They bring knowledge, loyalty, professionalism, and great communication skills to the table. But even as employers realize the benefits of hiring older workers for their organization, individuals past age 50 who want to return to work may still feel they don't have a chance of landing a decent job. Employing retired seniors is an important goal for companies that want to support the aging population and increase the skills and expertise in their workforce. Give your business a boost by focusing your hiring efforts and choosing workers from this group with our tips for hiring senior citizens.
Remove age from your applications and descriptions
Writing inclusive job descriptions is an important part of the hiring process, as paying attention to inclusive language helps your open roles appeal to more demographics. Adjusting the descriptions you write and the application questions you ask to be more welcoming to all ages is essential if you want to hire more seniors at work.
Listing a desired age range in your job description or asking candidates to provide their age at any point during the application process can plant the seed in seniors' minds that they won't get fair consideration due to their age. Using neutral language ensures no one will assume their age will disqualify them. For example, you could say "degree holder" instead of "recent college graduate."
Add an age policy to your DEI initiatives
Another step companies that hire seniors can take to increase the number of candidates from this demographic is to create an age policy to add to your diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives. There are several ways to do this, such as creating informational materials about ageism, implementing policies that fight it, and addressing it as part of your onboarding for new hires, no matter their age. You can show elderly candidates that you value them and are working hard to make the workplace an accepting, welcoming place that will appreciate what they offer.
Offer training and mentoring
Some seniors at work find it difficult to adapt to changes in the workforce, such as new technology and complex processes for operations. You can attract more talent by offering training and mentoring for new hires that covers everything they are nervous about. Promote technological workshops, develop mentoring programs where they can ask coworkers questions, and create sessions for developing processes that utilize their skills without shaming them for unfamiliarity with new ones.
"There are countless reasons to hire seniors, including the fact that people continue building new knowledge and skills well into their 80s. By recruiting and hiring senior citizens for your workforce, you can enhance your team's reach of expertise and help everyone learn new abilities from each other."
Work with a senior employment network
Work with a senior employment network for extra help with hiring senior citizens. It can provide additional tips and support for hiring older workers, making implementing these initiatives at your company simpler. For example, the AARP Foundation helps match qualified senior candidates with positions that use their skills and experiences well. This arrangement benefits both candidates and employers, as candidates learn about great employment opportunities and employers receive ideal candidates for their roles.
Encourage knowledge transfer among employees
One of the greatest rewards for companies employing older workers is a more well-rounded skill set in their teams. Employees can benefit from the knowledge transfer older employees provide. Knowledge transfer is the process of sharing expertise, skills, and ideas with various people in a business, especially across different departments.
Since many senior citizens have backgrounds that include extensive years of work experience, they usually have a lot to offer in terms of industry expertise and technical advice. Highlight the opportunity for elderly candidates to use their existing knowledge and skills at your business early in the application process to encourage these candidates to apply to work with you.
Offer flexible work schedules
Employers who hire older workers can also see increases in the number of candidates from this demographic when they offer flexible work schedules and environments. Since many senior citizens live with health conditions that impact their mobility, it can be a huge perk when a job allows flexible hours that fit their care schedules and appointments. Similarly, many senior citizens appreciate the flexibility and freedom remote work offers, so your company may benefit from advertising opportunities for senior candidates to work from home.
There are countless reasons to hire seniors, including the fact that people continue building new knowledge and skills well into their 80s. By recruiting and hiring senior citizens for your workforce, you can enhance your team's reach of expertise and help everyone learn new abilities from each other. Try one or more of these tips during your next hiring round to appeal to more senior citizens and create a more demographically diverse workplace.
More tips for building a strong and diverse workforce:
To appeal to the candidates you're looking for, learn how to simplify your hiring process to reach the right candidates.
Ensure your hiring and recruiting processes consider all demographics by driving diversity in talent acquisition.
Are you thinking about how to support the women at your company? Explore how you can help career advancement for women in the workplace.
To learn how to support your employees through implementing DE&I initiatives, read about the impact of diversity fatigue and how to combat it.
For insight into attracting more applications from diverse candidates, read about three tips for hiring more diverse candidates.
