Reintegrating the graying workforce

The way older workers are treated varies widely from country to country. In regions such as Scandinavia or the United States, the aging workforce is relatively well integrated in business. On the other hand, France is one of the countries where the world of business appears to have turned its back on older employees—much to the disappointment of the latter in many cases, but also to the detriment of companies as well!

Notwithstanding local differences, the proportion of the workforce over age fifty is due to increase substantially in the coming years. The fact is that mobilizing this increasingly critical employee segment presents some specific challenges: how to motivate and engage employees who see their career prospects dimming, and diminishing return on their professional efforts?

We gleaned the following advice from our selection of books and articles on this topic—many of which were written by French authors, due to the immense challenge this country faces in integrating the aging workforce:

– Regardless of how well your organization is currently performing, you must be prepared to face the obligation of integrating a growing proportion of older workers.

– Identify and revise the often insidious discriminatory practices that use age as a key criterion in career management.

– Make management aware of the value of older workers and their specific expectations.

– Organize the company to offer attractive prospects to older workers.

– Manage the pace of careers differently to keep employees from plateauing by age 45.