The Importance of Age Diversity in the Workplace

It’s easy to see why diversity is important. Having people from diverse backgrounds reduces the chances of poor decisions being made by bringing in different perspectives, allowing for more consideration to be provided. Many people already know the benefits of racial, gender, and ethnic diversity, but age diversity is one that is often left out.

I’ve worked at a place where I’m younger than everyone else by at least two decades and my experience was that your co-workers are less likely to trust you and your work due to your lower age. I’ve talked to dozens of people my age and they all say the same thing.

This isn’t a new phenomenon, it’s been happening since the dawn of man, but it’s easily remedied. Hire a diverse group of people, in all meanings of the term. If there was at least one other young person at that job, I can guarantee that more good things could’ve gotten done.

It’s not just hiring young people. Organizations and businesses that are filled with young professionals need older people to bring in their expertise and experience. It’s a two-way street.

In our cities and towns, there are plenty of places that are going out of business because they can’t get on board with social media and digital marketing, an area with predominantly younger professionals thrive in. On the other hand, you have plenty of start-ups that soon fall because of mismanagement and lack of business-savvy leaders.

The easiest way to fix this is by having a diverse employee population at all levels, from customer service reps to C-suite executives. Forbes reports that “Given their different perspectives, a mix of workers interacting on projects delivers the greatest performance.”

You should be able to work with people you disagree with and you should accept that they may have more of a knowledge in a certain area than you do. If you’re thinking of a specific person after reading that last sentence, it’s probably also something you should work on too.

My advice to older members of the workforce, these people coming out of college earned difficult degrees and handled things you never even imagined, give them a chance, listen and trust them, and pay them right.

My advice to younger members of the workforce, listen to people that have worked in your field for a long time. They may not have the most up-to-date information or tactics, but the principles and basics are the same and those skills are sharpened with experience.