May 21, 2017
Baby boomers will improve your business by bringing with them years of varied employment and life experience and skills. But what may be their most valuable asset is emotional maturity and intelligence, which plays a key factor in supporting successful communications and personal interactions.
Many baby boomers choose to work after reaching traditional retirement age, which translates into a high level of commitment and loyalty to their chosen job and organization, positively impacting turnover and potentially reducing recruitment and training costs.
As a generation they generally require less supervision and are motivated to perform at a high level. Additionally, today’s boomers are generally healthy and physically active, with no studies suggesting they have more absences due to illness or injury than any other workplace demographic.
Those baby boomers who choose a position within the hospitality and tourism industry enjoy serving people and feel it is a meaningful and important occupation. Possessing a high level of effective communication, problem-solving and interpersonal skills, this demographic is especially well-suited to the requirements of the tourism and hospitality industry.
Boomers are often cited as the fastest growing segment of the population in terms of increased use in technology – including social media. According to a survey done by Volunteer.ca, approximately 78% of boomers use the Internet for varied purposes. They also enjoy learning new skills and seek out opportunities for further training and development.
With both interest and ability in coaching and mentoring, boomers can provide a great support to the younger demographics within the workplace. With strong leadership abilities based on years of experience, they can positively impact the performance capabilities and outcomes of younger workers.
Baby boomers are an under-utilized labour pool waiting to be employed in a meaningful way. They can have significant flexibility in terms of shifts because of less consistent family commitments (i.e., children are grown and not living at home). Pursuing personal interests at this stage of life is also of high importance allowing them to explore different job options.
On top of that, there are boomers in every community and by recruiting locally your business will not have to relocate potential staff, and can fill job openings more quickly.
Baby boomers have shared life experiences and therefore a strong understanding of customers and guests, especially those from the same demographic. It is easy to understand the potential benefit to your business of having boomers as part of the face of your organization.
Oftentimes boomers are “subsidizing” retirement salary rather than supporting a family on their wage/salary, and as such, money is not the main driving factor for them working.
Promotion of diversity within the workplace is seen as positive within a community and having a demographic mix that mirrors that of the larger community is good for business.
Baby boomers enjoy working in teams and have the skills to do so effectively. Multi-generational teams are more innovative and likely to come up with creative solutions that positively impact the business. In general, this generation is extremely inclusive and welcoming of new ideas from different perspectives.
41% of boomers stay in the workforce because they want to, not because they have to.
– Financial Post
go2HR is BC’s tourism and hospitality , human resources and health & safety association driving strong workforces and safe workplaces that deliver world class tourism and hospitality experiences in British Columbia. Follow us on LinkedIn or reach out to our team.
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