“Age is a matter of mind over matter. If you don’t care, it doesn’t matter”
Mark Twain.
Did you know that?
- Our demographic structure is reversing.
- People live and work for longer periods.
- The gap is widening between young, old and old1.
- Almost 150,000 vacancies are unfilled with an unemployment rate of 11.6%.
And meanwhile… 40% of HR professionals automatically discard people over 552and 83% do not hire anyone over 553.
Without going into the data on restructurings where age is often the determining criterion for dismissing people, without segmenting by gender where the data is worse for women in all age groups, we can assure that these are striking and discouraging data, even more so if we take into account that the main objective of Human Resources professionals is to increase the talent density of their organisation.
This is because age is associated with a host of negative biases. Older people are assumed to be outdated in their skills, not adaptable to change and with high salary expectations. Similarly, young people are judged as intransigent, lacking in commitment, lacking motivation, etc. On the other hand, we also maintain unconscious biases when it comes to accepting younger generations in roles of responsibility, such as manager or interviewer, undermining their credibility.
Despite all this, the reality is that up to five generations can coexist in today’s work environments: the traditional generation (who are still active beyond retirement age), the Baby Boomers, Generation X, the Millennials (Generation Y) and Generation Z (Centennials). The term “generation” defines a group of people who are born in a similar period and experience similar historical and cultural events, and each has its own culture, values, ideals, knowledge and skills, and even its own language.
But does age really determine interest in further learning, is attention or memory only an age issue, is work-life balance only of concern to the young, are commitment and responsibility the attributes of a particular generation? Let’s think twice before we assume….
What if generational terms shape our behaviour, what if labels control us more than we think, what if they condition people’s behaviour4?
Our generation does not define or pigeonhole us as our experiences and differences in background, race and technology also shape our behaviour, not just age. Therefore, we are not classified or defined by the generation to which we belong, like almost nothing else that puts us in a compartmentalised and sealed box.
From this paradigm we can change the rules, at least mentally, and take advantage of the opportunity of working with a broad age spectrum and its benefits, both emotionally and professionally.
In short, if creating value by improving “talent density” is the great challenge for Human Resources and all generations contribute knowledge and skills that drive the growth of our organisation, it is not enough to create multigenerational spaces as this only creates diverse environments. We need to drive inclusion, moving from “multi” to “inter” through participation, alignment towards common goals, mutual knowledge and respect, co-creation, mutual influence, cooperation and peer-to-peer contribution. We must check our people management processes from recruitment to exit to grow talent, focusing on what each individual brings beyond their age or generation and optimise the performance of our teams by sharing knowledge and experience and pooling resources and capabilities. Without a doubt, a large part of the upskilling and reskilling of our professionals lies in generational diversity.
We in business have the capacity and the responsibility to extend this sensitivity to society, as we need more contact, more communication and more empathy between generations in order to think about sustainable work scenarios for the future and to create a fairer society.
1According to CIS data, in Spain 13 out of every 100 people aged 65 or over have no relationship with their younger relatives with whom they do not live, and 62% do not relate to people under the age of 35 who are not relatives.
2Study #YourAgeIsA Treasure by the Adecco Foundation.
3Adecco Foundation Report 2022.4In May 2021 hundreds of scientific researchers signed an open letter calling on the world authority Pew Research Center – a renowned Washington-based think tank – to end the use of generational terms, arguing that such labels are counterproductive since generational terms can shape people’s behaviour and not the other way around.
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