The Aging Workforce and Your BI

First, in the interest of full disclosure, let me say that I have passed my 60 birthday, though am not quite old enough to apply for social security benefits.

I saw a piece on the Today Show this morning in which one of those being interviewed made a statement to the effect that agism or age-based discrimination, is to be found at both ends of spectrum. That rang true for me. I guess the only question to be answered would be the placing of some scale on the spectrum so the appropriate remediation planning could be done.

We seen many articles and interviews regarding the characteristics of various generations from Gen Y to Baby Boomers (pretty much the endpoints of the employment spectrum). I always have to remind myself that these "portraits" are generalizations only. It's easy to latch on to a singe trait within a generational portrait and, having seen that trait exhibited by at least one member of that generation, apply it to all within the age group. Then it's only another small step to say, well, if that one is true, they're all probably true.

It's also good to remember that tendencies are statistics. An average (or a tendency) requires that some be above and some below. It isn't necessary for any individual to be average for there to be an average for a population.

This is all on my mind because I have been following some discussion forums recently and have begun to form some opinions about abilities of generational groups based on the content of the posts. I'm struggling against this because, when I stop to reflect, I know I'm making a statistical mistake.

Here's the thing: If it's happening to me, it's happening to anyone (everyone). It's very dangerous to attribute knowledge or maturity-related issues to age. Every young person is not immature or ignorant and every older person is not mature or wise. So this is a reminder that each person must be appreciated for who they are and the unique contributions they are able to make.

There's a corollary: You can't really know a person until you've met that person face to face and have shared some of his/her life. Do you know me because you're reading this or because we've exchanged emails or tweets? There are hard limits to what can be accomplished remotely, without personal contact. Some younger people know this and many older people do.

If you happen to run a company, you have a bigger labor pool than you need right now. This won't be the case for long, especially if you're in a scientific, engineering or high-tech market. People pushed to the side now and left to rust away may not be able to step back in after several years (or even several months) have passed. When you push people out of one end of the pipe without making sure there are people entering at the other end, eventually you will find that your pipe is empty. How will you adapt your business then? The knowledge, creativity and energy that created your business will be needed to transform it. It won't be about age. It will be about maturity, wisdom, creativity and energy.