Employers: Embrace the aging workforce.

What is old?

Can the person do the job?   Are they the best person for the job?  Do they want to do the job?  If the answer is yes for all these questions, then age does not matter.

Look at Stirling Moss OBE (born 17 September 1929), who I met, along with Murray Walker OBE (born 10 October 1923) in 2009 at an event hosted by Octane Magazine : Stirling at 80: Stirling and Murray Walker celebrate his 80^th.  Both men are vibrant, energetic, quick witted and as passionate as they have always been, they lead active lives, still work (part-time) through public speaking (such as the event I attended).  Stirling Moss still races sports cars at 80+ years old, which is mightily impressive.

I have family friends that seem much younger than they actually are because they keep their minds and bodies active.  Look at Bernie Ecclestone (born 28 October 1930), he is as committed and as passionate as ever about Formula 1.

When recruiting, it should always go back to these questions:

• Can the person perform the job/ task that is needed?
• Are they the best person for the job and fulfil the job specification and team fit (regardless of age, nationality, race or any other factor)?
• Are they available, willing and highly motivated?

Employers need to embrace the aging work force and understand their life choices.  If the job seeker wants to work full time, part-time or flexi-time, the employer should try to empathize with this, understand why and try to fit this into their business model if it allows.  Those employers that do not have this flexibility will lose out on some of the talent pool, and this aging talent pool is growing.

To discuss how Project Resource can help you have a diverse recruitment process, to ensure you consider the complete talent pool, feel free to call us today, I would be happy to discuss this with you in more detail.

We have more employer advice on our website.  Project Resource focuses on supplying the very best talent (regardless of age) to employers, we work relentlessly to exceed the expectations of the employer and job seeker, we advise on all possible solutions that best fit the parties that we are working for.

Next week’s article will be:  Employers: Embrace the part time work force.