Why it’s never too late to embark on your true calling

By Neil Patrick

It’s a strange thing. As we age, we often see our opportunities narrowing not widening.

I say strange because as we go through life, we acquire more and more experience and skills, and logically therefore should see our options expanding not shrinking.

But so many of us are conditioned into thinking ourselves into a box. And if the box you are in just really isn't YOUR box, it gets kind of uncomfortable. And if you’re uncomfortable, you’ll never be capable of achieving your best work.

Here are some examples of well-known people who rejected those ideas and instead went after their true calling.

Some had found their path but hadn't attained any success... some were in a completely different career... some were on the verge of giving up or had given up. But as they matured, they found their true calling and never looked back.

Sylvester Stallone, deli counter attendant. After getting no career traction as an actor in his 20s, Stallone attacked his 30s like any 5'3 man should: He wrote a movie where he was an all-American hero who triumphed over every obstacle.

That movie was "Rocky"... he banged out the "Rocky" screenplay in three days, in between working at a deli counter and as a movie theater usher... and it launched his career with an Academy Award for Best Picture. 

Andrea Bocelli, lawyer. He'd loved music and singing his whole life... but didn't really see it as a career possibility. So, after school, he got a law degree at the University of Pisa. At age 30 he was working as a lawyer and moonlighting in a piano bar for fun and extra cash. He didn't catch a break as a singer until 1992, at age 34. 

Martha Stewart, stockbroker. When she was 30,Martha Stewart was a stockbroker, no doubt learning all about finance and the ‘ethics’ involved therein. Two years later she and her husband purchased a beat-down farmhouse in Connecticut... she led the restoration... transitioned into a domestic lifestyle... and grew that most innocent of things into her evil, evil career. 

Mao Tse-Tung, elementary school principal. In his 30’s, Mao was already involved in communism... he was a young star of the Chinese Communist Party... but didn't realize it could be a career. (Probably didn't see communism as being very lucrative...?)

Instead, he was working as the principal of an elementary school. Where, no doubt, hall passes were decadent. Four years later he started a communist group that eventually became the Red Army and put him in power.

JK Rowling, unemployed single mum. Seven years after graduating from university, Rowling saw herself as "the biggest failure I knew". Her marriage had failed, she was jobless with a dependent child, but she described her failure as liberating:

“Failure meant a stripping away of the inessential. I stopped pretending to myself that I was anything other than what I was, and began to direct all my energy to finishing the only work that mattered to me. Had I really succeeded at anything else, I might never have found the determination to succeed in the one area where I truly belonged. I was set free, because my greatest fear had been realized, and I was still alive, and I still had a daughter whom I adored, and I had an old typewriter, and a big idea. And so rock bottom became a solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life”.

During this period Rowling was diagnosed with clinical depression, and contemplated suicide. Rowling signed up for welfare benefits, describing her economic status as being "as poor as it is possible to be in modern Britain, without being homeless" 

Barack Obama, university lecturer. Obama taught constitutional law at the University of Chicago Law School for twelve years, as a Lecturer for four years (1992–1996), and as a Senior Lecturer for eight years (1996–2004).In 2004, he was 43 years old. I’m not entirely sure what happened after that.

James Joyce, alcoholic. By 30, Joyce was writing... just not getting published. So to make ends meet he reviewed books, taught and, weirdly, made a lot of money thanks to his gorgeous tenor singing voice. He was also a raging alcoholic, which isn't financially lucrative until you become an author and can parlay those drunken antics into stories. Just ask Hemingway. Or James Frey.

Joyce finally got his first book, "Dubliners", published at age 32, which launched his career as, arguably, one of the most successful authors of all time. 

 
Colonel Sanders, tons of blue collar jobs. Well into his 40’s Harland Sanders was still switching from one random career choice to another: Steamboat pilot, insurance salesman, farmer, railroad fireman. He didn’t start cooking chicken until he was 40 and didn't start franchising until he was 65. 

Rodney Dangerfield, aluminium siding salesman. He started doing stand-up at age 19... then gave up on it in his mid-20s.. He started working as an acrobatic diver ... and then as an aluminium siding salesman. He didn't start getting back into comedy until he was 40. 

Harrison Ford, carpenter. When Ford was 30, he starred in "American Graffiti"... which was a huge hit. But he got paid a pittance for acting in it, decided he was never going to make it as an actor, and quit the business to get back into the more financially dependable world of construction.

Four years later, he met up with George Lucas again (Lucas had directed "Graffiti") and Lucas cast him as Han Solo in a movie called Star Wars.

So there you have it. A more or less random list of people who have shown us that by refusing to be kept in your box and allowing your innermost talents to come to the fore, that it’s never too late to start on your own path to greatness.

I guess the message for us all is, never let anyone tell you what you can or cannot do. Especially yourself.

How employers are wrecking lives

By Linda McSweeny

Spring is upon us, Australia's collective well-being is booming, and our economy is the envy of the world. Yet far from enjoying the fruits of their labours, many workers - even those in well-paying professional jobs - are living in fear that their livelihoods may disappear.

Whether it be the post-Global Financial Crisis unemployment horror stories filtering through from overseas; the rapid rate of technological change that has meant workers can be "on tap" 24 hours a day, or the rapid pursuit of material benefits, many workers fear that the only way they can stay afloat is to work harder and longer - often at the expense of their health.

Psychologist Dr Tim Sharp says work-related angst in Australia is very real. He says the GFC has shaken the confidence of many workers, particularly in industries such as banking, but he also says the modernisation of the workplace means we no longer have "jobs for life" and people are struggling to adjust to this new reality.

Edward* is 40. He has two university degrees, a loving family, and what appears to be the textbook life he craved as a young boy. But beneath the rosy surface lies a man sweating about job security. The operations manager for a global company rarely switches off from work, toiling from home at night and on weekends, juggling his smartphone and laptop and waking in the small hours to answer phone calls from clients. He often can't sleep because work issues pull him from his slumber.

Edward rarely engages in social activities or sport but tries to spend any spare time interacting with his two young children and partner, who works part time. He contemplates scrambling out of his work-heavy hole but can't fathom an exit plan. He says he has already made one career switch and doesn't fancy another.

"I know it's not sustainable for myself or my family to keep working around the clock and fixating on the fear that I could lose my job, but if I say no to my boss when he needs me, he'll find somebody who will do it," Edward says. He admits his fears were heightened after he watched three of his close work colleagues made to move on from their jobs in recent months.

The fear of job loss is real, even in Australia's reasonable economic climate, and researchers say there's mounting evidence of mental health issues arising from organisational downsizing and global economic crises.

Tony*, a 30-something finance worker, says he works about 70 hours a week to ensure he maintains his "high performer" status. He's also responsible for implementing downsizing operations and sees firsthand scores of colleagues increasing their work hours and input and/or turning to alcohol to cope with the fear of being the next worker asked to leave.

"I know that if I overperform and stay ahead of the pack, I'll be reasonably safe, though you can never really be sure of these things," Tony says.

But he feels battered by the consistently long hours, work-related travel and reliance on alcohol to alleviate stress. "I'm in my mid-30s but I feel like I'm 50 actually, I honestly do."

Those employees left standing in organisations or industries facing cuts often start to show signs of mental and physical stress as they fear being the next one to find themselves unemployed, according to studies cited by University of NSW psychiatrist and Black Dog Institute researcher Dr Samuel Harvey. Some push themselves into productivity overdrive simply out of fear of job loss.

Downsizing may increase sick leave and the risk of death from cardiovascular disease in employees who keep their job, according to a paper in BMJ (the former British Medical Journal). The results of the study, conducted in four towns in Finland during a severe economic decline from 1991 to 1996, were so stark, the authors called on policymakers, employers and occupational health professionals to recognise that downsizing may pose a "severe risk to health".

There was a clear rise in suicides after the GFC of 2008, with almost 5000 more suicides - primarily men - across 54 countries in Europe, the Americas and Asia in 2009, according to a new study published in the British Medical Journal.

"We know that just being in fear of losing your job is also associated with poorer mental health. Those people who feel less secure in their job have higher rates of mental health symptoms and lower rates of mental well-being," Harvey says.

Goldman Sachs boss Lloyd Blankfein recently highlighted what he saw as a mismatch between Australia's economic status and the attitude of its workforce.

"I've been coming here for a long, long time and during the past two decades of growth, growth, growth, people are always distraught, overwrought, wringing their hands about how horrible things are and, to my observation, they don't look that bad."

Real or imagined, a perception of job losses affects productivity, stress levels and family life, and researchers are trying to find evidence on which tools are best to help people deal with their fears, such as e-health and resilience programs supported by employers.

"What drives that perception is sometimes reality, but it's sometimes more about that individual and their way of viewing the world and their place within it. Some people are just worriers and we know that's a risk for mental health problems. But there's a lot of work going on now about whether you can help people build their levels of resilience and teach them techniques to alter the way they view some of these risks and the extent to which they ruminate on them," Harvey says.

Employers are being urged to help with the mental health of workers via the Mentally Healthy Workplace Alliance partnership between business, community and government. One of its aims is to find out what works and what doesn't when it comes to a mentally healthy workplace.

"Sometimes [job losses] have to happen, but certainly if people pause and think about the way they happen and the support given to individuals, we might be able to prevent some of these problems," Harvey says.

Sharp says the first step for workers is to seek information from their employer if they fear job loss to ensure they know what they're dealing with. Sometimes they can improve their performance, but other times, it may be beyond their control while an organisation seeks to downsize. For employers, they should reassure their workforce as best they can, to give employees a sense of security and stability.

Job loss was real for Sydneysider Nigel Marsh, who found himself "fat, 40 and fired" in 2003 and was so affected by the upheaval, he wrote a book about his experience, which is poised to become a TV series.

"For me, it was absolutely devastating," Marsh says. "I was a 40-year-old man with four children under the age of five and a wife who didn't have a job, so I thought my life was over. I thought I may never work again. It was totally devastating."

Marsh says he had an inkling of impending doom when talk of a merger involving the company that employed him began. Since the release of his book, he has received harrowing emails about people's job-loss stories in a society that he says glorifies overwork.

"You get this thing where people say, for example, 'Oh Amanda, she's so wonderful, she's always the first in, she's always the last to leave, she works every weekend, and she never takes any of her holidays', and you go, 'Well why are we holding that up as heroic when it's moronic or tragic?' It shouldn't be held up as, 'Oh yippee!', it should be seen as sad. Let's give her some help," Marsh says.

While his situation felt disastrous when it happened, the job loss gave him time to change his life. He took a redundancy package, wrote his book, lost weight, got fit, gave up alcohol and became more present in his family's life. He says any anxiety he has about job loss is now manageable.

"I've embraced the fear. I've tried to turn anxiety into anticipation. Until 40, I was taking a conventional approach to work; since then, I've been trying a different route," says Marsh, who now works in the corporate world, as well as being the author of three books, founder of the Sydney Skinny swim event, and a public speaker.

The key for employers to help in the mental health of their workers is to share information and ensure there are no surprises, says the University of Sydney's Workplace Research Centre director, Professor John Buchanan.

"If people get advanced notice, it makes a huge difference to their capacity to adjust and minimise the negative impact," he says.

*Names withheld

Read more: http://www.canberratimes.com.au/lifestyle/life/when-the-work-day-never-ends-20130920-2u42c.html#ixzz2fi3gI2Kf

Proof at last - older employees are not less innovative than younger workers

By Neil Patrick

For decades now, there have been several highly persistent myths about older workers which have negatively influenced organisations' behaviour and had a detrimental effect on their performance.

The widespread negative stereotyping of older workers has led to many managers believing without a scrap of scientific evidence to support it, that older workers:

1. Have poorer health and thus greater absenteeism and lower productivity 
2. Have shorter job tenure, demand higher salaries and pension benefits and hence are more expensive 
3. Are less technologically competent 
4. Are more rigid and resistant to change 
5. And last but not least, are less innovative and creative in the workplace and their jobs. 

Myths 1-4 above are relatively simple to disprove through even the most cursory scrutiny of available data and research. For example, earlier research by Ng and Feldman (2008) showed conclusively that, ‘older workers exhibit stronger extra-role performance and less counter-productive behaviour than younger workers’.

Firm conclusions about creativity and innovation however have proved elusive due to the complexity of acquiring reliable data. Until now.

Last month, The Journal of Occupational and Organisational Psychology published new research by Thomas W. H. Ng and Daniel C. Feldman from the University of Hong Kong and The University of Georgia, respectively.

Titled excitingly (!) ‘A meta-analysis of the relationships of age and tenure with innovation-related behaviour’, this research proves conclusively that older workers are no less innovative or creative than younger workers, and under the right conditions are much more so.

By the year 2020, Americans who are over 55 years old will comprise close to 30% of the residential population of the United States and a similar percentage in the UK and Eurozone countries. The over- 55’s will also by that time comprise c.25% of the workforce.

Not surprisingly therefore, this topic is assuming a greater than ever degree of importance, not just from the point of view of fairness, but also from the perspective of the maximisation of the value of organisations’’ human capital.

‘Innovation-related behaviour’ (IRB) was the focus of this latest research. As innovation has become more critical component of an individual’s contribution to an organisation’s performance, an accurate assessment of the relationship between employee age and IRB is becoming even more important for managers to understand.

Moreover, as Sternberg (2001) and Choi and Chang (2009) have emphasised, ‘creativity only adds value when the people who generate new ideas can persuade others of their utility and can convince others to implement those ideas. If new ideas do not gain widespread attention, are poorly implemented, or are never implemented at all, they have virtually no impact on the organisation’s ability to innovate’.

The often superior levels of communication and influencing skills displayed by older workers give them a distinct advantage in this valuable respect too.

The methodology adopted by Ng and Feldman involved the meta-analysis of 98 empirical studies. Put another way, this means that no fewer than 98 separate previous studies and their respective data were selected and aggregated to create not only a diverse but also an up to date sample. The results therefore have a high degree of statistical reliability.

The research conclusions are summarised in the research report thus: 

• Contrary to common belief, the results of this study show that age and tenure are not negatively related to innovation-related behaviours. 

• Older and longer-tenured workers do not engage in less innovation-related behaviour than younger, more junior workers 

• These results hold true even at the high end of the age and years of service continuum 

• This study concludes that the negative stereotype that older and longer tenured workers are less innovative is not based on accumulated empirical evidence.

• As such excluding older workers from innovation-related tasks is counter-productive. 

Sadly I do not think that this report will be the end of the matter. Stereotyping takes years to eradicate in all areas of life, but I am hopeful that gradually, the findings of this important piece of work will filter through to organisations and start to eliminate the perpetuation of these myths and falsehoods. It’s vital not just to older workers, but to all of us and the success of the organisations we work in.

A Message from Millenials to Boomers – We Want Traditional Values Back

By Cindi Bigelow, President of Bigelow Tea

When I was invited to speak about leadership at a local high school recently, I found myself looking out into an audience of expectant faces - typical American parents concerned about their kids' future at a time when jobs are scarce, college costs are high and people are debating the value of a liberal arts education.

I have two children, one who recently graduated with a degree in Spanish and English, and another who is studying business... so I know the competition is intense, compounded by the fact that some 78 million members of the Millennial Generation are entering the workforce at a time when some 76 million Baby Boomers don't really want to retire.

The audience was looking for answers. I'm an established businesswoman and a parent. What could I tell them?

"What do you want your kids to be?" I asked. "Doctors? Lawyers? Investment bankers?" And I could see heads nodding in agreement around the room, at least until I threw them a curve ball and asked, "How many of you said in your minds, 'I want my kids to be NICE?'" You could see their eyes open wide.

You see, in my mind, it's of incredible importance, even though, I will admit, "niceness" isn't on any curriculum at any liberal arts college I've visited. Furthermore, "niceness" isn't part of any professional performance evaluation in Corporate America, probably because we sometimes operate under the misguided notion that nice guys, and girls, finish last.

I'm here to dispel that notion. I look for "nice." I need to see "nice," not only in my kids, but also in my employees - all of them.

Yes. I want my kids to be "nice" people, and I don't really care if it's one of the least-discussed values in modern America. But in my opinion, we need to talk about this virtue much more often. These words need to part of our daily lexicon.

A "good" education should make sure it's teaching young people about values, and let's be honest, young people need to focus on these virtues because in many ways, our society has taken kindness, niceness and compassion (things that our parents and grandparents in the Greatest Generation practiced so naturally), for granted.

My list of what I want my kids to be is actually much longer than merely "nice." In no particular order, I want them also to be:

• Caring
• Hard-working
• Balanced
• Fair
• Resilient

I also have a list of what I don't want them to be. I don't want them to feel "entitled" or be disrespectful. And I certainly don't want them to have an "attitude."

And how do I impart this important information to my kids? By "messaging" to them continually (maybe similar to how a company tries to advertise its products). This kind of steady repetition of values is essential in raising our children. "Say please and thank you." "Hold the door." "Be kind to your brother." "Be friendly to the kid who doesn't have any friends." "Tell the truth even when it hurts." "Learn how to say 'I'm sorry.'"

And the good news is it works. I've seen the results.

This is how values were traditionally passed on from generation to generation, back in the era when we talked with our children at the dinner table and didn't spend the time texting.

The crazy thing is that research on the Millennial Generation shows they are looking for values, they crave them, and many are concerned with the direction our country is taking.

There have been many studies of the Millennial Generation, particularly by marketers and retailers who recognize their buying power, not to mention politicians, who recognize their voting power.

Here are some of the relevant characteristics of a generation that is typically defined by its love of technology:

• Some 63 percent of Millennials, as opposed to 55 percent of Baby Boomers, consider it their duty to care for their parents who are aging, according to a study by Focus on the Family. To me, that's great news.

• Equally important, 52 percent of people in the Focus on the Family study say that "being a good parent" is their most important goal in life. How can you argue with that personal goal?

• At the same time, this is the generation that might just change the face of Corporate America. A poll by the Marist Institute of Public Opinion found that almost two-thirds of Millennials think the nation's moral compass is pointed in the wrong direction.

• In addition, they have a problem with "compartmentalization," and 88 percent of them think people "have a different set of ethical standards in business than in their personal lives," and 66 percent believe there should not be two sets of values governing people at home and in the office.

• When it comes to the traditional juggling act of balancing work and family life, 75 percent of those polled said they believe they can balance the challenges of their careers -- but not at the expense of their families.

What I find so inspiring is that the younger generation is already wired for success and committed to traditional values like kindness and compassion and integrity. We just have to keep reinforcing that message and not let our society's love of professional and material success overshadow the importance of being a good and decent person.

When I finished the presentation I asked the group of parents one more time, "What do you want your kids to be when they grow up?" All of them raised their hands and said "Nice" at the same time. Made my heart warm and put a huge smile on my face!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/cindi-bigelow/being-nice-an-endangered-virtue_b_3624604.html

How Negativity Bias Can Wreck a Career Change

By Annie Favreau

"The brain is like Velcro to negative experiences and Teflon to positive ones." That's how the neuropsychologist Rick Hanson describes negativity bias—a psychological phenomenon where humans tend to pay more attention to bad feedback and forget about good outcomes.

As a result, people usually overestimate the possibility that disaster will strike. This is a great survival strategy (that rock might be a bear, so I won't poke it). But it's an impractical tactic for the modern world of work (my boss might say no, so I won't even ask for that raise).

What does negativity bias have to do with my career change? One of the worst side effects of negativity bias is an unwillingness to take risks. Of course, not all risks are good for your career. But taking (smart) chances can have major payoff—especially in the increasingly volatile and competitive job market. "Tough as it is for cautious people like me to accept, if you don't occasionally take calculated gambles, you won't get ahead as quickly as those who do," writes career coach Alexandra Levit in a piece for The Wall Street Journal.

How can I take good career risks? The smartest career risks are ones with possible upsides that greatly outweigh the possible downsides. In other words, when the reward justifies the gamble.

But to clearly calculate the true riskiness of a situation, you've got to work around your negativity bias. To take the leaps you need for a great career change, try these tactics:

• Remember that your negativity bias can make you exaggerate risks. Whatever you're planning, there's a good chance that it's actually less perilous than it seems at first glance. 

• Think about the worst-case failure scenario: Could you survive it? In a post for Tim Ferriss's blog, Ben Casnocha and Reid Hoffman, authors of the book The Start-Up of You: Adapt to the Future, Invest in Yourself, and Transform Your Career, write: "When the worst case of a given risk means getting fired, losing a little bit of time or money, experiencing some discomfort … it is a risk you should be willing to take. By contrast, if the worst-case scenario is the serious tarnishing of your reputation or something otherwise career-ending, don't accept that risk." 

• Take a big picture view. While your instinctive reaction to a risk may be "NO!" take a 3,000-foot view to get a true sense of the long-term rewards. In a year or five from now, will this risk potentially put you at an advantage? Perspective can take the edge off your initial response and allow you to make a more clear-headed calculation. 

Remember, even if you fail, making thoughtful gambles teaches you a vital skill: how to evaluate and handle risk. By taking leaps of faith, both small (like volunteering for a project that's outside your comfort zone) and big (like changing careers), you introduce regular unpredictability into your career. And that can increase your immunity to surprise, shock, and change.

Bottom line: to survive and thrive in your career, you've got to get used to taking risks.

Annie Favreau is the managing editor for Inside Jobs—a site that helps career changers and choosers discover strong career options + find the right education to make it happen. Follow her on Twitter @InsideJobs.

http://money.usnews.com/money/blogs/outside-voices-careers/2013/02/12/how-negativity-bias-can-wreck-a-career-change

More evidence that older workers add the greatest value

“Millions of workers who plan to stay on past retirement age could force up employer costs and hold back younger staff,” is how the Daily Express  summarises the results of a recent survey by life assurance company Canada Life.

The survey, apparently, shows that 35 per cent of the UK’s workforce intend to continue in their jobs beyond 65 now that compulsory retirement has been abolished.  Companies are urged to review their insurance policies and place heavy emphasis on the need for cover to cover critical illnesses.

 One might have expected this from Canada Life – after all the company is in business to sell insurance. “Life expectancy is improving, but mortality increases with age and the increased risk of insuring an older workforce will be reflected in higher premiums,” gloats Canada Life’s spokesperson Paul Avis.

A little objective reflection would be welcome

Avis continues: “For these older workers, health care provision and products such as critical illness cover will become an ­increasingly attractive part of their employment package. We would advise all employers to take into account the impact of the change to the average retirement age and review their benefit packages accordingly.”

Pardon my scepticism, but this sounds more like a marketing pitch than a serious piece of research.

Leaving aside an understandable desire to sell their products, it is hard to see the rationale for such dire warnings to employers.

Statements suggesting companies offer carrots to attract people to retire – not a policy that would, one imagines find favour with the Government as they encourage us to extend our working lives as we are living much longer and pension costs soar – are somewhat near  the mark when we are supposed to have a right to work longer.

The Canada Life ‘research’ amounts to an online survey of “over 1,600 UK employees” hardly (one would have thought) a major investment of resources in demographic and medical science..

It all adds up to a piece of cheap marketing puff – don’t believe all that you read in the papers!

In fact, one has to wonder whether this is not a question of someone stirring up controversy for the sheer hell of it. After all, the “Granny pinched my job” story is the sort some papers seem to love to run.

My feeling is that lining up the soldiers of some kind of pseudo intergenerational War of the Roses, is what this is all about. As the saying goes, never let the facts get in the way of a good story.

Avis urges employers to “… take into account the impact of the change to the average retirement age and review their benefit packages accordingly..”

Well that would be good for business wouldn’t it?

Apparently, employers should all go off and speak to an adviser “… to ensure they are getting the most for their money (and so that)  they won’t be faced with an unexpected bill.”

Well, well. I can hear the cash registers ringing.

What a pity that Canada Life didn’t consult others who have researched this area, somewhat more thoroughly.

In Managing the Ageing Worker,  a book published by Harvard Business Review Press in 2010, the authors conclude their review of evidence saying “….the overall conclusion from all this research is that for virtually all jobs in virtually all circumstances, workers with more experience are almost always the better performers. Any negative effects of age on performance are so minor as to be irrelevant.”

In fact, older workers do report more work- related illnesses but in contrast they have fewer work-related injuries, a point the insurance companies should surely acknowledge.

And while on average, older workers tend to take a few more days off sick than the youngest employees, the difference is relatively small and younger workers are more likely to take odd days off here and there, which can be more disruptive.

The striking thing is that the oldest employees tend to take fewer days off – a phenomenon known to researchers as ‘the healthy survivor effect’. (They mean that employees in poor health are more likely to retire, leaving behind the fittest and least absence prone employees; a sort of survival of the fittest, in fact.)

Whether the Canada Life research does offer evidence to support the company’s suggestion that working longer will cost employers more is a moot point. My hunch is that they have not done a cost-benefit analysis, lining up the costs on one side of the page and benefits on the other.

It would be nice of them to do one. I am sure we could all trust them to add up!

http://taen.org.uk/blog/view/113

Message to Employers – WAKE UP!

By Neil Patrick

I have been distracted over recent days by the astonishing employment, social and economic news from around the world that I felt I should share. Consequently, one of my mission objectives of tackling the injustices of ageism in the workplace has been neglected.

So I will aim to try and rebalance things over the next few days with a lot more practical material to try to move the ageism topic up the agenda. If you are here, you probably agree that ageism is a major worldwide generational issue and its effect is being hugely compounded by the mounting global economic and business crises.

Employers’ attitudes are the key of course, so what follows is for them. If you are an employer, HR manager or recruiter, this is my message to you.

Don't be prejudiced against job candidates who are middle-aged , approaching or even past retirement age. They are a much bigger potential asset than you realize.

If you don’t believe me, here are my top 10 benefits of hiring mature workers:

They have a strong work ethic
For older workers, years of working have programmed their minds and bodies so that they almost automatically get up on a Monday morning fully expecting to spend at least the next five days in productive work. Compare this to young employees of whom a significant percentage will not even turn up on a Monday morning because of ‘sickness’, childcare problems or just plain laziness.

They’ve learned things by being there even if they’ve not actually done them
Unlike younger staff, they have been able to observe years and years of their colleagues’ and bosses’ triumphs and failures. This has taught them lots. Not least is that having seen more in their lives gives them more to apply creatively - and let’s face it, creativity isn’t really about Einstein-like breakthroughs, it’s about taking other ideas and applying them. And the more you’ve seen before, the more ideas you have to draw upon. Just because they cannot always show these things on their CV’s doesn’t mean these learnings aren’t massively valuable to employers.

They know how to communicate clearly
Older workers were educated in a different time and before computers took over the world. Their ability to communicate face to face, on the telephone, or in writing is typically much greater than with younger staff. Phone text messaging, ‘friending’ people (when did that become a verb?!) on Facebook, or following them on Twitter may be seen as a ‘skill’, but it isn’t communication in a way that has much real value to an employer. Communication skills appear on just about every job specification and effective communication in any medium is still about empathy and the application of critical faculties, not clicking on icons.

They know that the customer is king
Almost whatever their career has involved, they’ve dealt with customers. Not necessarily paying buyers, but customers nonetheless. The term usually used for this is ‘stakeholders’. Even if they were not in a commercial environment, they’ve had to satisfy someone to ensure they kept their job. It’s odd that younger people often take a little time to latch onto this simple and fundamentally important point and to conduct themselves accordingly. Older workers on the other hand know it instinctively.

They don’t have to be told what to do, or in what order
After all those years of experience, they have developed a sixth sense for prioritising things. We all have too many demands on our time in a job, so it’s critical that we can distinguish what’s important and what really isn’t. This is a key skill that only comes with maturity, self confidence and experience.

The have an innate appreciation of risk
All human endeavours involve some form of risk. We become more attuned to this as we mature and develop strategies that minimise it. This isn’t fear, it’s a reasoned assessment, weighing the upside gains against the downside risks and acting accordingly. With maturity, our actions are instinctively balanced with risk assessment as an influence. Remember how when you were a child you believed you were indestructible? Or think about why it is that your car insurance premiums fall as you get older…

They can listen as well as they speak
‘I have one mouth and two ears and I use them in that proportion’ That’s not my quotation, but it contains real wisdom. Listening skills not only enable better decisions, they reflect an appreciation of what other people are saying and that in turn enhances older workers’ ability to show empathy. For any business, good customer relationships are built upon the ability to listen and empathise rather than tell.

They don’t panic in a crisis
We learn as we go through life, that often things just don’t work out how we intended or expected. But with maturity, we see things in perspective and therefore react more calmly when this happens. Older workers have seen things go wrong so many times before. Their calmness under pressure means that they can devise a new course of action faster and limit the damage more effectively.

Their egos are not out of control
We’ve all met him or her. The young thruster who’s so fired up by their own sense of self importance and over-eagerness to prove their worth that they rub everyone up the wrong way. Their mission is called ‘me’, not ‘us’. Many organisations do little to control these individuals; such behaviour is mislabelled as enthusiasm. It’s not and it is damaging to everyone. Funnily enough all the people I’ve ever encountered with this affliction were under 40…

They no longer want to conquer the world; they simply want to do a good job
This follows on from the point above. The older worker isn’t aspiring to become the next big thing, regardless of the damage they create along the way. Their satisfaction comes from doing a good job for their team, their department, their corporation. Older workers are not on a personal mission.

Moreover most of what they know cannot be learned in a classroom. Regardless of their professional qualifications, they all have hugely valuable experience from what some call the ‘school of life’ and that’s the most effective learning place in existence.

If you agree with only half of what I’ve said above, that’s still a pretty powerful argument for hiring older workers.

You can help change things right now by sharing this information with your boss, your HR partners and external recruiters. Rome wasn’t built in a day, but it started with one stone…

50 benefits of hiring an older worker. What would you add to this list?

As you may have seen from my post ‘10 Reasons Why You are Your Own Biggest Asset’, here:

http://40pluscareerguru.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/top-10-reasons-why-you-are-your-own.html

I believe that older workers are massively undervalued by prospective employers.

I fully believe that hiring an older employee is a good business decision. So let’s try and create an all encompassing list of all the real benefits for employers when hiring older workers. Perhaps we can also distinguish between the myths and realities of hiring older workers?  After it is complete I  will publish it for all to see. So start listing your favourite selling points to hiring managers in the comments below. Thanks.

Here’s my  Top 10 again  for starters:

1. You have a strong work ethic

2. You’ve learned things by being there even if you’ve not actually done them

3. You know how to communicate clearly

4. You know that the customer is king

5. You don’t have to be told what to do, or in what order

6. You have an innate appreciation of risk

7. You can listen as well as you speak

8. You don’t panic in a crisis

9. Your ego is not out of control

10. You know that you are worth a lot more than just what it says on your CV

As you will also know if you’ve read some of my other posts, I believe that not only are employers missing out on all this value, but these very same strengths equip the over 40s exceptionally well to set up and run their own businesses. I fully expect that the additional points you add will strengthen this argument further still. Let’s see…

What are YOUR career prospects after 40?

By Neil Patrick

This morning I dug out a report undertaken for the Third Age Foundation, entitled  ‘Past it at 40?’, looking into the causes of workplace ageism and discrimination. You can find it here:

http://www.thirdage.org.uk/researchbbk.html

Whilst the research was designed to inform policy makers and promote debate, it is just as relevant to individuals in my view. We need to understand what we are up against and most importantly, how to respond. As you will know from my other posts, I am a strong advocate of self-help and have limited faith in government and quasi- governmental bodies’ ability to solve these problems for us at the individual level.

The report was published ten years ago in 2002, so you might justifiably ask ‘is it still relevant?’ Sadly, I’d say that little has improved and that in fact, the onset of recession has aggravated the situation , so things are actually getting worse. Apart from recession, the coalition’s understandable focus on youth unemployment means that mature workers are not likely to see much in the way of government priority for intervention.

The most interesting insights in this report come not from the job seekers who are understandably frustrated, depressed, worried and feeling helpless, but from the employers who reveal some of their attitudes to this subject..

But let’s start with a quotation from a jobseeker in his fifties:

‘A few years ago, I applied for a job and was interviewed. There were three people in the room, all in their mid-twenties. I felt uncomfortable  - they talked about this ‘new, dynamic company’. It wasn’t said directly, but I could feel they were trying to discourage me a bit. I don’t mind if I’m surrounded by younger people, I was willing to learn and be as flexible as possible. As the interview went on, I felt I wouldn’t fit in. They said, ‘Don’t ring us, we’ll ring you’ -  and they didn’t.’

Now I confess I know nothing about this person, the job in question or the firm concerned. But that really doesn’t matter. Just read between the lines of the above quotation. First the interview panel were all in their mid-twenties - therefore their individual management experience was unlikely to be more than 5 years or so and less if they were graduates. The comment about a ‘new, dynamic company’ is code in my view. It means, ‘we are a hyped up bunch who like to work and party hard and don’t really want slower, uncool mature people in our ranks.’ It’s a fact that younger workers tend to like to blur their work and social activities together. They are generally unmarried, do not have children and therefore often like nothing better than to continue their work relationships on a social environment out of office hours. And let’s face it, why would they want a more mature person in their ‘gang’?

Another couple of employers’ responses more or less confirm my prognosis:

‘Some industries are younger, and an older person may not feel comfortable and will look out of place. They probably would not enjoy the job either.’

‘In this industry (banking) you are middle-aged at 33!…There is a perception that if you are old (sic) and have not moved on, then you cannot be good.’

I find these comments quite shocking. ‘You will look out of place’ - what does that mean? And why is someone over 33 ‘middle-aged’? What we are hearing here I think is that what we look like is a requirement for some jobs. If we don’t look young, we may not be an attractive employment proposition to some organsiations…

Whilst I find the above comments depressing and outrageous, my experience does confirm that mature people can genuinely feel out of place in some work environments. I have seen many of these where in the attempt to create a ‘fun’ working environment which motivates young staff, firms create instead a puerile one which really only appeals to a juvenile’s outlook. And who creates these environments? It is of course the same twenty-somethings who interviewed the job seeker I quoted first. It’s therefore more or less inevitable that a more mature person will feel out of place. So whilst this isn’t ageism per se, the work environment is shaped and determined by younger people to reflect their own outlook and preferences.

Worse still, the situation becomes a self-perpetuating circle. The young staff shape the work environment to match their outlook and appoint people who are attracted to it. So more of the staff are younger and the environment becomes dominated by a form of youth culture. The older and more senior managers see that this environment is appealing to the majority of their staff and so are reluctant to upset the arrangements to suit a minority – i.e. the more mature workers. And so the cycle perpetuates.

The key point I am making here is that no amount of government or legal interventions can really hope to tackle this sort of ingrained organisational behaviour. It is a form of ageism for sure, but how could you ever legislate to change it?

All of this leads me back to one of my core mantras, which is that once we get past 40, we are taking an extreme risk with our lives if we assume that we can just carry on working in the same careers that we engaged in during our twenties and thirties. For reasons I’ve described above, I do not believe that employers’ reluctance to hire older workers will recede anytime soon. So it is absolutely essential that you have a plan B for the second half of your working life.

Top 10 reasons why you are your own biggest asset

By Neil Patrick

If ageism is rife amongst employers and you are concerned that your age is threatening your career and future prosperity, stop and think about this. You've got stacks of experience and have learned through many years of seeing successes and failures at work. Your present or prospective employer may not place much value on this, but truthfully, they are just plain wrong! That experience cannot be replaced by any amount of youthful vigor and enthusiasm. It’s of immense value and yet how often do you really think about it?

Here are my top 10 reasons to help you reassess how you think about yourself and your future. Every one of these massively increases your personal value. And I’ll bet you haven't even put most of them on your CV.

You have a strong work ethic 
For most of us, years of working have programmed our minds and bodies so that we almost automatically get up on a Monday morning fully expecting to spend the next five days in productive work. Compare this to the employers of younger staff who often have to make contingency plans for a significant percentage of their workforce not even turning up on a Monday morning because of ‘sickness’, childcare problems or just plain laziness.

You've learned things by being there even if you've not actually done them 
Unlike the youngsters, you have been able to observe years and years of your colleagues’ and bosses’ triumphs and failures. Didn't that teach your something? For sure, it taught you lots. Just because you cannot show these things on your CV doesn't mean they aren't massively valuable to you.

You know how to communicate clearly 

This skill appears on just about every job specification. But how is it measured? The answer is usually that it isn't except by the impressions of the interviewers. These cannot verify whether you can even spell let alone produce a compelling argument on paper. I’d say that not prefixing every verb and noun in your sentences with the word, ‘like’ actually shows that your brain is your own and is quick and sharp... 

You know that the customer is king
Whatever your career has involved, you've dealt with customers. Not necessarily paying buyers, but customers nonetheless. The term usually used for this is ‘stakeholders’. Even if you were not in a commercial environment, you've had to satisfy someone to ensure you kept your job. It’s odd that younger people often take a little time to latch onto this simple and fundamentally important point and to conduct themselves accordingly. You on the other hand know it instinctively.

You don’t have to be told what to do, or in what order
After all those years of experience, you have developed a sixth sense for prioritizing things. We all have too many demands on our time in a job, so it’s critical that we can distinguish what’s important and what really isn't. Again this is a key skill that only comes with maturity, self confidence and experience.

You have an innate appreciation of risk
All human endeavors involve some form of risk. We become more attuned to this as we mature and develop strategies that minimize it. This isn't fear, it’s a reasoned assessment, weighing the upside gains against the downside risks and acting accordingly. With maturity, our actions are instinctively balanced with risk assessment as an influence. Remember how when you were a child you believed you were indestructible? Or think about why it is that your car insurance premiums fall as you get older…

You can listen as well as you speak
‘I have one mouth and two ears and I use them in that proportion’ That’s not my quotation, but it contains real wisdom. Listening skills not only enable you to make better decisions, they enable an appreciation of what other people are saying. This in turn enhances your ability to show empathy. And that’s a word that appears in a lot of job descriptions...

You don’t panic in a crisis
We learn as we go through life, that often things just don’t work out how we intended or expected. But with maturity, we can see things in perspective and therefore react more calmly when this happens. After all we've seen things go wrong so many times before. Calmness under pressure means that we can devise a new course of action faster and limit the damage more effectively.

Your ego is not out of control
We've all met him or her. The young thruster who’s so fired up by their own sense of self importance that they rub everyone up the wrong way. Their mission is called ‘me’, not ‘us’. Yet organisations do little to control these individuals; such behavior is mislabeled as enthusiasm. It’s not and it is damaging to everyone. Funnily enough all the people I've ever encountered with this affliction were under 40…

You know that you are worth a lot more than just what it says on your CV
If you didn't before, I hope you do now.

There is a minor caveat however. By the time we are in our 40’s and beyond, all those years of working have conditioned us in some negative ways too. We are so used to measuring ourselves against the yardsticks our employers choose to use, that we forget all the other things we have learned and achieved. I hope the points above have reminded you of some of these. Many of these things are not even learned in the workplace or classroom. They are from what some call the ‘school of life’ and that’s the most effective learning place in existence.

As I said in my opening, YOU are your own biggest asset regardless of what your employment outlook currently is. Exploiting that asset is the key to your future. I hope the above helps you to expand your ideas about not only your own capabilities, but what you could achieve with them in future. And that is a very great deal.