Why Ageism Is The Dirty Little Secret Of The Workplace
Why is nobody openly talking about ageism?
Do we all remember our very first week on the job? And I mean our real job, not the job(s) that funded our beer and books through university.
Our first “career job”.
And do we remember how excited and nervous we all were as we entered this new corporate world for the first time? There was just so much to learn and so much to prove.
We met our new boss who introduced us to our team. We met others from other teams. I recall thinking how assured and knowledgeable these people seemed compared to me.
I recall thinking just how much I had to learn before I could even contemplate doing what they were doing. I even recall thinking that I wished I looked older, to blend in, to not look so green.
Well fast-forward 25 years and I’m one of those other people. I’m the one who looks assured and knowledgeable. And I finally got my wish…I do look older.
And I’ll share my dirty little secret with you all...
I’m still nervous.
That’s right. I’m assured in myself but nervous. I’m as nervous today as I was 25 years ago.
Workplace ageism is alive and well.
1. Are you the one who is calling the shots?
You see, I still work for someone else. I am part of the 82% of the (Australian) workforce whose paycheck is determined by someone else.
I do not pull the strings, I’m one of the many other guys on the end of the string. And this means I am at the mercy of the Big Boss, the person who owns and/or runs the company.
And in my time I have seen way too many other guys get shown the door when they were approaching the same point in their career as I am.
Reasons are many and varied and often unforseeable. Examples include;
- A new CEO is appointed and they commence re-shaping the organisation
- The company owners acquire another company and a merger takes place to realise the promised shareholder returns
- The organisation is seeking to refresh the culture so staff turnover is a natural by-product of this direction
- Technology changes more readily facilitate job roles being superceded, down-sized, job-shared, relocated or outsourced
So unless you are the Big Boss you can never ever be assured of your employment continuity. And as you approach a certain age demographic (50+yrs) there is an unwritten, unspoken groundswell that is workplace ageism.
2. The stigma of age and experience
Experience and loyalty no longer hold the value they once did.
Experience and loyalty were the realm of a different working generation.
Knowledge and experience can more readily be acquired in the world we operate in today.
Projects are delivered in an agile methodology, meaning we work in sprints, achieving outcomes quicker and learning quicker as we go. Reporting and information is real-time and accessible 24x7x365 meaning decisions can be made faster and with more accuracy supporting them.
We also have ready access to google, online forums, data analytics, machine learning, and the hire-it-when-you-need-it consultancy’s.
We no longer need to toil away for 3, 5 or 10 years to learn and deliver something of significant value on the job.
Our bosses desire “fresh thinkers” on the team; the people who always look for the possibilities that could be, rather than why they can’t be. Experience is often seen as a blocker to possibility thinking.
But this is a two-edged sword. One of my staff once said to me…
Mistakes are repeated every second generation
If your organisation has little or no 2nd generation employees remaining, mistakes will be repeated. There lies the value of experience.
3. The stigma of longevity
When I entered the workforce the gold watch recipients were revered by all. The gold watch was awarded to someone who had worked for the same company for (typically) 25yrs or more. They had earned respect through their acquired knowledge and loyalty to their employer.
Today, longevity in one job is seen as a limitation rather than attribute. You are perceived as someone who is not prepared to take risks, you are not flexible enough, and you lack breadth of experience.
This view fails to acknowledge that many companies can offer extensive opportunities for an employee to move around to acquire both depth and breadth of experience. The devil is in the detail.
In many ways the gold watch is symbolic of the career it is celebrating.
It is an elegant and reliable reminder of a bygone era, whereas what is revered and sought after today is the smart watch.
Smart watches can also be elegant and reliable…and they will accurately tell you the time in not just one but multiple time zones. They are flexible enough to do this. They are not limited to traditional functionality.
Welcome to the workforce of today.
Thus, if you have been around a long time and you have not climbed your way to the point of being the Big Boss in your organisation, you will most likely be perceived as a gold watch employee rather than a smart watch employee.
So what does all this mean?
Ageism has always been around but nobody wants to talk about it. You only notice it when you or your colleagues are victims of it.
Acknowledging it is the first step to combatting it.
Preparing for it is the next step.
In upcoming articles I will explore strategies on how to beat workplace ageism, so if this is a topic of interest to you, follow me to stay connected.
And feel free to share your own strategies on how to deal with workplace ageism by leaving a comment below.
