Time With Sands – Ageless Enterprise

What are some of the things I can do as a leader to create a more Ageless enterprise?
– Jorge M.

One of the first things you can do is jump into the “Age Rush” as a leader and start looking at what I call an age audit. Start by looking at the percentage of people who are in each generation at your enterprise, how they are allocated by position, ranking, direct reports, and responsibilities, so leadership has a truer snapshot of the array of employees over 40 vs. under.

Get to really know who your people are: where their strengths and weaknesses are regardless of their chronological age, what their core values are and how they align with the enterprise’s mission and vision. Ask what’s not working and what is without retribution. Learn what gets their mojo going, and what doesn’t; then, correct for both.

Recreate the Gender Identity programs and models of the ‘70s but this time reconfigure around intersectionality with a focus on ageism and age discrimination as the last of the big offenders. Then start re-combining your teams with the aim of creating intergenerational exchanges and collaboratives.  It may not be easy at first, but well worth it over the long term.