Employee motivation: Using a worker's age against them will harm employee motivation, a charity has warned

Date: 26/04/2011

Don't dampen employee motivation by focussing on the age of staff, a charity has warned bosses.

According to Jane Ashcroft, chief executive of charity Anchor, there should be a "level-playing field" for all workers, no matter what their age.

Ms Ashcroft's comments follow a study from Mannheim Research Institute for the Economics of Aging, which found that older employees are no less productive than those younger.

The research also pointed out that while older staff may make mistakes, they are hardly ever severe errors, which could be attributed to their experience.

Ms Ashcroft advised businesses not to label people by their age.

"This isn't about bashing younger workers, by any means – ageism can work both ways.

"Our plea is that a job should be given to the right person; the decision shouldn't be made about whether somebody is 'too old' or 'too young'."

She added that age shouldn't be used against a worker.

Posted by David Farrior 

Related Articles:

Employee motivation: Staff see improvement in work-life balance
Employee motivation: Letting staff watch key Olympic events could boost morale
Employee motivation: Workplace pride defies recession
Employee motivation: Staff wellbeing toolkit launched
Employee motivation: How to spot a good employer

 

› Return