How to deal with ageing employees

As employees age, their abilities and expectations undergo changes. Bob Patchett advises on the ways that employers can support their ageing employees, minimising any fear or resentment that may develop.

Taking this title literally, of course, requires us to consider how we should deal with all employees, because humans begin to age as soon as they are born. But, although we are going to concentrate on those people who are in the final years of their employment, we should not view them as a distinct category of humanity with a uniform set of values and requirements.

All ages have their own values which, though not identical, nevertheless allow us to generalise. Some are established in our early years, such as popular music. Whatever our age, we tend to find the popular music of our grandparents quaint and old-fashioned, while that of our grandchildren is a hideous noise. Our parents’ demands for politeness were excessive while our children and their friends are downright rude. Thus we go through life with a set of standards that in general is peculiar to our age group.

As we age, however, we change in other ways — we do not like to be rushed, we prefer to think more before we act and, of course, physical changes can affect our ability to see, hear and carry out tasks. This means that different ages have different standards, differing modes of behaviour, and therefore different expectations. None of these sets of standards is wrong, therefore each deserves respect. And that is the key to relating to the diversity of people we employ — all must be treated with appropriate respect.

Slowing down

Commonly we notice that elderly people begin to slow down physically. They take longer to do a job or they have difficulty doing it and, trying to cope, make mistakes. To a great extent we need to accept this, but should do whatever we reasonably can to help them work efficiently. Someone doing a physically demanding job might be allowed more short breaks with somewhere to sit near their workplace. Could you help them to do their job, eg by providing steps for them to reach high shelves or by restructuring the job, replacing physically difficult elements with something they can cope with better?

Mental slowing down can, similarly, cause the employee to take longer to complete jobs, but it may also impact on their ability to learn new techniques or accept training. This is sometimes noticeable when introducing elderly people to new technology, eg using computers rather than a pen to record data.

However, do not assume that old people and new technology do not mix — there is a huge wave of “silver surfers” who use the Internet to develop a hobby and make on-line friends, and who also use e-mail and Skype to keep in touch with distant family. Many of these people have attended courses tailored to the elderly learner, which suggests that you may have to provide different forms of training for different age groups.

The employee may have not one big problem but a collection of small difficulties, such as an inability to stand for long periods, to lift heavy weights, and to remember formulae, customers’ names and other data. Therefore you will need to take all reasonable steps to adjust the working environment to enable the person to cope.

Fear and resentment

Two other less obvious problems that can affect elderly people are fear and resentment. Fear comes when individuals begin to recognise that they are not as competent as they once were, a fact that is highly apparent if their productivity is measured and can be compared openly with that of colleagues.

The fear is not only that they will lose their jobs but also that they will be criticised and ridiculed. These fears may be unfounded, yet they are real to the individual; the only way to counter them is to have a talk with the person concerned. Indeed, as their fear may not be apparent, opportunities should be taken to have a talk with them about their performance.

An appraisal meeting is an ideal occasion, but otherwise a chat with each elderly employee should be arranged, say, a couple of times a year. Spend enough time for a real discussion, ask them how they feel about work and do not fob them off with “don’t worry, you are doing fine” when they are aware that they are not doing fine. Above all, be honest. Ideally assure them that yes, you are aware that they have slowed down, but that is all right because they are still doing a good job. Signalling that you fully expect them to slow down a bit is sure to give them reassurance.

This may also be the time to talk about how you can help them.

Nevertheless, if they really are not up to the job and you cannot find any way to help them, you will need to discuss with them redeployment to some other, less demanding job within your organisation.

Resentment is the other problem and is particularly keen if the person feels that he or she has failed in some way, perhaps to become a manager or to have a bigger house. These things seem attainable when young, but in later life may appear no longer so, and hence the person feels a failure and becomes crabby or displays other poor attitudes. At home these feelings may be forgotten, but at work the evidence is all around as younger people get the promotions and seemingly better lives. The only way to prevent such negative feelings from becoming negative attitudes is again to spend time talking to the employee. Confirming the value of the work he or she is doing may not take away regrets, but it may remove resentment.

As well as being honest with elderly people, make sure that you base any decisions on facts and avoid acting on false assumptions. There is a common belief that, because elderly people are more likely to fall ill, their attendance records will be worse than those of younger employees. This may be true, but check the facts by looking at your own attendance records. Our propensity to suffer serious illness does indeed increase with age, but older people tend to be more tolerant of illness, have fewer distractions, and tend to consider their job more important than their night out, and as a result may be more likely to come in to work, albeit suffering from some minor ailment — while not suffering from results of the night before.

Respect

An often-heard comment is that elderly people like to be shown respect. This certainly is true, though it is relevant to all ages. However, respect needs to be given in different ways. Many elderly people resent being addressed by their first name; conversely, young people prefer to be addressed by name rather than as “you”. Older people like to reminisce about years ago, younger people about last weekend. Have your older employees recognise this. Suggest they give young people the respect that youngsters expect, and older employees themselves are likely to find themselves properly respected.