How to help older employees stay valuable
1. Smile & ponder
In 1953, Henry Baily Little celebrated fifty-five years as president of the US Institution for Savings in Newburyport, Mass.
Respected by his board of directors, Little was asked to serve another term. Surprisingly, he declined, stating it was time for a younger man to assume the leadership.
‘So what’s the big deal?’ you may ask. Well, Henry Baily Little was 102 years old and the ‘younger man’ chosen to take his place was William Black. And he was eighty-three.
2. It's a fact
- Michelangelo was 71 when he painted the Sistine Chapel.
- Albert Schweitzer was still performing operations in his African hospital at age 89.
- Winston Churchill, at 70, addressed V-E Day crowds, standing on top of his car.
- Golda Meir was 71 when she became PM of Israel.
- George Burns won an Oscar at 80.
- Columbus was well into his 50s when he set off on his first voyage into the unknown.
- Benjamin Franklin framed the US Constitution when he was 81.
People can be creative and productive at whatever age if given the opportunity.
3. Research says
According to PricewaterhouseCoopers, more and more people could be going back to work in their 60s and 70s, not because they need the money but because bosses will need staff. Employers will need to change their attitudes towards older workers.
Early baby boomers (post WWII babies) will begin leaving the workforce in large numbers in 2006 when they start turning 60. …
