The Overlooked Workforce
By Cecilia Sepp, CAE, ACNP, LPEC
When you need to add someone to your team, did you ever think, “I wish I could find someone who already knew how to work in a nonprofit.” Wish granted! Just start looking at potential employees that are 50 years old and up.
That’s right. There is already a highly experienced, trained, professional workforce waiting to join your team. The problem is that you are overlooking them. Yes, dear readers, ageism is real even in the nonprofit management profession.
This stems from the attitude that people have expiration dates. Sadly, in the United States, we have an outdated and narrow-minded attitude about people over 50. We think they are “done,” or that they can’t use technology, or that they are going to retire soon so why bother hiring them?
What the rest of the world realizes that we continue to ignore is that every individual ages differently. Some people are washed up and done at age 35 while others are still vibrant and contributing into their 90s. It all depends on who that person is, their genetic makeup, their health, and their overall attitude about life.
For all of you out there that think “old people” can’t use technology, I’d like to remind you that “old people” created and built that technology that you say they can’t use. Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft, is 70 years old. Steve Wozniak, co-founder of Apple, is 74 years old. These are the guys who made the world you live in, and I bet they still know how to check their email and send a text. I’m sure they would say “you’re welcome” but they are likely coding right now.
The reasoning that someone “old” is going to retire “soon” so why bother hiring them is not clear thinking. When you hire anyone, no matter how old they are, you have no idea how long they will work there. Younger generations accept jobs and then “ghost” the employer; sometimes they don’t even show up after you hire them. You could hire someone and they are the wrong fit, so you have to let them go within a few months. If you hire really great people, they might get a better offer and leave within a year.
Age is no measure of how long an employee will be on staff or how well they will do. It is just a measure of how long someone has lived here on Planet Earth. The one thing age is a barometer of is experience. If someone is 50 or older, they have had a lot of experience. What you need to measure is if they have learned anything from that experience.
Most older people have a lot to offer. Add them to your team and you have created built-in mentors for the multi-generational workplace. Add them to your team and save time training; you just need to give them the specifics of working at your organization. Add them to your team and increase your knowledge base with all that lived experience.
Yes, dear readers, there is a ready-to-go workforce out there. You don’t see them because they don’t look young any longer. They have seen life and they show that in their appearance. Because of appearances, you make assumptions that are not accurate.
Seek out those that have lived and have experiences to share because wisdom comes from living. Remember: the most sought-after wines and cheeses are the ones that have aged. They are considered the finest. I think this applies to people too.
