The Older Worker Advantage: Making the Most of Our Aging Workforce

by Gordon F. Shea, Adolf Haasen

Overview

Recently published figures predict that the number of employed individuals between the ages of 55 and 64 will increase by 11 million by 2010; on average, today's 65-year-old can expect to live to 83. This book tackles the issue of the aging workforce head on, taking into account both the organization's/manager's point of view and the older employee's point of view. Gordon Shea and Adolf Haasen, experts on corporate culture and management development, consider the broad demographic trends that are changing the makeup of organizations, and then provide specific approaches for managers to adopt in order to ensure that older employees are engaged and challenged while contributing to the company's bottom line. The authors consider such topics as: what motivates olders workers, the impact of technology on older worker training, and career trends in the health, education, and retail sectors. They showcase pioneering efforts in multi-generational work at such organizations as AES Corporation and the U.S. Coast Guard, and they offer a variety of checklists and other interactive and diagnostic elements to guide managers. The book concludes with information on the legal apsects of older worker employment, along with resources for both managers and older employees.

As the huge cadre of baby boomers approaches traditional retirement age, such factors as financial security, health benefits, and the attractiveness of staying active in later years are encouraging more older people to work well into their 60s, 70s, and even 80s, while businesses are learning to anticipate their long-term employment needs, and facing potential labor shortages unless they hold onto and develop more older workers. The economic, political, and cultural implications of these trends will reach staggering proportions, changing the make-up of organizations large and small and the very nature of work and our attitudes toward it.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780275987015
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	11/30/2005
Pages:	244
Product dimensions:	6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x 0.62(d)

About the Author

Gordon F. Shea is founder of Prime Systems Company, a training and human resources firm. He also teaches Communication Studies at the University of Maryland University College. With over thirty years of experience as a practicing supervisor, manager, and executive in government and private industry, he has published many articles and books on management, including Mentoring, Building Trust in the Workplace, The New Employee, and, with Adolf Haasen, A Better Place to Work and New Corporate Cultures That Motivate (Praeger, 2003).

Adolf Haasen is Managing Partner of A&R Associates, a human resources consulting firm. He gained extensive international experience as an executive for the German-based global pharmaceutical company, Merck. With Gordon Shea he is coauthor of A Better Place to Work and New Corporate Cultures That Motivate (Praeger, 2003).

What People are Saying About This

Ken Dychtwald

"Today's fast-growing cadre of 'older' employees, increasingly working well past traditional retirement age, is changing the makeup of our labor force and challenging conventional attitudes toward work. Gordon Shea and Adolf Haasen illuminate this phenomenon, dispelling common stereotypes of older workers and demonstrating the creative power of the multi-generational workplace. Brimming with examples of organizations that are creating opportunities for older workers, this book is essential reading for anyone—young and old alike—looking to keep pace with these dramatic changes."

Harvey L. Sterns

"The Older Worker Advantage captures the new view of what it means to be an effective, evolving, self-motivated older worker and presents managers with current information on how to use these talented older workers effectively. Approaches to organizational change with multi-generational workers and work teams, training, performance appraisal, and age-neutral policies, among other salient issues are presented. This is a useful guide for anyone managing or working with the aging workforce of the present and future."

Ken Dychtwald

"Today's fast-growing cadre of 'older' employees, increasingly working well past traditional retirement age, is changing the makeup of our labor force and challenging conventional attitudes toward work. Gordon Shea and Adolf Haasen illuminate this phenomenon, dispelling common stereotypes of older workers and demonstrating the creative power of the multi-generational workplace. Brimming with examples of organizations that are creating opportunities for older workers, this book is essential reading for anyone--young and old alike--looking to keep pace with these dramatic changes."

—

Ken Dychtwald, President and CEO, Age Wave, author of Age Power, Retire Retirement and The Power Years: A User's Guide to the Rest of Your Life

Harvey L. Sterns

"The Older Worker Advantage captures the new view of what it means to be an effective, evolving, self-motivated older worker and presents managers with current information on how to use these talented older workers effectively. Approaches to organizational change with multi-generational workers and work teams, training, performance appraisal, and age-neutral policies, among other salient issues are presented. This is a useful guide for anyone managing or working with the aging workforce of the present and future."

—

Harvey L. Sterns, Director, Institute for Life-Span, Development and Gerontology, Research Professor of Gerontology, Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine

Editorial Reviews

Drawing upon current international research, Shea and Haasen dispel some common myths that contribute to age discrimination and argue for the relevance of such qualities as life experience and communication skills for today's knowledge-driven enterprises. They also describe the pioneering efforts of organizations that have established successful programs for developing the skills of older workers and supporting multigenerational collaboration.” —Reference & Research Book News

From the Publisher