Getting older every day ...

In this issue:

• Getting older every day ...
• Open Space Conference on Mature Age (Un)Employment
• More on mindfulness

Getting older every day ...

A recent article in the Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources compared two New Zealand surveys conducted in 2000: one of workers aged 55+ and the other of employees, to explore common stereotypes about older workers under the theme ‘views of the older worker’.

The study showed key stereotypes of older workers to be well entrenched. Four of these stereotypes have been identified in the literature as:

• Older workers do not want to learn
• Older workers cannot learn
• Older workers cannot learn to use new technology
• Investment in training older workers provides a poor return.

Worryingly, older workers were often ‘seemingly in agreement with the negative stereotypes of their group’ (p.350).

Not surprisingly, new technology was found to be the older workers’ greatest fear. However, typical individual responses from the employees indicated that employers were often not providing training in this area to their older workers. Workers perceived this as age discrimination.

On a brighter note, employers and employees agreed that older workers were more likely to be reliable, loyal, committed to the job and more likely to stay longer in the job.

I’m not familiar with any similar studies from Australia or Singapore and would be glad to hear of such from readers of this ezine.

Mature Age (Un)employment – Issues and Opportunities

This coming Friday (6 February) I will be facilitating an Open Space conversation on the theme, ‘Mature Age (Un)Employment – Issues and Opportunities’ in the Metropole Hotel, Brunswick Street, Melbourne, 9.30am-4.00pm.

The registration fee is $70, which includes lunch, light refreshments and a copy of the conference report. There are still places.

I’d love to have you join us if you have a concern about this growing issue.

As I see it, this is part of a larger conversation about what we can do to create and maintain sustainable lifestyles that allow us to use our strengths and talents in ways that contribute to our own and others greater happiness.

So please give me a ring on 0400 156 069 if you would like to join us this coming Friday.

More on mindfulness

After the article on (article.html Mindfulness) in a previous issue, one of my consultant colleagues, Paul Rogers, referred me to Peace is Every Step: The Path of Mindfulness in Everyday Life by Thich Nhat Hanh (ISBN 0 553 35139 7).

I found to my delight that this book was already in my collection.

Thich Nhat Hanh comments that while Buddhist monks use the ringing of a temple bell to toll them back to the present moment, we who are outside a monastery can use other everyday signals as prompts to remind us to live in the moment; for example, the red stop signs of traffic lights, or the phone ringing, or the brake lights of a car.

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