It’s a sad observation, realizing there is age bias in your company. But it’s not uncommon, unfortunately. Contrary to what we wish to believe, age bias is not a thing of the past yet. In many companies, young and older workers still experience age bias in the workplace. Even in companies with ambitious diversity and inclusion goals. The examples of this are numerous. Older employees might notice that they only get to work on routine assignments. While young employees might be considered too inexperienced to get a promotion. Older candidates get invited to job interviews a lot less often because they are “too experienced”. While young candidates are bypassed because they have too “little experience”.
The best way to deal with age bias in the workplace
So, how do you deal with this age bias in the workplace? There are a few things you can do:
- Like many other biases, age bias can go completely unnoticed. Managers and recruiters don’t realize that there is age bias in the workplace. A prejudice, like older employees are uncomfortable with change, is hard to get rid of. So you need to tell people over and over that older workers aren’t low on energy. And that they do not lack ambition. Instead, they are full of knowledge. The same goes for thoughts on very young employees. Just because it may be their first job, doesn’t mean they have nothing to offer. What about all the fresh and new ideas they come up with?
- In the recruitment process, in particular, you can decide to use anonymized resumes. This allows you to base your decision to invite someone for an interview solely on their experience and skills. You’ll find out how old they are, approximately, when they sit right in front of you.
Let Textmetrics help you deal with age bias in the workplace
In recruitment, there is often another problem when it comes to age bias. Job descriptions are often written in such a way that older people, in particular, refrain from applying. You can use the Textmetrics platform to solve this problem. It analyzes your job descriptions and gives you suggestions for improvement while you’re writing. For example, words that discourage older candidates from applying are highlighted. You can replace these with words that appeal to everyone. As a result, your job descriptions will be free of age bias. And you’ll receive applications from people of all ages.
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