Our organization is going high-tech in a big way (because our industry has), and we have a number of people who can’t or won’t keep up with the changes. As a group, they are definitely the “older generation.” If they can’t be productive in our new mode, we’ll have to let them go, but a) that makes us feel bad because many are longtime employees and b) I’m worried about age discrimination suits. How should we handle this? — Marshall, HR Manager in Merced
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Within the next three years, nearly one third of all American workers will be over the age of 50. And no one can dispute that computers and other technology are playing a significant role in workers’ employability. Research shows nearly 69 percent of employees over age 45 plan to continue working past 65. These aging workers need to continue to embrace and invest in gaining new skills and technologies or improving existing ones to remain employable.
The issue your question raises is both a reality for many companies and a mistaken stereotype made by others. The National Bureau of Economic Statistics found in a 2001 study that employees who keep current on technology and computer skills retire later than those who don’t use computers. The findings showed computer usage is surprisingly similar for employees aged 16 to 69. The study also concluded workers acquire skills as they are needed for their job requirements as opposed to only learning skills in school. These findings reject the stereotype that older workers are either reluctant or unable to learn new technologies so that they can adapt to the ever-increasing technological advances in the workplace.
Nevertheless, some older workers do struggle with keeping up with technology. Typically, either these employees have not been properly trained or they are fearful of the unknown because they’re expected to jump into new technological territory without appropriate knowledge or support.
So, what do you do with these employees and at the same time manage your legal risk?
Here are a number of actions to consider before taking any drastic measures.
Training Older Workers
- Create or modify existing training programs to address multiple learning styles. This may mean offering longer and smaller-sized sessions that allow employees to more fully grasp the technology; more frequent training sessions to reinforce learning; and/or using blended training such as “live” training combined with online training.
- Consider implementing a technology mentoring program. Pair a technologically savvy employee with one who does not possess the same level of skill or knowledge. (If you do this, do it for all employees; do not single out this type of mentoring program just for your older workers.)
- Encourage all employees to participate in informal training and development opportunities.
- Offer an age-neutral tuition assistance program for employees who may want to take classes outside of the workplace to gain new skills.
Job Redesign and Modifications
- Educate managers and supervisors about evaluating and redesigning jobs for older workers or those with special needs, even if they do not rise to the level of a disability. Although you are not legally required to provide a reasonable accommodation for your older worker, the reality is that most people over 40 at one time or another experience age-related changes that affect vision, hearing, mobility, and dexterity. These changes, of course, can affect performance.
It’s important to recognize that these types of aging problems may make learning or using technology more difficult for some employees. Making appropriate modifications to help them cope just makes good business sense.
For example, IBM has developed a package of software tools to improve computer accessibility for those with age-related disabilities and other physical limitations. This software dynamically adapts webpages to meet the needs of individuals with visual, motor, and print limitations. The software also has a keyboard optimizer, which allows users to adjust the keyboard to suit their typing style or disability. One useful program eases typing for people with tremors, arthritis, or a lack of control due to a stroke.
- If your company website does not already provide tools for those with visual or hearing disabilities, consider adding tools on each webpage to enlarge fonts and trigger voice activation. You would want to include the same technology on the computers used for training employees how to use new software programs or computers.
- Provide equipment as needed to assist employees in performing their jobs. Some examples include voice-activated typing, a large monitor, and a PDA (personal digital assistant).
Protecting the Company
- Educate managers, supervisors, and interviewers on the age discrimination laws and appropriate interview questions. They should always focus on performance and whether the employee has the appropriate skill, knowledge, training, and ability to do the job. Managers and supervisors must not make judgments based on stereotypes about the reasons someone can or cannot use a particular technology or whether to give the person a particular job assignment. For example, if the general attitude is “Well, that is just Betty, she is older and on her way out, so we won’t spend money on teaching her the new software,” this is problematic. It could be presumed that Betty is being treated differently because of her age. Also, on a related matter, note that there are only two areas in which we are legally required to accommodate our employees: religion and disability. Age is not on the list.
- Have managers coach employees who appear to struggle with technology. By doing this, they often find out employees’ hidden fears or frustrations and can come up with a quick resolution for the problem. The manager should spell out the requirements while at the same time acquainting the employee with the training and assistance programs available.
- While going “high tech” is admirable and the wave of the future, make sure the technology being used is essential for the particular position. If a manager would simply like everyone in his or her department to know Microsoft Excel but it’s not needed for the position, don’t push the employee to learn the software.
- Make certain your performance management systems are age-neutral. For example, often the issue is not how long someone has been doing a task but the proficiency and skill with which the person does the task.
Allison West is principal of Employment Practices Specialists, an employment law training and consulting firm in Pacifica.