DIVERSITY
“ SADLY , THERE IS AN ARMY OF 50 + PROFESSIONALS LEAVING INDUSTRIES WITH MASSIVE SUSTAINABLE SKILLS GAPS IN THEIR WAKE ”
LYNDSEY SIMPSON FOUNDER , 55 / REDEFINED
incredibly valuable . They are often able to see the big picture and understand team dynamics better than anyone else .
How important is experience ? CH : Hugely ! It allows us to spot patterns and join the dots . We can draw on past knowledge to make better decisions . Experience can also fuel creativity . That ' s why history is studded with people doing triumphantly creative work in later life , from Michelangelo and Matisse to Beethoven and Bach . It ' s also why companies with suggestion boxes report that older staff generate more good ideas , with the best ones often coming from the over-55s .
Maya Angelou was right : “ You can ’ t use up creativity . The more you use , the more you have .”
LS : Massive . And not just from a technical / professional stance of experience in a role or industry , but in life overall . Negotiation skills have been honed not just at work but by negotiating with a toddler to eat broccoli ! Personal lives have been touched by bereavement , disability , joy and despair enabling a level of empathy and understanding with colleagues and customers who are going through these experiences themselves , often for the first time .
Sadly , there is an army of 50 + professionals leaving industries with massive sustainable skills gaps in their wake . A chronic underinvestment in bringing people through year after year has created a cliffedge for many sectors that relied on this group of professionals who are all now in their 50s & beyond . The good news is this cohort want to stay working and a number will need to continue to work into their mid-70s which means we have time to reverse this underinvestment and train the next group coming through , but only if employers are prepared to embrace and flex to keep older workers in their workplaces for 10 years longer than they planned for .
RL : I believe experience is very important and often gets overlooked in our youthcentric society . We need all ages , but there is a lot to be said for the experience of older people .
What are the main barriers when it comes to recruitment for older workers ? CH : The chief barrier is ageism . Animated by the cult of youth , companies are disinclined to hire older workers . Which is especially absurd at a time when so many jobs are going unfilled .
The expectation that older workers must be paid more is another barrier . People should be paid based on what they bring to the job , not on how many years they ' ve been doing the job .
90 October 2022