Recognize The Value Of Older And Younger Workers In Your Organization

It's important to recognize the value of both older and younger workers in your organization. It starts by recognizing the differences — and the similarities. The "similarity" part is the most important: Everyone's working for the same team, pursuing the same unified vision of success.

When was the last time you enjoyed being defined by your age? Setting aside for a moment that age is a protected class in almost every American workplace, it just never makes sense to limit your team members to stereotypes — especially not when you're trying to unlock their full potential.

You're all in it together. If you're leading with vision and culture, then people will do the right thing for the future of your organization. That's the similarity across all age groups — and all types of diversity for that matter. Now on to the differences. 

Recognize the Potential of Younger Workers

Younger workers are increasingly nomadic these days. They don't stay at the same company for long — they don't even stay in the same cities. Many leaders see this as a risk, but I look at it as an opportunity.

Younger people tend to operate in a different, often looser type of social and business organization than what we think of as a traditional corporation. Regardless of this, there are many wildly successful businesses that have high marks for loyalty from younger employees.

If you recognize that younger workers are truly the future of your organization, then you should be building an organization that younger workers can be a part of. Sometimes, that means carving out space for people who might only be on your team for a brief amount of time.

Some will go, but some might stay to help build your future. In fact, the workers who fit best into your culture will probably be the ones who stay the longest.

It also bears mentioning that this type of mobility is nothing new — especially not when it comes to high-value professional workers. Look at the history of locum tenens in medicine. You'll see that people have been seeking this type of opportunity for generations.

Recognize the Experience of Older Workers

Older workers tend to have more experience, and some of it is absolutely irreplaceable. Specifically, history within your organization is one of the most underutilized and undervalued commodities in the corporate world today.

With the emphasis on technology, growth, and innovation that we've seen over the past couple of decades, it's easy to lose sight of what truly drives an organization forward: the people. Older workers have insight into past successes. They know paths the organization didn't take but could have. They have memories of connections, resources, ideas, and strategies.

Older workers are also walking repositories of company and corporate culture. They know what works (and what doesn't) on a human level. They learned this by seeing others do it and by practicing it themselves.

Combining the Value of Older and Younger Workers

Age equality in the workforce is about more than just laws and regulations. Younger workers have a lifetime of potential ahead of them. Older workers have a lifetime of practice under their belts. The combination of the two is what your organization needs to move forward.

Are you leveraging all the generations in your organization?