Age Diversity and its Benefits in the Workplace

By Fay Capstick

As the State pension age creeps ever higher in the UK, the age of the average worker will also increase, bringing more age diversity to your workplace. This week we shall look at the benefits of having a diverse pool of ages in your workplace.

What is all the fuss about?

In previous blogs, we have looked at the benefits of welcoming neurodivergent and disabled staff into your workplace. This diversity is seen as good and as something that can improve overall morale, productivity, and creativity.

However, having a diverse age profile in your staff has been largely overlooked, and we think that this is a very important element of an effective workplace.

Did you think I only meant older people?

When we say age diversity, the mind immediately jumps to older workers, however, diversity means just that: diversity. It is about the importance of having all ages represented in the workplace and the benefits that this can bring.

Why does it matter?

It matters because it will mean that society is better represented. Everyone has something to offer or learn, regardless of age. So this can mean everyone from a sixteen-year-old apprentice to someone in their seventies or eighties (remember, just because someone has reached State retirement age, it doesn’t mean they will necessarily want to retire).

So what are the 5 main benefits of age diversity in the workplace?

1. Different Perspectives and Ideas: Every age group has something different to offer in terms of life experiences, life stages and ideas. This can massively help a workplace, as they will bring extra perspectives and solutions to problems. A variety of opinions and ideas will lead to more dynamic thinking.
2. Better Customer Understanding: Your clients and customers will be from all ages and stages of life. By having an age-diverse workforce you will have staff who are better able to relate to your customers. This will improve the relationship that your business has with clients and customers and will foster loyalty to your business.
3. Adaptability: The market and business conditions are always changing and transforming, and business needs to transform to keep up. Having an age-diverse workforce with different ideas and experiences will help. If some staff aren’t open to change, colleagues can help them, thus transformation will become a true team effort. This will all help your business to grow and thrive as you react to market trends and disruption.
4. Better Employee Engagement and Retention: If your workers feel valued and supported, then it is obvious that this will result in them having positive feelings towards their colleagues and employer. Your employees will feel a sense of belonging and support. This will all lead to happier and more engaged staff, and this will then lead to a lower rate of staff turnover.
5. Knowledge Sharing: An age-diverse workforce means that everyone has something to offer and something to learn. Older staff can help mentor younger ones, and younger ones can show older colleagues a different perspective.

What do we think?

We think an age-diverse workforce is the best way to foster a loyal, caring, supportive, inventive and innovative workplace.

We aren’t just paying lip service either. We have staff of all ages, from their twenties to their seventies. This has given Parker Shaw an extremely high staff retention rate with a loyal and happy staff.

In fact, many of our staff have been at Parker Shaw for over thirty years. Younger staff members are welcomed and mentored so that everyone can achieve their full potential and share their experiences.

When we say that Parker Shaw is like a family we mean it, with a truly supportive and caring workplace which has been able to innovate and transform due to the age diversity and support of our staff.