How Age Discrimination in the Office Silently Kills Your Whole Company
A workplace where there’s an atmosphere and system of age discrimination is definitely unhealthy. Some grow from there, but many do not, or some who grow there don’t fully grow. For both the business and the employees, age discrimination is a big poison. It silently damages even without you (employer) knowing it.
This is a piece directly addressed to employers who handle people as employees in their companies or businesses. It is very important to know that age discrimination in the workplace is just so wrong, and here are its bad effects, showing how unhelpful it is in the workplace.
#1 – WRECK IT, BOSS.
First and foremost and more than anything else written in this list, age discrimination negatively affects the feelings of your employees since it directly refers to them and to who they are. There’s actually nothing they can do because it’s their age, and they can’t just change it whenever they want to.
When there is age discrimination at work, there will be lesser opportunities for certain people who are being set aside due to their age which is considered by the company as the basis of one’s skill and competence. The victim of this discrimination may be robbed of things to do because others assume or the employer thinks that he/she won’t be able to carry out the job properly or on time. They might also be partnered with co-employees who are “better” (due to age difference) because you believe that they can’t finish the given task alone. Such situations are surely hurtful! These situations make your employees feel useless, weak and inferior among all others. They make them question their capabilities and make them hate you. This is not a matter of work and money anymore, it’s a matter of being human.
#2 – OOPS, THAT’S THE WRONG ATMOSPHERE
Your workplace houses your workforce. Age discrimination builds walls among your employees, especially those who are favored and those who are victimized by this kind of discrimination.
There might rise some other little spaces of age discrimination among them if they see that it’s what the employer also supports and does. Due to that, competition and hatred might occur; both of which are ingredients of a damaged relationship at work. Other negative feelings and mistreatment might also happen like lack of trust and lack or negligence to work as a team. If these negative thoughts and treatment toward each other are present, work is very much affected.
#3 – PRODUCTIVITY, WHERE’D YA GO?
If the employees don’t feel good at all because of the management and the environment, work performance will surely be distracted and destructed. Since their psychological aspect is affected, functionality, mood, interest and motivation–all leading to productivity–can be extensively swayed unfavorably.
Also, there are many chances wherein you can hamper your own company’s productivity by just choosing the “better” over those you assume are “unsuitable” for the task or job. For instance, you make the wrong choice of assigning a task to a younger employee just because you believe the older one will finish it days after rather than in an hour. Instead of getting the outcome you want, you end up having an unproductive young employee who does not know a lot about the task so a lot of preparation and research are needed, and on the other side, you also have an unproductive old employee because you didn’t give any task for him/her to accomplish within the day.
#4 – FACE THE LAW
Letting age discrimination flourish in your company can reach as badly as getting reported and sued by your employees. In different countries and states, there are anti-discrimination laws present in the workplace, having the same goal which is to eliminate age discrimination in the workplace and to sanction those who use it as a system for the benefit of their company and business while not caring for individuals who work for them.
#5 – MISSING OUT THE FRESHNESS
Age discrimination against younger employees leads to missing out on fresh talents, skills and knowledge. It’s like you’re giving away potentials which could be of great help to you and your business. Younger employees, especially those who are fresh graduates, are motivated to find work and to work! It’s something new to them, and they don’t want to mess up while still planting a seed out there into the new world of work where they still don’t have a soil they can call their own.
Just because a candidate or an employee is young doesn’t mean he/she is weak and incapable of working. Don’t underestimate the young ones; instead consider them and their potentials, and give them a chance to showcase their skills as they work for and in your company. Hone their talents and skills in the field of work even until they’re no longer as young in the future as they are now. It’s helpful to think of the good possibilities that’ll come to a young employee. Think of what he or she is going to be in the future — a successful, well-trained and expert in the field he/she is yet to discover even more — and you could be that proud manager/employer 10 years after the time you decided to become a mentor to a young employee everyone thought was weak.
#6 – WASTING THE OLD BUT GOLD GOODIES
Just because a candidate or an employee is old doesn’t mean he/she has to rest and retire now. Senior/older employees are your company’s treasures. Surely, your company wouldn’t stand still and strong as how it has been doing if your older employees didn’t stay too!
They’re the ones you can always count on because they’ve already known the twists and turns and the highs and lows in your company and in the field of work itself. Loyal clients also have known them for a long time already, and they have established connections among them. Senior employees are also trusted by those loyal clients because they’ve been encountering them since day one. If you discriminate the older ones, it’s like you’re throwing old but gold treasures which are hard to find and to replace.
Nowadays, many employees jump from one company to another because of many reasons, and you’re lucky enough if a lot would really stay and love your company. Don’t underestimate the older ones just because of their years of existence and their white hair probably. Their experiences will always be matchless in the world of work. A lot of jobs and people crave for experience because it’s the way they can actually pursue the big dreams they have since jobs require experience. Old employees (or even candidates) can and still can offer you more than you expect. Your company needs those experiences because it can never be stolen nor taken back.
#7 – SO WHO’S GONNA WORK NOW?
Age discrimination is when you’re either against the older employees or against the young ones, but it all goes down to your workers! They’re your workers, and if they find themselves hurt, considered unuseful, uncherished, underestimated, sought as a last resort, looked down upon, tagged as weak and incompetent, then sooner or later, you’ll need to hire another whole set of employees because no one’s going to stay long enough in your company just to suffer all those forms of discrimination due to age.
You can lose your employees, the people who trust and the people who trust you, the people you love and the people who love you. Yes, this is about your business, your income and your clients, however, this is also more about losing those who are more precious than money and work — the people who have become a great family to you.
CONCLUSION
Age discrimination shouldn’t be right there inside the management of your company and inside the workplace. It can affect you more than you think of. Do something. Eliminate age discrimination now, and don’t wait for these bad effects to happen or to grow even bigger. Kill age discrimination now before it kills your company.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Nicole Ann Pore is a daytime writer for HR Dept AUS, an Australian company providing HR assistance, support and services for various kinds of business needing help in their establishment and growth. Nicole writes about work essentials both for employees and for employers. She enjoys writing about anything related to Human Resources, its various roles, its function for the company’s success and the Psychology that goes with it.