According to several published reports I’ve seen, every day in the United States, 10,000 Baby Boomers turn 65, and this trend will continue for over the next 15 years. Let me say that again,
“Every day in the United States, 10,000 Baby Boomers turn 65 and this trend will continue for over the next 15 years.” Take a moment and let that sink in regarding what that means for the workforce.
Oh, I forgot to tell you that this trend starting occurring four years ago!
Imagine what this is starting to do and will continue to do to the workforce? Think about the amount of resources that won’t be available; the knowledge that will be lost to retirement communities in Florida and Arizona. In a previous corporate assignment, we conducted some analysis to see how our leadership was stacking up. What we found was scary – approximately two-thirds of our leadership was part of the Baby Boomer generation. I’m not talking about Vice Presidents and above; I’m talking about Managers and above!
As companies are starting to grapple with this phenomenon more and more, I wonder how many younger employees are thinking about the opportunity that’s in it for them. I’ll come back to this.
Many younger workers view older workers as “stiff, stodgy and out of touch.” When it comes to using the latest technology, this might be true. But consider this younger workers – older workers also know how to run businesses, how to handle crisis situations that will most certainly appear, how to solve problems, how to obtain and use power , how to negotiate, how to persevere when you feel like quitting and, as Dale Carnegie taught us, “How to Win Friends and Influence People.” All of these are critical requirements in order to be successful at work or in business.
Now, back to my earlier statement. As a younger worker, there are certainly great things you bring to the workforce – energy, enthusiasm, “can do” attitude, eagerness to learn and contribute and, of course, use of technology in many cases. These are all great traits and certainly needed, but what you don’t have yet is a true depth of real world, practical, hard core experience, and there is absolutely no replacement for great experience.
As a younger worker, I encourage you to buck the trend of snubbing your older counterparts and seize the opportunity to learn as much as you can from them. If you take their knowledge and know-how, and combine it with your energy and understanding of technology, can you imagine how unstoppable you would be? Think about it.
Until next time….