Dr Carole Easton is CEO at the Centre for Ageing Better: “It’s acceptable to have stereotypical views about different generations. Anyone in their fifties and above is likely to have a story when people have made assumptions about their skills or ambitions because of their age. Including me!
“The interesting thing about age is that prejudice is hidden in plain sight. If it was any other protected characteristic, it would be discrimination.”
Three practical ways you can address ageism in your organisation:
1 Inclusive language – especially in job advertisements
2 Consider apprenticeships for older workers
3 Flexible working rights
Multi-generational training is essential to foster understanding between colleagues of different ages, believes Dr Carole.
“As many as 86 per cent of people report having conflicts between generations in the workplace daily or every other day. Almost all of employees – 96 per cent – say they know very little about the concepts that define the attitudes of other generations.
“We have four different generations of colleagues who are supposed to make it work and yet know nothing about each other.
“When you don’t understand a behaviour, we fall back on our confirmation bias.”
Research carried out by the Centre suggests that the British economy could be boosted by as much as £9 billion a year by giving older workers equal opportunity in the labour market.
By closing the employment rate gap between older and younger workers, an additional £1.6 billion a year in income tax and national insurance contributions could be raised as well, believes the charity.
The Centre for Ageing Better is calling for a commitment to raise the employment rate for those aged between 50 years to 64 years to 75 per cent by 2030: this would mean about half a million more older workers employed. The campaign, called the 50+ Employment Commitment, has been endorsed by leading UK organisations including Demos, Age UK, the Institute for Employment Studies, Phoenix Insights and the Learning and Work Institute.
Dr Carole took part at the digital INCLUSION Festival in a panel discussion about unlocking the power of multigenerational teams for enhanced productivity. You can join on-demand to learn: how to tackle bias and stereotyping, and how to foster respect and understanding. The moderator is Hassan Moore, DEI Chair, International Coaching Federation Philadelphia Chapter, who will be in conversation with Dr Carole and Rachele Focardi, Founder, Multigenerational Workforce Strategist with XYZ@Work.
To access this session and 400 hours’ worth of cultural-change content in our DEI library, see: https://diversity-network.com/inclusion-registration/
