Introduction
Following the global tendencies, it is possible to state that the average age of the workforce in companies tends to increase, and today, there are many employees whose age is over than 55 years (Robbins & Judge, 2014, p. 63). This tendency is correlated with the development of a diverse workforce in organizations. However, in spite of the focus of employers on promoting diversity in organizations, there are many problems associated with managing the aged employees and addressing the issue of age discrimination.
Changes in Employment Relationships when the Population Ages
Relations of employees change when there are significant differences in the workers’ age. The problem is in developing stereotypes that aged employees are lower performers. These stereotypes lead to age discrimination in the organization because older employees are discussed as having less strength and flexibility (Robbins & Judge, 2014, p. 57). Discrimination attitudes toward older employees can be observed in many organizations, and they are associated with the practices followed by managers and attitudes demonstrated by co-workers.
Types of Challenges for Managers Associated with Age Diversity
To promote age diversity in the organization successfully, managers need to overcome a range of challenges. The main problem is the guarantee that the performance of older employees is according to the organization’s standards. As a result, managers need to monitor the recruiting process and then provide older employees with additional training. However, there is an opinion that older employees can resist adapting to new technologies and participating in training sessions (French, Rayner, Rees, & Rumbles, 2011, p. 22). Therefore, managers need to control that older employees receive all the necessary health care, support, and training and that they are not discriminated against.
Types of Policies Associated with Age Discrimination Issues
Each company that supports the diversity within its environments develops the effective anti-discrimination policies that are composed according to the legal and ethical norms appropriate for the concrete industry (French et al., 2011, p. 24). Referring to the laws adopted in the country, it is important to develop corporate policies that demonstrate the organization’s orientation to diversity and determine the penalties associated with age discrimination because it is prohibited in the United States, like any other type of discrimination.
Other Challenges Associated with the Diverse Workforce
Even if managers work to develop practices to train older employees and guarantee high levels of their performance, problems can be observed while organizing the cooperation of employees representing different age groups. In this context, it is important to plan the activities for promoting the work in groups, for increasing cooperation, and improving the organizational climate.
Actions to Overcome Diversity Challenges
To cope with the diversity and age discrimination issues, managers need to propose clear standards for the performance in order to monitor any changes in employees’ individual performance and avoid discriminating notes; to develop the strategy in order to organize the work of the diverse employees; to communicate the policies regulating diversity and discrimination issues; and to react to the problems immediately and directly (Robbins & Judge, 2014, p. 63). Managers should focus on developing policies that regulate all the aspects of diversity in the company.
Benefits of Having a Diverse Workforce
When an organization has a diverse workforce, it is possible to expect high skill and competence levels, diverse experience, and multiple capacities. When there are older employees in organizations, it is possible to rely on their experience, significant knowledge base, work ethic, and commitment to the organization. The other benefits of diversity include flexibility, an innovative approach to decision-making, and consistency.
Conclusion
Diversity in organizations positively affects the organizational culture and productivity in spite of problems with managing the diverse workforce. In this context, much attention should be paid to addressing the issue of discrimination.
References
French, R., Rayner, C., Rees, G., & Rumbles, S. (2011). Organizational behavior. New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons. Web.
Robbins, S., & Judge, T. (2014). Organizational behavior. New York, NY: Prentice Hall, Inc. Web.