10 Reasons not to Hire Older People Demystified (Part 4)

Older employees are slow learners and they cost more to train.

It’s true, learning a new word processing software for example takes longer for the aged than for the younger person. The younger person will explore the software relying principally on his intuition. The older person will proceed step by step, as if scared to break something.

We would think that the faster apprenticeship of the younger recruit would be more interesting for a company. Let’s not jump to conclusions without taking in consideration the longevity of employment.

The younger people are more inclined to change jobs to accelerate the growth of their social standing. If you take in consideration the average duration the employee will be with the organisation, it’s less expensive to train an older employee than to invest in a person that will rapidly be tempted to go elsewhere.

It’s harder to work with older employees; they are difficult to live with.

Maybe they are still torn by family conflicts, many individual reproduce a family model at work. In consequence they hold the following affirmation for granted.

• An older worker will refuse to work under the supervision of a younger person. This seems to be against nature for him

• An older worker will let you know that he has seen it all, done all, heard it all and he will give his opinion on every thing he dislikes.

• An older worker expects a level of politeness that does not exist in a modern organizations

In reality because they have gone through many difficult times, older workers have often developed a certain skill in conflict resolution, which makes them easy to live with. This prejudices is often maintained by younger colleagues that, sometimes makes relationships difficult. Here is some advice that will help you reduce the negative repercussions of this type of prejudice.

Learn to impose yourself with tact when the situation requires it. If you satisfy yourself on being quiet, you will harbour resentment, whereas if you explode, others will try to avoid you. Their is a happy medium: A positive confrontation. You explain your point of view without getting mad or attacking your opposite.

Be a mentor. Let people know you would like to play this role.

Learn how to be appreciated by your colleagues. Find the points you have in common, congratulate them on their good moves, use the word “we” instead of “I” in your discussion when talking of a team project and show them you appreciate their company.

(part 5)