Mature talents of employees could help your business

As the average age of Americans increases, more and more of the people you employ and do business with will be older. How you communicate with this maturing population, and how successfully you address the issues and concerns with which they are dealing, may play a significant role in your overall bottom line.

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On the employee side of the picture, current research indicates that a sizable number of older workers strongly prefer some type of continued employment under the right conditions. Those conditions include more flexible work arrangements such as part-time positions, consulting, job sharing and working at home.

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Fully utilizing older workers’ talents may also mean assigning them to jobs that require seasoned judgment and reason as opposed to speed and innovation. Older workers are ideal for ; the role of mentor or trainer for new employees. They are also good at counseling, long-range planning, arbitration and other work that emphasizes knowledge, a well-developed sense of responsibility and maturity. Older workers can provide a major source of productivity, as well as harmony and stability to the work force. At the same time, they gain a sense of worthiness for themselves.

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Businesses are also going to need more older workers to help communicate with a customer base that is becoming older as well, and increasingly demanding of quality service (generally valuing it over price). For example, a home improvement chain located in Florida tries to hire sales workers who are at least 50 years old. They’ve found that their retiree customers want to talk to someone with a common frame of reference. In the same vein, Home Depot makes a point of hiring older employees who can better relate to mature customers.

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Creating a mature-friendly atmosphere and being sensitive to the needs of older customers is bound to pay off in the long term. The mature niche, which today has decades more of life expectancy and is less likely to move out of the area than younger people, represents a solid customer base for many years to come.