Bob Hope once said “You know you’re getting old when the candles cost more than the cake.”

A healthy working environment is one that practices diversity in every sense of the word: race, gender, ability and age. But reality is often far removed from the ideal. Often, younger employees view their older colleagues as less capable, or less motivated. They fail to acknowledge the skills, experience, and competencies the older folk have acquired. Just because you’re not on Instagram or SnapChat doesn’t make you inferior! Here are a few ways you can help create a healthier, more diverse work environment.

Encourage mixed-age teamwork

If you’re in a position to influence your employer (or if you are an employer) try putting youth and experience together in your project teams. Whether it’s in a training or assignment situation, encouraging teamwork across the age divide will provide a refreshing learning experience for everyone. The young provide the energy and enthusiasm, the older provide the experience and guidance.

Encourage empathy

Yes, this has become a buzzword in recent times, but for a good reason. Empathy is the ability, and the willingness, to understand or feel what another person is experiencing. Try putting yourself in their shoes. This works both ways. If you are young, be sensitive to your older colleagues. Talk to them. You’ll soon get to appreciate what they have to offer, and learn from it. If you are older, understand the world young people have grown up in. Learn to harness their enthusiasm. Be patient and tolerant.

Encourage open discussions

In any working environment, and especially where there is tension between young and older employees, it is important to let any grievances be shared and discussed in a positive and constructive manner. A business needs to find the right balance between experience and youthful enthusiasm. Tension based on age discrimination will develop into wasted time and energy. Speak freely. Listen to each other. Develop mutual respect and caring relationships with those around you. It will profit everyone and make for a more enjoyable and productive working environment.

Be open-minded

In any working environment, the opinions of others are important. Older people tend to be more rigid in their beliefs and values. Younger people can often forget to listen. We all need to be flexible and listen to what others have to say. Someone else’s opinion can help you to re-evaluate your own beliefs, which can, in turn, bring new ideas and create positive change in the workplace.

Learn new things

Older people are sometimes afraid to adapt to new ways and learn new thinks. Like technology. Every day, the world around us is being influenced by technology in some way. Especially in the way we work and the way business is conducted. If you show an eagerness to adapt and adopt a new skill, younger people will relate to you and show respect. Ask them for advice too; they like to demonstrate how much they know! A positive attitude to new technology will make you a more valuable asset at work.

Be sociable

For people to work better together, they have to find things they have in common. Sometimes, a little humour or a friendly chat can bring people of different ages together more quickly. And it doesn’t always have to happen at work. Encourage your staff or your colleagues to socialize together from time to time. Go for a coffee together.

Relax and get to know each other. Life’s to short to be a workaholic.

Graphic used with kind permission from Skillroad https://skillroads.com

Silver Mettle is a job-hunting resource for people beyond the age of 40. It was created by Lizanne Barnett who says; ‘Job hunters beyond 40, 50 or 60 sometimes feel as though they have arrived on a different planet. None of the things they knew about job hunting, work anymore and it is frustrating and depressing.

Not only do they need to update their job hunting skills but they also need to sell their experience in a different way. My Job-hunting Programme helps them do that. It is highly individual and aims to get people into a job as soon as possible. It is also inexpensive.’

Job Hunting Programme 

The aim is to get you into a job as quickly as possible! 

You know that sending gazillions of CVs into cyberspace does not work. And you know that all the things you remember about job-hunting are not working, either.

In short, this is a different planet for most +40-year-olds. Because I have traveled there and back, I am able to guide you to success! (See more about my journey below.) Follow my programme you will get a job! That is my promise!

Job-Hunting Consulting – Online

For R100 at a time I will send you personal job hunting advice which works, and tasks which will rapidly move you forward. If you find a job after two weeks, as one client did, you only pay R200!

Programme

Depending on your circumstances and needs, the following steps may not be in this order. Note – with each new instruction I will send you a new invoice. 

CV Assessment:

• Send me your CV (preferably a word document) and 50-100 words about the job you are looking for. If it has a job title, include that. I will send you an assessment. If it needs changes or a more modern presentation, I will include a sample CV.

• Job hunting schedules – what really works.

• Tasks

Prep 1: All about you

• Using your experience to the best effect – transferable skills.
• Creating a short ‘advertisement’ to put on our website.
• Creating a job objective.
• Tasks

Prep 2: The truth about job-hunting

• The success rate of different methods.
• Researching the job market using the most successful methods.
• Tasks

Prep 3: All about the employer

• Meeting the needs of the employer
• Résumés are what you need at this stage of your life.
• Letters of motivation.
• Tasks.

Prep 3: Becoming an expert opportunity seeker

• Building alternative job-hunting resources.
• Finding the employer
• Approaching employers directly.
• Tasks.

Opportunity Hunting: Putting into practice.

Throughout I will be a coach to guide and motivate you to achieve your goal, until you reach your goal.

Click here for more information