09 Nov Need help? Why You Should Hire Older Workers
So, you might be sick of the idea of older and wiser. Or, “you’ll understand when you’re older”. Or. . .well, fill in your favorite “experience matters” cliché. But. Well, the truth is, more experienced workers can be a really valuable asset to your team. So consider why you should hire older workers to help grow your business.
Reasons why you might want to hire older workers:
Experience matters. There’s something to be said about hiring someone who just gets it. It might be that they have the technical expertise that you need. They know what are best practices, they’ve perfected their skills, and they have the confidence to work independently. If you need an accountant, a lawyer, a bookkeeper, you can imagine how hiring an older worker who’s been doing this a long time.
You’ll love the loyalty. Workers over 50 tend to be more loyal to their employers, especially if they were hired recently. A couple of reasons why – for one, people who are further along in their career feel more comfortable with their success, they have less “itchy feet” in general compared to Millennials, and they are aware that every time they go back into the job market again, the more they risk struggling to find a new opportunity.
Professionalism is perfected. Beyond just technical experience, if you hire older workers, you’re likely to see people who have had multiple jobs at multiple employers and learned to present themselves appropriately.
This means all of the obvious – showing up on time, being respectful of colleagues, having strong communication skills. But it also means that they have learned to adjust to different corporate cultures, so they are skilled at understanding what’s expected of them.
Hire an employee, and a mentor. When you hire older workers, not only do you have less training involved, but you also get a built in mentor for others. Experienced employees often emerge naturally as leaders and mentors among their colleagues.
While you might not immediately use a new hire as a role model for your existing employees, it’s worth noting that if you are hiring older employees you might get more than just a worker bee.
If you hire older workers, you could get more benefits than meet the eye.
Only you know what is most important to your business. But there are multiple reasons why those who hire older employees find a lot of advantages to that decision.
Not the least of which is that there are a lot of them — by 2020 they are expected to be 25% of the workforce. Think broadly about your needs, and don’t miss the opportunities that come from adding some experience to your team.