Time With Sands – Age Audits

Would you recommend that HR be responsible for age audits? Or some other person or department?

-Colette S.

I would rather it be the leaders at the top spearheading the call because if we don’t … you know, the old expression, the Chinese expression, “The fish stinks from the head,” right?

If we’re not doing an age audit from the top view, top down and across, then we’re not going to make real massive change from the downward and across upward.

Ageism right now is rampant. Not only in big business, it’s across all of America’s sectors and strata of business endeavors, whether for profit or not. As the death toll continues to rise, Covid-19 has illuminated ageism across the health and aging care sector. But even before this tragic devastating pandemic, ageism was prevalent across the marketing space as well as up and down the ranks of our workforce from C-Suite to the factory floor. One gift of the pandemic is that we cannot stay in denial. Our age bias and generational discord are what has to stop.

Let’s get real! Back in the days of my youth in the 60’s and 70s, anyone over the age of 30 was a pariah and not to be trusted! Today a very high number of leaders, who are in powerful decision- making positions and who are our cherished thought leaders, are way over the age 30. Those of us who are on the cusp or full-fledged Boomers grew up, with “Anyone over 30, don’t trust them.” Well, now we Boomers, and even our squeezed -into-the-middle Gen Xers are over 30, with Millennials already making the crossing towards age 40, have changed this mantra! In fact, we oldies but goodies who started the over 30 as our nemesis, are the ones that are leading. In fact, most of us are over age 60 with the front edge of Boomers heading into their 70s!