We don’t want a pre-retiree to work for us, do we!?
If the manager is not strategic and aware while engaging with employees, then who else should be!?
First published in ÄPs: “Pensionieelikut me küll tööle ei taha” (29.10.2024)
Author: Piret Potisepp, Estonian Chamber of Commerce and Industry
Somehow, the sentence still seems to apply – don’t act according to my actions, only my words. i.e. in other words, publicly, all our managers are inclusive, and caring and give the team the opportunity to develop themselves in many ways. But what about in reality?
If all managers behaved like that, I wouldn’t get the stories of recruiters who say yes – the client comes and demands a new employee in the age range of 35-45. And no possibility to convince otherwise. If the conditions are not suitable, we will choose another service provider. Fortunately, there are also service providers who dare to challenge the client: “OK, you set specific limits for the future employee, but how did you get you to do my work?” My age is higher than the given range for a new hire.”
One manager said honestly – when he was working in Scandinavia, he was the youngest manager. When he returned to Estonia, he suddenly became the oldest – because in one of the workshops he attended with his colleagues, a colleague commented on a CV where the person’s age was the same as the manager’s: “Oh, he’s old.”
I also had to correct the wording in my team when a colleague uttered the sentence: “We DO NOT want a pre-retiree in our team, do we!?”
We label too light-heartedly in professional life
Labeling isn’t just experienced by people above a certain age. The same is experienced by those who are in the weakest position of all when it comes to employment. I refer to young people who lack that first work experience. That very first experience, from where to start to build a professional life. This summer, we gave three undergraduate students from a local university the opportunity to combine their first acquaintance with working life. They all were extremely grateful. Why? Because most of the companies to which they sent their CVs and applications did not even bother to answer them.
The young people were also very discouraged by the fact that even if they answered, it was pointed out that master’s degree students were welcome. But how does a student get there, if the internship is mandatory and if you don’t complete it, you won’t get a degree? A bachelor one, I mean.
I was also amazed by what was shared by a parent at a recent training – basically, he said that in certain companies it is customary to recruit young people for a trial period and at the end of the trial period to simply dismiss them and recruit the next young person. This saves on labour costs.
So how could the future be?
A critical reader might think, where am I heading with these examples? So, my main motivation to write this piece is to nudge you to think strategically about how to recruit the best talent. Regardless of age, gender and other visible or invisible characteristics. Those organizations that can seamlessly integrate different generations in the workplace are the winners. In the talent war, where we are not a separate enclave but continue to fight for people in competition with neighbours and even more distant employers.
