Passion for a job does not always wane with age. And age, clearly, does not prevent excellent thought leadership or creativity: David Attenborough (98) continues to exert influence, entertainers like Bruce Springsteen (74) and Sir Paul McCartney (82) are still strutting their stuff; one of the most anticipated films of this year has been directed by 86-year-old Ridley Scott. So why does the commercial hiring world seem to think otherwise?
Decision-makers in tech-driven businesses often want to bring in people who reflect their customers. An agile business with a millennial customer profile is likely to hire a millennial, even though, as we well know, it’s much more beneficial to have a blend of representatives of the three generations in today’s workforce.
Read more: Age stereotypes stunt career progression, study finds
In a previous HR role, one of our employees, Tony, at 83, had a passion for the sector, generated more insights than the rest of his team, and had exemplary attendance. But I wondered: by retaining him, are we cutting ourselves off from welcoming much younger talent? And if I were interviewing today, and didn’t already know Tony, would I have hired him?
In HR, a first-stage leadership role is tougher to secure for someone aged 45-plus because those roles have traditionally been for young talent.
Why would you want someone with 20 or 30 years’ experience for a junior leadership role when there are younger people chomping at the bit for it who are just starting out on their careers? Plus, if we don’t give young people those opportunities, over someone with 20 or 30 years’ experience, how can younger people ever get the work experience they need?
HR leaders are often called upon to sort out an organisation’s inclusion problems. But maybe even HR has a blind spot about age. The more senior the position, the more complex this dynamic gets.
I now find myself jobhunting at 57 years old. It’s scary. There is a far greater quality and quantity of younger HR talent now than there was 20 years ago.
On the one hand, I want new talent to take the reins. On the other, I can’t afford to retire at 60, and I still have the passion and energy to meaningfully contribute to the people profession. Part of the solution must be a complete reset of attitudes towards better valuing what older employees can bring to today’s workforce.
Let’s face it, I’ve benefitted from unconscious bias: other white blokes felt comfortable hiring me because of what makes me similar to them. It’s only fair for the tables to turn now, because of my age. But we still need to have an ongoing conversation to ensure that ageism and unconscious bias doesn’t creep into our hiring practices. Come on, HR community, it’s time to take much more care over balancing talent priorities. When hiring for a role, really ask: what generation am I missing? Can we buddy up people from different generations, to learn from each other?
Read more: Age UK fined £4000 for age harassment
Consider different options. Find out how to blend a diversity of ages within teams, to be truly representative. Why not have a Yoda in a team, as well as Reys and Luke Skywalkers? Peer diversity in age is possibly more powerful and impactful than the traditional approach of managers being older than team members.
People now are looking to work way beyond the traditional retirement age. Not everyone aspires to retirement. Some desire to continue making a genuine contribution. Others have no choice, due to low pensions, the cost of living and family circumstances.
There are diverse and compelling reasons why a far more pragmatic approach to hiring people approaching 60, and beyond, is needed. One size won’t fit all, but if HR can’t figure this issue out, there’s no hope for other sectors.
Dom Mellonie is open to work, after vacating the chief people officer role at property business Purplebricks
This article was published in the July/August 2024 edition of HR magazine.
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