Hi Employers! Yes, I am talking to YOU!!!
I am not speaking to employees today. Just to the people who do the hiring and managing and maintaining of workers who are considered part of the ¨older¨ aged workforce.
I don´t know if you are reading this blog from within North America, but within my home country of Canada, there has been hiring pressure over the last couple years. There have been more jobs than there were employees to fill those jobs. Therefore companies have adopted a more inclusive hiring policy, which thankfully is including more people who are considered ¨older¨. Older workers are dusting off their resumes and joining the work force to help meet the demands of expensive retirement costs and cost of living inflationary pressures.
Note that hiring older workers is simply the very first step.
The next step and many steps after this..... involves figuring out how to keep older workers happy and stable in your workplace. You want them to stay and to thrive there and bring a joyful prosperity to the whole company. Older workers are precious and must be valued as precious gems.
So, shall I get to the chase? What are some ideas that employers can use to keep and maintain a happy employment of an older worker?
First of all, always adopt an attitude of respect and patience with older workers, who have many decades of life experience. They may not be specialists in your area of expertise, but there is a certain wisdom that comes with age, that can not be replaced by a formal education. A vast and lengthy life experience always carries valuable insight.
Secondly, try your best to keep ¨creature comforts¨ close at hand. For examples, are the rest rooms and break rooms within a close distance from the work setting? Older workers may require more frequent bathroom breaks and may not be able to walk as quickly to saunter down a very long hall way before they make it to the break room. Tyr to keep rest rooms and break rooms on the same floor level as the work space. Older workers may not be able or willing to navigate many stairs as easily as younger workers.
Make sure that your older workers have easy access to restrooms and break rooms and that they are given the time and space to get to them in a convenient time frame. Don´t rush them through their bathroom breaks or snack times. I am not suggesting that you allow inordinately lengthy breaks, but I am gently suggesting that it may take longer for an older worker to get to and from a break area and therefore may need a bit more time.
Thirdly, are there some things you can do to keep the work place pleasant in ways that uniquely please an older work force? If your older employees take the bus to your work place, do you let them leave in the time frame required to catch the most convenient bus or train or trolley? Do you make sure that the walk ways in and around your work place are free of snow and ice and safe for older workers to walk on?
If your work place requires safety boots, are these footwear comfortable and provided at an affordable or free cost to the workers?
SIDE NOTE: Remember that older workers are much more safety conscious than younger workers and they may have very valid contributions to make to your safety committees and have helpful tips and constructive awareness of potential safety hazards in the work place.
Fourthly,
When older workers participate in your work place, do you acknowledge their successes? If they lead the way in sales or some other work place target, do you acknowledge them publicly with an award or reward? Older workers may not be as noisy as younger employees, but that does not mean that they do not need to be applauded publicly for the good work that they are doing. They need the same pats on the back. Consider good award systems and rewards that they would enjoy if/when they reach company goals for the week or month, or quarter or year.
Fifthly,
Mature workers rely on consistent financial rewards for their labor. They may be closer to retirement than you are, but that doesn´t mean they don´t care about the money. They care and they will count every penny. They will check and double check to ensure that you are paying them exactly what they are owed and more so.
Be sure to be clear and straightforward about what they can expect from the job financially and what bonuses they may earn if their performance meets the challenge.
Lastly, take time to speak with and listen to your mature and aging workers. They want to know that they have access to management....that their input is valued and that the place they have in the company is respected and secure.
That´s all the tips I have for today. Enjoy the changes of employing workers in today´s corporate environment! Peace on and may you enjoy the vast diversity in today´s modern work force!
Peacefully productive,
Carla.
