In 2015, the number of people aged 100 or older was projected to be 451,000 worldwide. Today, the U.S. and Japan each have almost 100,000 centenarians. By 2050, the global estimate for people aged 100 or older is 3.7 million. With people living longer, they want and need to work longer. While some employers resist hiring, developing and retaining older workers, here are three reasons why a longevity mindset is crucial to the future of work and business success.
Retirement Is Outdated
Longevity impacts everyone. In a report titled The New Map for Life, the Stanford Center on Longevity (SCL) offers a comprehensive proposal for rethinking an era of longevity. It starts with accepting that what was once the norm is now history.
“People can bypass the outdated, three-chapter life course of education, work and retirement,” the SCL report states, “in favor of several shorter, more flexible intervals dedicated to learning, working, caregiving and leisure that can be woven as needed into life’s journey.”
When working for 60 years or longer, the way we work needs to be more flexible. The SLC argues that although the 100-year life is here, we’re not ready. For example, only now are forward-thinking employers looking at older workers as an essential part of the talent pool.
Development Never Stops
When employees only see people under 40 interviewing for open vacancies while older talent is pushed out the door, that is the future they envision for themselves. Alternatively, when they see more senior colleagues being recruited, developed and promoted, they believe a longer-term future of development and promotion is possible for all–regardless of age.
A longevity mindset recognizes employees may not want to spend 60 years doing the same thing. Employees often like the idea of career changes after learning and mastering one work area.
Consider two-year development stints that companies often offer new graduates–six months in four different areas of its business. Imagine how engaged the work culture would be if companies regularly provided all employees an opportunity at career rotations to determine a new career path. Engagement results in increased satisfaction and productivity. Moreover, it extends tenure, decreasing expensive talent replacement costs.
Gallup defines employee engagement as the involvement and enthusiasm of employees in both their work and workplace. Employee engagement is a foundational component of workplace outcomes. What better way to engage them long-term than to help them devise and implement a long-term career plan?
Age As A Dimension Of Diversity
As a mindset practice, longevity shares the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion goal of creating equity by eradicating age bias, stereotyping and discrimination across the age spectrum. Longevity requires a new approach to employee attraction, development and retention.
A longevity mindset also takes a longer view of the benefits needed to support all ages. Health and wellness programs help keep minds and bodies active. Financial education better enables employees to design a savings and investment portfolio to support a 100-year life.
Career mapping restructures the talent management process so opportunities are spread more evenly over extended periods. Doing so reduces mid-career stress and prevents work life from becoming too demanding when many employees experience a peak of family responsibilities and need more time off.
Today’s employees have higher expectations from employers. And employees of all ages desire more flexibility in when and how they work. When considering a 60-year work life, flexibility could mean a gap year for every five to ten years of employment. But it also means having the opportunity to work without fear of aging out.
The Takeaway
It takes a lot to shift culture, but nothing triggers change faster than need. Consider how quickly companies moved to a remote workforce. They made it work, but it was all predicated on necessity.
While people are living longer, the birth rates continues to decline globally. Talent is becoming a scarce resource creating a non-negotiable need. Employers must reconsider every aspect of talent management strategy to attract and retain key talent. Bending to the demand for talent opens the doors of opportunity–including continued working versus forced redundancy–for workers over 50.
The SLC writes, “We can invest in future centenarians by optimizing each stage of life, so that benefits can compound for decades, while allowing for more time to recover from disadvantages and setbacks.”
Progressive companies and visionary leaders create work cultures where employees of all ages want to stay. Leaders must consider the future of work and commit to continually reshaping their organizational principles to stay ahead of the game. That means looking beyond outdated norms and pivoting to the new now–a longevity mindset.
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