One of the biggest challenges in trying to promote age inclusion and fighting against ageism is the myths that surround each generation. These lead to stereotypes which can cause unconscious or conscious bias towards those either older or younger than us. At the ADF, we try to fight against these biases’ by disproving the myths that exist.

A recent example of this was the myth that we get less productive as we age. This can be a barrier to age inclusion on both the employee and employer side. Employers are less likely to hire older workers because they believe that they won’t be as productive as their younger colleagues. This increases costs and reduces efficiency for the business. So, recruiting managers may be more favourable to younger candidates as they know they will have the efficiency required. This myth formed from older studies which stated that mature workers are less productive when recently research has shown that there is no correlation between age and productivity. Whilst it is important to remember that ageing does have a natural effect on our capabilities, this process affects everyone differently and there is no way to truly measure the impact ageing has. Data shows that businesses with 10% of workers that are Over 50 are more productive. With the right mitigation in place to help mature workers with the challenges they face, this myth can easily be debunked.

“stop trying to create a divide between generations”

There are also several myths about the motivations for work between different generations. These differ drastically depending on sources. Many people say that younger generations such as Gen Z, don’t prioritise money when choosing a career whilst generations such as Gen X value pay over everything else. However, some other sources would state the opposite.

There is a correlation between the generation of the source and which myth they believe in (younger generations are more likely to believe the former whilst older generations will naturally pick the latter). There is no problem with focusing on pay when choosing a career, however, the media often portrays this as a sign of greed and a lack of care for anything else. Research by McKinsey has shown that all generations apart from Gen Z, prioritise adequate total compensation when choosing a new job whilst Gen Z prioritise career development. But is this surprising and should this myth even exist?

Older generations are in a different living situation to younger generations. Gen Z are either in school or just leaving university, they are naturally going to prioritise their development over finances as they likely don’t have many bills to pay. That does not mean other generations are money-hungry or do not care about other factors of working. They simply have other things they need to consider outside of the workplace. In fact, the research also showed that Gen X and Baby Boomers placed meaningful work as the second top priority – Gen Z places it third following pay. This shows that there is not much truth in either version of the myth. The 21st Century is focused on social responsibility and making positive impacts and every generation is considering it.

The media must stop trying to create a divide between generations and put more effort into explaining the reasons for the difference in priorities. Otherwise, many people will simply read headlines and form a stereotype in their head which will lead to discrimination.

Loyalty to the business is another myth that exists. It is often considered that mature workers are more likely to be loyal to the business they work for. This can be for a multitude of reasons ranging from having reached a comfortable position in the business with no need to advance their career, loyalty formed from working at a company for a considerable amount of time or working instead of retiring and doing it for enjoyment, thus there is less pressure for them to move around.

Younger workers are often seen as less loyal with a strong emphasis on their drive to develop themselves and move around to try and climb the career ladder. However, how accurate are these myths? With the right investment into a younger person’s development and training, businesses can easily keep young workers in the workforce and create loyalty. If Gen Z and young Millennials are looking for advancement opportunities and evolution then why shouldn’t the business offer them those opportunities?

As we have stated in the past, in doing so, it not only persuades these younger workers to be more loyal but it also gives the business the prospect to shape them into exactly what the business needs. In McKinsey’s research, it shows that Baby Boomers also often left their previous jobs because of a lack of career development and advancement opportunities. This debunks the idea that older workers are more likely to stay on. With the drive for older workers to stay in work (spurred on by government policy). Older generations are focusing more and more on entering new fields and developing themselves rather than entering retirement. This also has the interesting effect of putting younger generations and older generations on a level playing field as it introduces the possibility that both older and younger workers have the same level of loyalty to the business. Interestingly, the need for career development being a factor in leaving does not translate into what older generations look for in their next job.

To conclude, myths and the stereotypes they create are one of the root causes of ageism. With the media’s determination to create divide between generations and the communicational difficulties that can arise, it’s very easy for these myths to become commonplace and can limit businesses from diversifying their workforce or truly gaining the benefits of having a multigenerational team. The key is to start noticing when we bring these myths into our consideration and take time to reflect on our thought process, analysis and determine if it truly is a fact or simply something we’ve been lead to believe by our own unconscious bias.

Sonya Knight | ADF Comms Team

Read our previous editorial here

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