The value of Grey Hair

When I originally drafted this article, I realized that in today’s society, I needed to start with a disclaimer. When I talk about grey hairs, I am using a metaphor for experience, not judging anyone on the color, length, abundance or lack of follicles. And like many articles, where I ended up is not where I started when I decided to write this paper.

What I have seen more and more lately is that older workers are being laid off more than younger, less experienced ones. When it comes to looking for new jobs, older workers are more ignored than younger workers. The one main reason is simply that the less experienced are cheaper. While that may be true in certain ways, other important items are not considered.

This was illustrated for me quite a few times in recent months. An acquired company was told, in an appropriately legal way, to let all their older workers go. The intent was to fire the older workers and replace them with younger, less experienced staff. Another service industry was only hiring less experienced staff. Older job seekers were told that they had “too much experience” for the same job they just left. In many cases, the newer staff may be cheaper, but the lack of experience has a big impact.

I witnessed this recently while traveling. The more experienced wait staff had all been replaced by new people. While the end result was similar, the experience was significantly less enjoyable. The experienced wait staff could do more and still engage with the customers. The less experienced staff hardly engaged their customers and were much slower. Yes, I got my food but I had to constantly ask the staff for things an experienced wait staff would have already handled.

Let’s talk about some of the reasons I have unofficially heard employers use for not hiring or releasing older workers. . Experienced workers have a higher salary cost. Employers also state that there is a higher potential for health issues and therefore cost. Other arguments often heard is “the older ones are just not familiar with the latest technology” or “don’t have the computer skills” or “the older get slower”.

What do the employers do instead of keeping or hiring experienced people and training them on the technology and skills that are needed? They hire younger employees. Employers claim that younger employees are cheaper and familiar the all the technologies needed. They say that younger employees have the potential to be around for a longer period of time. They can be sometimes even be more flexible. But is that really true?

The answer is a definite maybe. Older workers have experience and may also possess valuable tribal knowledge about the organization and its operations. They can deal with harder, more complex issues and they typically can do it faster. They also can have more baggage and might be harder to train when change occurs. BUT: after retirement, they might be very flexible for filling in for staff on short notice. There may be little to no learning curve and no long-term commitment of employment. Experienced people often times do much more for the company without making a lot of noise about it… sometimes certain tasks they performed will only be discovered months later, after an old employee was let go and those tasks are no longer being done.

There is a cost to hiring younger workers. There are costs associated with advertising and recruiting, in addition to training costs and ramp up time. Very often the on-boarding period is not taken into consideration when letting an experienced worker go. Other workers typically shadow, or are shadowed by the newer employees, using up two people’s time instead of one. Depending on the job, it could take an inexperienced person from a few weeks to a year to become reasonably proficient at their job. That doesn’t include the costs of mistakes or finding a replacement if they don’t work out. It also takes them more time to do the same work.

Another related but un-factored cost is reputation. If customers have a good or great experience, they might possibly mention it to a few people. If they have a bad experience, they will tell everyone they know, both in person and on social media.

On the other side, you have to ask yourself, are ALL older workers worth it? The answer is a resounding No. Some people are in the wrong position, some may have burned out or experienced a life change. There are many things that could be negatively impacting their work. While assisting an employee to get back on track is a great idea - that will be a different article.

If younger workers aren’t the answer and older workers aren’t the answer, what IS the answer? The answer is “It Depends”. One key factor is the business.

If your business has a short training period and the difference between a new and experienced staff is minimal, then newer workers might be the right answer. Some businesses are the exact opposite. Experienced workers drive the main part of the business with newer, less experienced employees working under them on more routine tasks. Regardless of your business operations, , it is never wise to hire or fire someone based on their age.

Businesses should review their needs. The complexity of the work, the challenges faced in dealing with some, or certain, customers should be considered. In many businesses, a blend of new and experienced staff is a great thing – diversity is the key word here. The staff can build off each other’s strengths. Experienced staff can help grow and groom newer staff. The newer people can help by bringing fresh ideas and questioning the status quo. As the world changes, businesses need to grow and change too.

The reality is that sometimes younger workers are better. Sometimes experienced workers are better. The measure should not be based exclusively on cost. Intangible measures including business needs and complexity of the work being handled are drivers and should be included. If speed of delivery is important, that must be included too. The number and impact of mistakes should be considered. Employers should include the full set of facts of business needs as well as performance.

While salary can be considered a factor, it should not be the only one; salary should be much further down the list. In tandem, should go without saying that all employees, regardless of age, should be rated using the same system. Currently, that does not appear to be the case; as a result, and a lot of valuable experience is being wasted.