Better Managing Tips

I never thought that I would be writing an article about age discrimination after having experienced it myself these past few years. I am over 40 years of age now so technically I’m considered to be one of the older workers in the workforce.  Older worker perhaps, but certainly not too old to work. Even in the positions I had over the years in management, I have to admit that the vast majority of sales people that were under me were all young, perhaps in their early 20′s. Too many managers who are in a position to hire, they hire young and generally good looking people.

In one company I had the ‘pleasure’ of working, 90% of the sales people were young good looking blond females. The ones that were male, were also young, fit cover models. I felt like an ugly duckling. The manager who hired all this staff certainly wasn’t thinking with what we between his ears.  I have nothing against young workers and giving them a go but I would rather have a bit of experience in my sales team than just looks. Every young worker needs a break and I get that but when nearly the whole sales team is made up with workers like that, then there’s a huge problem just waiting to raise its ugly head.

The first thing I did was to sift out all the ones who clearly had no brains at all for the job. It didn’t take long. Then I went on a recruiting campaign and the oldest staff member I hired was in his late 60′s who needed the break. He had all the sales experience I needed and he was over the moon when I called him back and told him he has the position. And he worked out really well.

Just recently, I decided I wanted to get back into the telecommunications industry here in Australia. I applied for a few positions with the major teleco’s and had no problem getting interviews. The thing that peeved me off was all these young recruiters who had such a high and mighty attitude when they see you walk through the door and you aren’t as young as they hoped you were. They were all generally unprofessional, disinterested and never bothered to return phone calls. The interviews I did manage to go on through them was just as bad with the managers all being younger than me and thinking they all know the recipe to sales success in their stores. I asked one arrogant manager what he thought it was and he said that it’s a young and vibrant store atmosphere. I asked him what the demographic was in his store and he said it was mainly older pensioner types. Hardly a great match so I knew he was full of crap. I was just too old for what he had in mind. Who knows, maybe he had issues of  inferiority around someone who clearly has had more experience than him in the business.

Unfortunately, my foray into the workforce again wasn’t a pleasant one at all. I decided to stay doing what I’m doing. Age discrimination in this country happens a lot as I’m sure it does all over the world. It’s a great shame really as our older workers offer a wealth of knowledge and experience. The next time you are in a recruitment phase, do consider hiring an older worker over a younger worker. You might be surprised as to the higher success rate you will have with them working out. Older workers generally pick their companies wisely and have no intentions of job hoping like younger workers do when a better opportunity comes up. You might just be pleasantly surprised.