The Mature Workforce: What it means for your business

Older workers' desire to learn offers your organization a wonderful opportunity to provide them with the training and motivation needed for success. Here are just a few training and motivation tips for the mature workforce:

• Open learning opportunities to all employees, regardless of age and make sure older workers are aware of all training available.
• Older workers tend to be more self-directed learners so give them opportunities to participate in challenging self-paced exercises in addition to traditional classroom training.
• Cognitive differences as well as differences in learning styles and physical abilities between younger and more mature employees will affect the success of the learning experience. Ensure learning materials are relevant to all ages and that the presentation of the information is appropriate to a diverse group of students.
• Keep older workers fully engaged in the learning process by encouraging them to train, coach and mentor younger employees.

With more mature employees in the workforce, learning opportunities for younger workers increase as well. The fact is that workforce age diversity requires an understanding of different work styles, different communication styles, and different frames of reference for the entire team. When people don't understand these differences, there is a tendency to create myths that are destructive to a productive work environment.

Here are some examples of common age-related myths, all of which can be replaced with reality through effective training.

• Older workers may assume young colleagues are inexperienced, impatient and immature and young workers may assume mature colleagues are rigid, inflexible and resistant to change.
• Older workers may believe that compensation increases as positions of authority are earned by "paying your dues" over time whereas young workers may believe performance and results drive compensation and promotion and that they can prove their value as a leader very quickly.
• Older workers may assume young workers know everything there is to know about technology and communicate exclusively via electronic means and young workers may assume their more mature counterparts are afraid of technology and communicate exclusively via telephone and face-to-face encounters.

To attract, engage and retain mature talent, organizations must move towards true age diversity. This requires a cultural shift that values more experienced employees and challenges assumptions about retirement age. It means encouraging an organizational attitude that equates increasing age with increasing contribution to the team. It translates to an understanding that by better development and utilization of the talents of mature workers, the organization gains access to a larger talent pool and because it better reflects the community, it is better able to respond to the needs of customers.