Rethink "older worker"

I came across the Age and Generations Study conducted by the Sloan Centre at Boston College yesterday. It states that "several major changes have occurred in recent years that make chronological age an unreliable indicator of individuals' experiences with regards to work and life". It asks the very valid question "why, when examining our workforce, would we compare groups of employees based on chronological age alone?"

It suggests examining employees' perceptions of employment experiences through "multiple age-related lenses" including for example:
-chronological age and generations
-life course eg life events and transitions
-career stage eg if someone has made a career change or taken time out of work they may actually feel they are in an earlier career-stage
-tenure ie the number of years an employee has been with an employer which is a measure of the relationship with the employer.

The Employers Forum on Age a number of years ago did research which focused on employees' attitudes, rather than their age, in terms of their likely performance at work.

This all strikes me as a much more positive approach to accessing the workforce although it is undoubtedly more complex for the employer.I suggest that if employers get a richer understanding of the individuals within their workforce using feedback from managers and the teams they lead, and take effective action,they can engender a more motivated workforce. We are also more likely to move away from the meaningless default retirement age of 65, which focuses on age alone and not attitude, ability, need, expereince etc etc .