations of age discrimination.
Article by Kyla Stewart (theblogfrog.com). Kyla is a former content writer, who decided to start her own blogging site and become a digital nomad.