The maturity clause. Sense and sensibility: the wisdom of hiring the over-40s

You couldn't have missed the billboards. This grey-haired man is looking at you, and the caption says, 'I'm over 40 and I have loads of experience. You'd do well to hire me".

But is experience the be-all and end-all of job requisites? Do the over-40s really make better employees? Are wrinkles and white hair a sign of maturity, or the marks of wear and tear?

The advertising wizards could have made more of the 40-plus message. Hiring a person in their middle age makes a lot of sense: it means taking on a mix of experience, maturity and intelligence, reaping the benefit of their networks, a more settled home life, and importantly, employing someone with the proven ability to adapt to change.

Variety, spice of life

In 2006, age discrimination legislation comes into force. By this time 45-50s will be the largest age group in the workforce. Longer life spans and changing demographics forecast the "greying" of the Maltese workforce. It is imperative for employers to recognize this trend and implement employment strategies targeting the mature segment of the population. Creating intelligent and effective plans that capitalize on the knowledge, talents and abilities of mature employees is essential. However, an integration of cross-generational talent won't just happen. It requires dealing with a number of issues.

How old did you say?

People are far more age-conscious than ever before, so interviewers may need to be trained about how their interview styles may bias their selections. Job adverts with an upper age limit of 35 are common place, and the thought of reaching 40 in some jobs is unheard of. Rarely will you see an advert that specifies 'over 40' as a job requisite. Notwithstanding laws that ban age discrimination against mature employees, the bias towards ageism is often tolerated.

Getting high on E

Consider exactly what the term 'Experience' means, because in employing middle-aged people, you are looking at the opposite scenario of employing a newbie. No longer are you looking at the promise of things to come - you are now considering evidence of past performance.

Workplace maturity

Even just taking a moment to consider the social, political and economic changes that the country has been through in the past 20 years, we can easily see that mid-life employees have ridden through - and survived - quite rapid change.

22 years ago, (if you can remember a Malta before McDonalds, take-away boxes and mobile phones), our country was a far cry from today's swift-paced metropolis. Even if you simply look at the evolution of Information Technology, anyone who has had to come to terms with the change-over from carbon paper, telexes and typewriters to spreadsheets and the Internet, has learned adaptive behaviours that will serve them in good stead in the future. Of course, most of these people have adapted very well to the sweeping changes in workplace technology. The fact of having to take on totally new systems of working and means of communication will have created employees with flexible reasoning skills - one of the inherent assets of workplace maturity.

Although people over age 40 didn't play with PCs when they were youngsters, all studies show that mature employees can master the same information as their younger colleagues, and apply this knowledge equally well. In some cases, mature employees can actually get extra mileage by applying new information more effectively because of their experience.

It takes guts to switch

Do older workers want to work hard? Older people are victim to many stereotypes, that they can't grasp new ideas, are not interested in training, are stuck in their ways, and are not a good investment. But these beliefs are simply not based in fact.

With the pensionable age sneaking up to 65, a 40-year-old has another 25 years to go, so contrary to popular belief, he/she is not actually tottering towards the end of a career, but is actually only half way. With around 22 years of work experience under their belt, anyone who has hit 40 would normally have worked in several different organisations, and even for widely differing sectors. If the average time spent in a job is five years, this could mean experience in four jobs - experience that will benefit your organisation. Another benefit of taking control of one's life and passing through transitions, is increased confidence.

The employee who has craved stability from getting that first pay cheque is probably already working for the civil service anyway, so is not the focus of this article. Anyone who is either looking for a career change at 40, or simply is ready to move on, is someone who is not prepared to put up with an unsatisfying job. Their ambition is obvious. On the other hand, you should always check out the prospective employee to see whether he is one of the rolling stones that for some reason never seem to gather any moss.

Recruitment managers in pursuit of 'stability' who assume that older job applicants, say, those in their late 40's or early 50's, will not stay long, need to remember that younger workers may have a job-hopping mentality. All statistics on mature employees indicate that they are likely to stay with their companies much longer than their younger colleagues.

On the home front

The mature segment also possesses interpersonal skills that heighten emotional intelligence. Emotional control is easier, because experience has taught them to favour reason over emotion. This is essential in team-based environments. Team-work skills represent the 'goose that laid the golden egg' for prospective employers.

It's not all about work though: employees' life experience also has a bearing on their performance at the workplace. For example, one of the biggest advantages for employers taking on older women is that they are unlikely to take maternity leave. If Mr Just Going Grey is married, his children are in sixth form, so he won't be dealing with the teething troubles of young families that cannot fail to get in the way of concentration.

Future and stability

The 40-something is looking for the final leg of a career that fulfils his/her dreams. And they will then give their utmost to keep it. They normally yearn to be loyal, to find a company which deserves their loyalty. Michael Jackson, 60, operations manager for Wrinklies Direct, a recruitment agency specialising in senior workers in England, says that older workers are loyal and quick starters. 'They understand that when you get a job you have to get your head down - and they've been educated in the three essentials, reading, writing and arithmetic.' Basic stuff, you might be thinking, but do your younger employees have those three basics at their fingertips?

Senior benefits

If you thought that age 40 was the limit for new recruits, think again. In 1989, the British DIY home improvement, furnishing and gardening products from superstore chain B&Q carried out an experiment of staffing a complete store in Macclesfield, UK with employees over 50. Warwick University carried out an academic study of the case and found that the shop came top of the league in almost every department - sales, profits, staff turnover and low absenteeism.

In order to reflect their customer profile, B&Q prefer to employ a mixed age range, but they also find that older workers have certain advantages over their younger counterparts. Older people have lived in their own homes for a long time and know what DIY entails, so they can advise customers better on the company's products. They also tend to have good people skills. The company also uses older employees rather than actors in their television adverts to subliminally promote their commitment to diversity.

Something old, something new

Knowledge is power. Workplace maturity provides experience and expertise. Chances are that Freddy 40 has brought his old business cards with him. The hundreds of contacts made along the years, whether it's the delivery boy or a government minister, will then be brought into play for your company.

Any organization wants 'new blood' to replenish the ranks. While older workers represent the talent reservoir; younger workers are the talent pipeline. The latter depends on the former. The younger generation taking over from the older has been the standard for years. But no matter how clever younger workers may be, no matter how many masters degrees they may have, they can't be expected to 'run the shop' if knowledge transfer has been neglected. Such neglect may happen of course, but the quality of products and services will suffer.

Mixing old and young in the workplace is not easy. However, a concept that has taken hold abroad, but is rarely mentioned locally, is that of 'mentoring'. The right mentor will have the experience and expertise to show younger employees the ropes, serve as their guide, point them in the right direction, warn of potential pitfalls, challenge assumptions, and steer them away from detours and dead ends.

Once you have older employees, it also makes sense to keep them on board. Companies can lose their competitive advantage if they don't effectively use and manage the talents of employees of all ages.