They say you can't teach old dogs new tricks, but in organizations where older people work alongside younger staff, both age groups say that they have a lot to learn from each other.
Most younger people recognize that older work colleagues bring experience, reliability and understanding to the job.
And four out of 10 older employees believe their younger colleagues can teach them new skills, while nearly two-thirds are impressed by their younger workmates' ability to learn quickly and be flexible, according to a study by U.K.-based Jobcentre Plus.
The findings, which come a year after age discrimination legislation was introduced, suggest that employing a wide spread of ages pays off for bosses and employees.
Lesley Strathie, chief executive of Jobcentre Plus, says: "Working in a mixed-age workforce is important for older and younger workers, with everyone recognizing the benefits."
Overall, despite differences in age, varying attitudes and the contribution of different skills to the workplace, 95 percent of older workers enjoy working with younger colleagues.
Glenys Hayers is a team manager responsible for organizing corporate events at BT Business.
At 61, she is 30 years older than the youngest member of the team. Glenys believes the mix of ages creates a good balance.
"Younger people bring new business and management skills into the workplace while older people have more life experience," says Glenys, who lives in Lavendon near Olney, Buckinghamshire, U.K.
She dispels the idea that younger people believe older workers are not interested in learning new things.
"We have a culture where people are judged and valued entirely according to their ability," she says. "Age no longer comes into the equation."
Some employers still fail to recognize that tapping into a wider pool of talent, experience and skills can help to increase productivity.
However, Aaron McCormack, chief executive of BT Conferencing and BT's appointed Age Champion, believes that business benefits aside, age should be one of the easiest diversity agendas to address. "Unlike other issues, such as gender, ethnic background and religion, age is something that we all experience," he says.
"I think that one of the reasons younger workers have respect for their older colleagues is because they know that one day they will be in that position themselves and would like to be valued in the same way."
Source: Mail on Sunday; London (UK). Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. Powered by Yellowbrix.
