Age and Employment
Why Hire New Grads and Mature Workers?
In the current job market, two of the hardest-hit demographics are mature workers and new graduates. On opposite ends of the age spectrum, these two groups feel they are outside the “sweet spot” for employment. For those looking to enter the job market for the first time after college, employers plan to hire 22% fewer new graduates this year than last. As tough as that outlook seems, mature workers face an even bleaker employment prospect, according to our latest online poll.
With so much debate about these two age groups and their difficulties in today’s job market, it’s no wonder that age discrimination is a common complaint. That’s why it’s important to understand the variety of issues that come into play regarding age in the workplace.
But considering qualified candidates for employment, regardless of age, is more than just a matter of complying with the law. It’s also smart business. As you look to fill your open positions with star players to help you thrive in today’s economy, don’t underestimate the value of these candidate groups.
New Grads
Today’s typical new graduate is a member of the Millennial generation. Their team-oriented, determined, and hopeful outlook can be an energizing element within the workforce. In addition, this candidate pool offers:
• Willingness to prove their work ethic. Ready to put their education to the task, new grads are eager to establish their professionalism and build their expertise.
• Agility in salary demands. Many new graduates, aware of the current employment outlook, are making minimal financial commitments so they can afford to take a competitive salary in order to build experience. Some move home with parents or family to afford to live on a low entry-level salary, for example.
• Fresh insight in approaching age-old problems. As new members of the workforce, this group of graduates is ready to apply their collaborative, innovative ideas to the workplace, including today’s financial issues. They’re not afraid to be wrong and offer a new perspective to many persistent business challenges.
• Flexibility. As a group, new graduates are open to a variety of work assignment options, such as telecommuting, job sharing, and relocating.
• Proven ability to learn new programs and skills. Fresh from the college classroom, these applicants put their tech-savvy generational attributes to the test on a daily basis and are eager to keep learning – after all, they're used to keeping up with fast-paced technological advances.
Mature Workers
Made up mostly of workers from the Baby Boomer generation, the pool of mature workers offers a variety of experience to the workforce. Their optimism, drive, and vision can be an infusion of confidence within the workplace. In addition, this candidate pool offers:
• A proven work ethic. The work ethic of this candidate pool is legendary, and they’re ready and willing to put their competencies to work, whatever it takes.
• Experience at value prices. These hard-working, experienced candidates may be transitioning to a new field, industry, or market. Given today’s job market, they’re more willing than ever to consider a competitive salary.
• Wisdom in handling current business situations. This generation has weathered recessions before, and their wisdom in creating budgets, strategy, and vision can be invaluable.
• Flexibility. Many mature workers are looking for a new challenge, and this openness to change means that many are flexible when it comes to location, work schedules, and job duties.
• Willingness to prove new competencies. This candidate pool may get a bad rap when it comes to technology. But, studies show that mature workers are quickly adapting to – and using – new skills and technologies at a growing rate.
When it comes to filling your open positions, now is the time to snag star candidates. After all, people are the greatest asset for any business. By building a confident, competent staff, you can build a competitive, thriving company. So, take a careful look at all qualified applicants who come across your desk, no matter what their age or experience level.
Destination: Organization
7 Days to Orderly Leadership
As a leader, it’s important to have a well-organized approach to your work – and your life. Taking time to organize at work and at home will help ensure you have the energy and focus you need to lead effectively. Whether or not you have an assistant to keep your business life in order, there are some steps you can take to get a handle on all the demands on your time. Use this seven-day planning guide to get you from a state of chaos to the ultimate destination: organization that equips your leadership.
Day 1: Your time – First stop: your calendar. Take some time to audit everything that currently requires your time. Then, start cutting. Cancel all unnecessary appointments. Delegate tasks you don’t need to complete personally. Organize your daily schedule. And create some time to organize the rest of your business – and life. Make the commitment to get organized by scheduling time to complete the rest of the seven-day process in your current calendar.
Day 2: Your physical space – To maximize daily productivity, it’s important to have an organized workspace – whether in your work or at-home office. This includes your paper files, mail inbox, bookshelf, storage, and anything else in your physical workspace. Place the items you need to complete daily activities within reaching distance of your desk. Take some time to purge paper files you don’t need to keep for legal or documentation reasons. Sort through mail, magazines, and other documents. You might even benefit from re-arranging your office or updating your décor.
Day 3: Your e-space – After your physical space is arranged, it’s time to clean up your electronic files, from e-mail to your computer desktop to electronic documents to your digital contact list. A good test to determine whether or not your electronic files are tidy is whether or not you could walk someone to a document they needed over the phone in your absence. How you choose to store your electronic files is up to you, but it’s worth the time it takes to have an organized electronic space.
Day 4: Your phone – Whether you’re a Blackberry fanatic or an iPhone lover, chances are, you have some type of portable communication device strapped to you at all times. So, take some time to organize all the files, contacts, photos, and applications on your mobile device. You may want to have your user guide handy to help you complete some of these tasks. Delete anything you haven’t used in a few months. Archive all your photos and documents on a more permanent computing device so your phone will be at optimal speed and functionality to get you though the day. Make any necessary software updates, or consider taking your phone into the shop for a tune up. Finally, take time to update your phone message, and clean out your voice mailbox.
Day 5: Your habits – Next, take an organizational approach to your habits – both good and bad. Whether or not you realize it, all your habits have a big impact on your work – and your life as a whole. If there are bad habits you’d like to break, examine them one at a time, and create a plan for how you’re going to tackle each one. If there are good habits you want to set, take the same approach. Then, equip yourself with the tools, accountability, and rewards you need to adjust and adopt the habits you need to have a more fulfilled, balanced life.
Day 6: Your personal life – Set aside some time to examine your personal time. You might want to schedule this task for a day you’re off work so you can spend time talking over how to best manage personal tasks, goals, and responsibilities with a friend or partner. Then, examine errands you need to run, doctor’s appointments that need to be made, and home maintenance that needs attention. Make sure your schedule also allows ample time for family, friends, community involvement, and hobbies.
Day 7: Your priorities – Once you have taken the time to apply organizational effort to all the preceding areas, consider how your priorities align with how you spend your time – at work and at home. Ask yourself the difficult questions. Realize that your life is made up of a limited amount of time. Each activity you invest time into requires a certain opportunity cost. Take a good, hard look at your priorities, and reorganize your time as needed to create – and live out – your best possible life, starting today.
In today’s world, the lines between work and home are getting increasingly blurry. But you can regain control of your time by taking a few days to organize these areas of your life. Going through this process will not only give you peace of mind in uncertain times, it also will equip you with the clarity and focus your work and your team deserve.
Crisis Preparedness
Handling the Threat of Pandemic Flu
With all of the publicity in recent weeks on the H1N1 virus, commonly referred to as Swine Flu, now is a great time to review your emergency preparedness procedures for handling different types of crises in the workplace, including the potential for a pandemic disease outbreak.
In addressing any type of potential pandemic flu risk, officials caution that the first step is to avoid panic. Experts recommend the following best practices in addressing a potential threat like this in your business.
Stay informed. Misinformation is a big threat when the news of a potential disease outbreak spreads to the general public. So, it’s important to remain informed of the situation from official sources, such as the Centers for Disease Control in the U.S. Also, stay aware of state and local information, as well as the status of all locations your company does business in. Timely, correct information is the best tool you can use to protect your workforce – and your company – from potential disease outbreaks.
Additional Resources
• World Health Organization
• Occupational Safety and Health Organization
• Public Health Agency of Canada
• PandemicFlu.gov
Review your attendance policy. Most physicians recommend that during a pandemic flu threat employees who are ill should avoid going to work if they have any symptoms of that particular illness. So, it’s important to review your attendance policy so you can address specific procedures your workforce needs to follow regarding attendance and illness. Here are some things to consider:
• Absenteeism. Some experts recommend requiring a doctor’s note to ensure employees who are not ill do not call in to avoid work.
• Presenteeism. The threat of presenteeism, when sick employees come to work, is another concern when the threat of a contagious disease begins. So, consider creating a situational provision to not penalize employees who are out of work for a confirmed case of pandemic flu in order to best protect your healthy workforce and your business.
Communicate. In the wake of coverage about a potential crisis, it’s important to communicate effectively to avoid increased panic among your workforce. Here are some tips to consider when communicating to employees about the spread of disease:
• Publish policies – If you have a formal policy or procedure in place to address pandemic flu, share them with the appropriate staff members. For example, make sure managers and supervisors are aware of updated or case-specific attendance policies so they can properly address requests from their staff members.
• Share health tips – Share general health and safety guidelines published by organizations such as OSHA or the CDC with your employees to ensure they are following proper health and sanitation tips to prevent the spread of disease.
It’s best to have a formal policy or procedure in place that you can implement in case of a widespread pandemic flu event. Every business, industry, and field will have different issues to consider in creating an effective, comprehensive plan. So, contact Express to find out about HR services, such as our HR Hotline, to address your business-specific concerns in handling a crisis in the workplace.
Other Resources
• Preventing the Flu: CDC Health Guidelines
• CDC Guide to H1N1 Flu
• Swine Flu and You: CDC Guide
Exchange is a publication of Express Services, Inc., Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Copyright 2009.