My mother, a 30+ year educator with a vast amount of experience, was recently discussing her decision to stop teaching college classes with me. One of the reasons she decided to stop was her lack of knowledge when it came to new technology. She has years and years of proven success and experience with students, schools and school districts, but she recognized that she couldn’t teach about the rapidly changing technological world.
My immediate reaction was ‘what a loss for these students.’ Through her experiences, my mom could teach these students skills you just can’t find on the Internet.
As I thought about this more, I realized my own lack of understanding when it comes to my aging co-workers. In my opinion, it would be a great honor to work and learn from my parents, but for some reason that feeling has never transferred to some of my co-workers who are about the same age.
I started reading up on the topic of the aging workforce and was surprised to find a study done by Louisiana State University that found older workers – those 55 or older — may not pick-up on changes in the office as quickly, but they are much more willing and devoted to making change work within the office.
That made me think of my dad’s recent move onto Facebook. He had no idea what he was doing and I probably spent days explaining how everything works, but he was, and still is, more determined to understand how it worked – and use it appropriately — than many of my 20-something aged friends.
So, the next time you struggle when working with an older employee consider these tips from Forbes:
1. Appreciate that your motivation for work may be different. Younger workers are generally on a path for promotions or increased salary, but many older workers are already financially stable, so their motivation for working is self-satisfaction.
2. Communicate: Each generation communicates differently. In general, older workers would prefer to talk more often in person and on a more consistent basis. You both have to communicate to find the best way to work together.
3. Respect experience: After decades in the workforce the chances are they know and thing or two about successful business. Sure they may not know everything about the project, but they can probably share some valuable lessons from past experience.
