Getting Past the Myths About Older Workers and New Skills

BY Emily Nonko | October 22, 2021

In the midst of an epic labor shortage that could last for years, employers need all the help they can get. That includes older workers, who make up a growing portion of the multi-generational labor force. The challenge is that workers will need to keep their skills up to date as they age. According to the World Economic Forum’s latest Future of Jobs report, “On average, companies estimate that around 40% of workers will require reskilling of six months or less and 94% of business leaders report that they expect employees to pick up new skills on the job, a sharp uptake from 65% in 2018.”

Yet a major hurdle stands in the way: conventional wisdom on retraining older workers assumes that these employees are too set in their ways to learn new things, or simply unable to grasp new technology. Business experts, academics and researchers are increasingly coming out to say that’s inherently false. In fact, these workers are not only open to learning new skills, they possess under-appreciated skills that benefit their workplaces.

To address the psychological factors standing in the way of reskilling older workers, business leaders will need to take a few important steps, according to academic research and the insights of AARP, which spearheads the AARP Employer Pledge Program. In taking that pledge, hundreds of U.S. companies have committed to fostering age-diverse workforces and affirming the value of experienced workers. Among the steps recommended:

Confront Ageism Head-on  

While Corporate America has made pledges in the past year to do better on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), the issue of ageism has been largely left out. “Age is often overlooked in these conversations, yet simultaneously it’s an increasingly important issue because age demographics are fast changing, in society and the workplace, and because age is the universal social category,” said Michael S. North, an assistant professor at New York University’s Stern School of Business and author or the recent report “Equality for (Almost) All: Egalitarian Advocacy Predicts Lower Endorsement of Sexism and Racism, but Not Ageism.”

North found that people who advocate for workplace equity can still hold prejudice toward older individuals and allocate fewer resources to them, he told From Day One. There’s also a belief that older individuals block younger employees, as well as underrepresented groups, from getting ahead, he said.

Heather Tinsley-Fix, AARP's senior advisor for employer engagement, noted that “mindset is the first major hurdle” in focus groups where employees are asked about reskilling and retraining older workers. “It’s a matter of addressing the stereotypes and questioning them,” she said.

For a company to enact an age-inclusive culture shift, buy-in has to come from everyone. “You can’t do this in a vacuum. You need leadership buy-in and support, with HR on board, the CFO, executive leadership,” Tinsley-Fix said. Supporting older employees, particularly when it comes to training and reskilling, will require dedicated money and resources. “Spending more on training, upskilling, bias training, employee resource groups–all of these things–can’t be a fluffy concept without support behind it.”

Understand Your Company’s Demographics 

To bring meaningful changes, a company needs to have a deep understanding of the demographics of its workforce. Tinsley-Fix recommended that companies conduct a third-party audit to survey the existing corporate culture as well as the demographic makeup of the workforce, with particular attention to where age intersects with other marginalized identities. “There are so many cross-sections of identity,” she noted, including personal obligations like being a primary caretaker. “Hopefully the clarity of an audit will help guide you.”

An audit can also help companies identify existing employee skill sets, the gaps in those skills, and where reskilling and training is most urgent. The process can bring a cultural shift as well, moving toward an environment that supports employees who suggest new ideas and take risks, as opposed to punitive measures that discourage them.

Don’t Assume Your Older Workforce Needs Intensive Training

Managers might think that older employees need such a high level of training to reskill that it’s not worth the effort, but that’s often a mistaken assumption. “I think the big thing is that they don't need much training,” says Peter Cappelli, professor of management at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of business and author of Managing the Older Worker. “Compared to other candidates, they are likely to have better skills and experiences relevant to the jobs.”

Soft skills–creativity, leadership, emotional intelligence–are a particular strength of older workers that should be recognized and celebrated, not undervalued. “While traditionally referred to as ‘soft skills,’ in reality these capabilities are critical to delivering business value and adapting hard skills as workforce needs change,” according to an assessment last year from Deloitte, the professional-services firm. The Future of Work report echoes that view: “The top skills and skill groups which employers see as rising in prominence in the lead up to 2025 include groups such as critical thinking and analysis as well as problem-solving, and skills in self-management such as active learning, resilience, stress tolerance and flexibility.”

Adopt a Growth Mindset and Provide Supports 

Once a company has shifted internal opinions and assumptions away from the idea that people's abilities are fixed and finite, they can move toward the idea that everyone can grow and learn new skills. Companies need to actively recruit employees in this mission and support them, which is a shift from the status quo. “Employers are reluctant to train and retrain,” Cappelli noted, “so all employees are pushed to look outside.”

Tinsley-Fix noted that a growth mindset can be supported by many kinds of internal efforts: formal training, on-the-job training, job swapping, ideation-and-innovation sessions, group problem-solving, incentivizing managers to encourage learning opportunities, and rewarding employees who develop new skills or try new approaches.

These supports should be offered in a variety of formats to accommodate different employee needs. Self-paced and online learning, for example, might be helpful to an employee juggling caregiving responsibilities. As the Harvard Business Review article “Rethinking Retraining” points out, the most successful retraining programs incorporate “stackable” credentials, which are short-term, industry-recognized credentials offered by certificate or non-degree programs that allow workers to balance the demands of the training program with work or family responsibilities.

Companies should be mindful of the diversity of employee learning styles. While some older workers may appear to be slower on their learning curve relative to younger workers, the older group's ability to contextualize new information might also improve retention and thoroughness of comprehension, according to Tinsley-Fix. At the same time, younger counterparts may absorb information faster and quickly master short-term tasks so they can assist employees requiring additional assistance.

Facilitate Mentorship in All Directions

As Cappelli pointed out in Harvard Business Review, “Research suggests that putting older and young workers together helps both groups perform better.” Mentorship is one key program that can facilitate those connections. NYU’s North agrees: “Mentorship should happen in both directions.” Alongside traditional mentoring, in which older employees typically assist their younger colleagues, “I would suggest that workplaces also incorporate reverse mentoring, where the junior generation is mentoring the older generation,” North said.

Mentor relationships can be a way for different generations to connect, break down biases, share skills, and empower one other. It can also serve as an important source of individual support, both for older employees navigating new industry trends and for younger employees developing their professionalism and work ethic.

Be Open to Outside Help 

Many companies won’t have the resources or funding to launch a full-fledged internal professional-development program, at least not quickly. But that shouldn’t stop companies from building the groundwork. Tinsley-Fix suggested forging outside programs or partnerships, like tuition-reimbursement programs for employees. Partnerships with universities and community colleges, she added, can offer opportunities to tailor training programs to specific industry needs.

There are so many ways to foster what Tinsley-Fix calls “a culture of retraining.” Instead of framing this work as a challenge to reskill an older workforce, it’s a larger mindset–and a major economic opportunity–that benefits all workers and builds flexible, diverse companies able to thrive in times of change and uncertainty.

Editor's note: This is the second story in a three-part series. Read the first story here. From Day One thanks our partner in producing this series, AARP.

Emily Nonko is a Brooklyn, NY-based reporter who writes about real estate, architecture, urbanism and design. Her work has appeared in the Wall Street Journal, New York magazine, Curbed and other publications.


RELATED STORIES

Leveraging Generational Diversity: Moving from Ageism to Age Inclusion

In a recent survey from Resume Now, 90% of workers age 40+ said they experienced ageism in the workplace. And a study from AARP found that 64% of the same age group experienced age discrimination, meaning tangible impact on one’s ability to advance, stay in the workforce, and get paid fairly. “The data shows that ageism is still with us, unfortunately, in the workforce, and that it’s actually quite prevalent,” said Heather Tinsley-Fix, senior advisor, financial resilience, AARP, at a From Day One webinar.The five-generation workforce is a well-known phenomenon—in fact, 83% of executives believe that creating a more multigenerational workforce would drive their organization’s success and growth. But how should companies begin to build cultures that shift away from unconscious ageism toward age inclusion?Dr. Megan Gerhardt, founder & director of thought leadership at Gentelligence, has spent the last 15 years speaking and consulting with top organizations worldwide on leveraging generational diversity in the workplace. Gerhardt spoke with Tinsley-Fix and Heather Ainsworth, CEO of Workable Concept, on creating cultures in which all ages thrive, psychological safety enables fruitful interaction, and intergenerational collaboration drives bottom-line value. They also shared a sneak peek of a new suite of resources AARP designed specifically to help HR leaders address this opportunity. It translates research into specific actions and creates custom plans that takes into account your own areas of personal power and influence.Turning From Ageism to Age InclusionThe World Health Organization defines ageism as “the stereotypes (how we think), prejudice (how we feel), and discrimination (how we act) toward others or oneself based on age.” The workplace can be rife with generational stereotypes, with headlines constantly decrying both Gen Z and Millennials as “the worst colleagues” (and also sometimes, puzzlingly, “the best”), while also insisting that Baby Boomers retire to free up jobs for those younger folks. And while many, Tinsley-Fix says, wrongly peg those 45-55 at “late career” and 55-65 in “decline,” in fact, “people 65 plus are the fastest growing segment of the workforce.”Conversely, age inclusion is “when a team or organization creates policies, tools, and culture that enable people of all ages to thrive without needing to navigate age-based stereotypes, prejudice, or discrimination.”An effective leadership team will build a complex, inclusive culture where workers of all ages and stages can thrive. It’s not only a kind choice, it’s what Tinsley-Fix calls “a value creation strategy hiding in plain sight.” The depth of experience and skill sets in an age-diverse workforce, whether technical, professional, or durable human skills, creates major opportunities for employers who can unleash those synergies. The best results occur when people from different life and career stages work together to define problems and create solutions. Having workers of different ages allows you to connect with a wider customer base and gives you a more nuanced knowledge base to call on.“Having workers of different ages is also a talent management necessity,” Tinsley-Fix said. In the near-term, workers 65+ are the fastest-growing portion of the talent market, but over the coming decades, more people will exit the workforce than will enter it. AARP posits that “declining population or labor force participation rates among younger workers may lead to talent shortage. Retaining older workers (considered age 40+) can help employers address this challenge.”Learning to Work TogetherContrary to popular belief, the five generations in the workforce work well together. “Data shows that multi-generational teams perform better when they’re managed well than teams which are more age-siloed. In companies that utilize mixed age work teams, the productivity of both older workers and the younger workers is higher than in companies that do not use mixed age teams,” Tinsley-Fix said. “That myth that productivity declines as we age is based on measuring individual productivity rather than team productivity. Mixed age teams outperform teams on things like decision-making, creative tasks, and complex problem solving.”With this in mind, it’s important for leaders to encourage generativity, which is defined as “a person’s interest in and dedication to establishing and guiding the next generation.” Gerhardt encourages cultivating “gentelligence,” the idea of helping people have smarter intergenerational conversations. This shows up at work through co-creation, providing expertise freely, setting up organizations for success, consulting, coaching, and mentoring.The panelist spoke about "Leveraging Generational Diversity: Moving from Ageism to Age Inclusion" during the webinar (photo by From Day One)“This can also show up just in how people approach conversations,” said Ainsworth. “Is a conversation between people of different generations seen as transactional, or do they approach it with a sense of curiosity in order to co-create value and the culture that they want to be working in?”Creating an Organization That Supports Generativity“An age-diverse workforce left to its own devices is not necessarily going to be more productive,” Gerhardt said. “It has the potential to be, but like almost all forms of diversity, that rests solely on how well it's managed and led. And that includes the cultures and climates we're creating.”It’s important to encourage intergenerational interaction since it may not occur naturally, Gerhardt says, as employees often work their way up through the ranks alongside colleagues similar in age who become their friends. This lack of relationship-building can lead to age polarization. And without regular proactive exposure to other generations, stereotypes can flourish. Encourage employees to “see the value that every generation brings,” Gerhardt says, and build out a benefits package that offers perks specific to every stage of life, from student loan repayment to childcare, elder care, retirement, and more. And determine the level of psychological safety for each age group and career stage, noting that low levels of safety can result in disinterest or even concern about sharing knowledge.Much of this comes down to helping different generations understand each other better in order to strengthen trust and collaborate effectively. “I think it’s a myth that our younger generations aren’t interested in listening or learning from people who are older. I think it’s that how they want to communicate, learn, and listen has changed,” Gerhardt said. One example she shares is that Gen Z grew up having all the answers at their fingertips, so if they don’t immediately receive the “why” behind  something—like why it might take 18 months to get promoted—it can impact their psychological safety. That doesn’t mean a workplace needs to cater exclusively to the young, but it should be extra mindful to have inclusive communications that account for all learning and work styles.Gerhardt suggests proactively creating opportunities for those significantly older and younger to collaborate on meaningful work where diverse expertise is needed for success. “Generativity comes from being curious,” Gerhardt said. Smarter intergenerational conversations can be sparked by “Gentelligent” power questions like: “How would you approach this? Can you help me understand that perspective? What barriers can I help remove for you to reach this goal?”Generations at WorkAn age-inclusive organization should:Welcome workers of all ages and value their experienceLive by the mantra that everyone has something to teach and everyone has something to learnBe flexible, recognizing that longer lives mean loopier career pathsSupport caregivers with leave, resources, and other benefitsManage differences and celebrate similarities across multiple generationsNot put people in buckets or make assumptions about them based on ageAARP just launched Generations at Work, a new tool packed with resources to help you take action to build and leverage a multigenerational workforce. It guides you through a self-assessment to help you create a customized plan based on your existing strategies and future priorities; provides free resources to help you executive each of three key actions; and ensures you distill your learnings and bring them back to the team.AARP believes setting a handful of targeted goals to improve age inclusion makes us more likely to achieve the changes we seek. Leveraging a multigenerational workforce requires us to consider actions across HR, both with teams and individual employees. Learn more and create your customized plan at https://employerportal.aarp.org/generations.Editor's note: From Day One thanks our partner, AARP, for sponsoring this webinar.Katie Chambers is a freelance writer and award-winning communications executive with a lifelong commitment to supporting artists and advocating for inclusion. Her work has been seen in HuffPost and several printed essay collections, among others, and she has appeared on Cheddar News, iWomanTV, On New Jersey, and CBS New York.

Katie Chambers | November 04, 2024

Using Education Benefits to Attract and Retain a Uniquely-Skilled Workforce

Collectively, Americans carry about $1.7 trillion in student debt, second only to home loan debt. “So even if you are one of the lucky ones who doesn’t have any student debt attached to your name, you probably know someone who does, and you have probably not been able to escape the chatter around just student debt today,” said Michaela Rubin, VP of operations at financial wellness platform Candidly, during a From Day One webinar on tuition reimbursement and student loan benefits.Because of the size of loans and the damage such debt can do over time, education assistance is becoming a popular benefit category among employers, says Rubin. “There are a lot of legislative tailwinds, like the CARES Act of 2020 and Secure Act 2.0, that are also feeding into this conversation. While we started primarily as a student debt repayment platform, we’ve seen the importance of combining these newer benefits with traditional benefits like tuition reimbursement. Employers need to set themselves apart and stand out, and this becomes a really big differentiator, especially when there are a lot of eyes on this right now.”It’s certainly a differentiator for the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation, says Heather Galvin, the organization’s compensation and benefits analyst, who joined Rubin for the webinar. “Not only is pursuing higher education financially burdensome for the workforce, it can affect mental health too. An offering like this just goes to show employees and workforce members that you’re invested in their whole health and their whole well-being.” The non-profit, headquartered in Center City, Minnesota, operates centers for drug and alcohol treatment as well as mental healthcare.Though tuition reimbursement is more common than employer contributions to student debt, “participation in tuition reimbursement programs is historically pretty low,” said Rubin. The majority of workers say they want some kind of upskilling or training, but only a small fraction participate, often because they’re not aware it’s available.Tuition reimbursement requires the employee to put up the money for the training or education, complete the program, and then file for reimbursement from the company. For student loan repayment, the company contributes to paying off an employee’s pre-existing student debt. Both have their tax boons for employees and employers.Journalist Emily McCrary-Ruiz-Esparza moderated the discussion about "Tuition Reimbursement and Student Loan Benefits: A Smarter Way to Attract, Retain, and Engage" (photo by From Day One)Galvin said the decision to offer tuition reimbursement was an easy one. They want and need uniquely educated employees, and they offer a graduate program of their own, the Hazelden Betty Ford Graduate school, where students can earn master’s degrees in addiction and mental health counseling. “It’s one of our strongest recruitment pipelines,” she said. “Aside from career advancement and professional growth opportunities for our workforce, we saw this as a great opportunity to increase loyalty and job satisfaction. We know we’re creating a more motivated and engaged workforce. We feel that by investing in our workforce and their future, we are simultaneously investing in our own.”Running a Successful Student Loan Benefit ProgramWith her clients, Rubin discusses goals, budget, and workforce makeup. The latter is particularly important for employers that require their workers to have secondary or postsecondary degrees to qualify for the job. Those employees likely enter with considerable debt and would benefit from loan repayment benefits. Other employers may be heavily focused on upskilling the workforce they already have and would be wise to explore tuition reimbursement. Some will need both.Any student loan program requires a carefully prepared communication campaign that builds awareness and clearly outlines expectations. Rejecting reimbursement requests because the student disqualifies on a technicality or mistakenly promotes benefits to ineligible workers, will significantly damage the reputation of the program.At the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation, Galvin folds the organization’s education assistance program into its benefits guide and stores it on the intranet. She also likes to promote it in sync with the school calendar when people are typically thinking about their education. Rubin said she likes to promote quick-start user guides and quarterly toolkits. But don’t wait for employees to arrive to advertise your program, they said, make it a part of your recruitment strategy. Tout it on your careers page and in your job postings.Galvin said the program has been remarkably successful for her organization. Those who have registered and activated their tuition reimbursement have stayed. “This has potentially retained 23 workforce members who may have otherwise left. Said another way, it’s potentially saved us over a million dollars in turnover costs.” Currently, there are 167 graduates from the Hazelden Betty Ford graduate school working at the foundation. “Those are employees who, more than likely, participated in tuition reimbursement and/or are now eligible for student loan repayment.” This, she says demonstrates the organization’s appreciation for those who both further their education and stick with the organization. Plus, it works.Editor’s note: From Day One thanks our partner, Candidly, for sponsoring this webinar.Emily McCrary-Ruiz-Esparza is a freelance journalist and From Day One contributing editor who writes about work, the job market, and women’s experiences in the workplace. Her work has appeared in the Economist, the BBC, The Washington Post, Quartz, Business Insider, Fast Company, and Digiday’s Worklife.

Emily McCrary-Ruiz-Esparza | November 01, 2024

AI-Powered, Human-Centered Team Transformation at Scale

Work norms have shifted rapidly over the past four years. With hybrid work becoming the norm, organizations now face the challenge of engaging all team members while staying aligned with company goals.At From Day One’s Boston conference, AceUp’s founder and CEO, Will Foussier and chief technology officer, Rohit Begani, spoke in a thought leadership spotlight about “AI-Powered, Human-Centered Team Transformation At Scale.” Amid shifts in work locations, schedules, and efficiencies, some organizations lag in adopting AI—yet it can streamline operations and support flexible teams.Foussier cited a “connection crisis” affecting hybrid and dispersed teams. Nearly 80% of  employees work on a hybrid model, emphasizing the need to develop strategies for better  team engagement and collaboration, says Foussier. Among those 80%, only 23% expressed  feeling connected to the company. To address this, AceUp focuses on team coaching,  leveraging AI to drive business impact and connect teams to specific OKRs and KPIs.Begani, left, and Foussier, right, spoke during the thought leadership spotlightCompanies who utilize team coaching benefit from upskilling and reskilling opportunities and  can easily implement virtual team members into the happenings of the company. It is designed  to tailor the coaching to the needs and goals of the business. “The beauty of team coaching is that you can actually bring people together to address a business challenge,” said Foussier. AceUp created a way to effectively utilize AI to enhance current coaching sessions for  businesses rather than replace them altogether. They achieve this by focusing on AI-driven team-building methods that reshape how leaders and employees work together. “We have seen that it helps them clearly define a goal which is aligned with their business goal, and help them track the outcomes of team coaching,” Begani said.Using AceUp’s AI bot Ally, coaching sessions can now help companies detect and analyze  where improvement is needed. Ally joins the call as a normal coaching participant, captures  video, audio, and analyzes that data to discover breakthrough moments.  “With all of this data, we are able to provide hyper-personalized coaching–and this coaching  is for moments that matter,” Begani said. “These individuals are already going through coaching with a human coach, but because we have an understanding of their gaps, there's an  ability for a model to support them on specific needs.” Once the data from the team coaching sessions are collected, it is managed in a dashboard  that breaks down the information and reports any discrepancies. Then, the company can  assess and redirect to decide how to change them.  The future of leadership lies in teams. This idea inspired a team-coaching model that uses AI to collect session data, enabling personalized experiences, tailored goal setting, knowledge retention, and deeper insights into company dynamics. AceUp’s approach shifts from “me” to “we,” from leadership to team-ship, and from manager-as-coach to team-as-coach.Editor’s note: From Day One thanks our partner, AceUp, for sponsoring this thought leadership spotlight. Mary Jones is a freelance writer out of Ohio. Her work is featured in several publications including The Dallas Express, NDash, and The Daily Advocate.

Mary Jones | November 01, 2024