Ageism is based on a belief that all older people are the same slow, incompetent or senile.
In today’s modern world, people are living longer, postponing retirement, and returning to the workforce after retirement.
I’m sure you’ve noticed that the current crop of mature workers is different from older workers of years ago.
If you’re an older worker, you need to arm yourself against age discrimination so that you can continue doing what you love, whatever that may be. Here are some tips to help you keep age discrimination at bay.
This is a cruel dismissal of an older person’s talents, abilities, intelligence, and humour. It is a hurtful form of bias that affects everyone, including our future older selves.
Ageist attitudes make it easier to justify abuse be this physical, emotional or financial abuse of older people.
Ageism and elder abuse affect many older adults in B.C. and around the world. If an abused senior has no one to talk to, or depends on the abuser for companionship or care, it can be difficult for them to find a way out of their situation.
Age discrimination can be big for seniors in the workplace however here is how you can avoid.
Treat employees of varying ages similarly: This may sound trite or trivial, but it’s the first step against discrimination. If you keep this in mind, then it will positively affect the relationship between you and all of your employees.
Provide further training and professional opportunities: For all your employees, irrespective of age, provide equal opportunities. Do you believe it isn’t worth much to invest in an older employee? Think again. Build on their years of experience.
Provide performance-related and age-independent feedback: No matter how old we are, everyone makes mistakes and everyone has a right to learn from his or her mistakes.
Distribute tasks according to the ability of your employees not according to their age: You believe a younger employee is more powerful? Maybe an older employee has far more experience or agility to offer.
Refrain from prejudices and stereotypes immediately from the top: If certain prejudices have crept into the company culture, it becomes more difficult to control discrimination. So pay attention to your corporate culture!
Practice active age diversity management – Inform your employees about the implications of ageism and age discrimination and encourage them to fight it.
Train young people not to be discriminatory – Focus on the strengths and key skills of your employees, not the irrelevant sides that only point to discrimination. Do not trust young people to automatically know, train.
If you’re an older worker, you need to arm yourself against age discrimination so that you can continue doing what you love, whatever that may be.