Stress Reducing Elderly Worker Stereotypes

Elderly workers who choose to continue in their jobs rather than retire will, for the most part, remain capable of performing well. They compensate for the deficits of aging by using the wisdom, job familiarity, and commitment to the organization which a long tenure brings.
     Still, a danger to the seniors’ productivity, according to a study at The University of Queensland, The University of Newcastle, and Leipzig University comes from any assumptions by supervisors and coworkers that elderly workers are bound to do poorly. These assumptions create stress for seniors and lead to them ruminating about their future. The ultimate consequences are then, in reality, impaired job performance. Social psychologists refer to this type of vicious cycle as “stereotype threat.”
     Participants in the study ranged from ages 18 to 66 and came from a variety of organizations. Stereotype threat also can occur with younger employees, who are too often assumed to be unreliable and unskilled. In fact, the researchers found more frequent reports from the younger employees of assumptions of poor performance because of age. But an important difference was that, unlike with the older workers, the younger ones much more often reacted by challenging the stereotype and looking forward to proving themselves as they get older.
     Supervisors would be hard-pressed to successfully persuade the old hands that their skills, and so recognition for their skills, will dramatically improve in the future. But the supervisors can persuade those senior workers to break the cycle by providing them opportunities to master new tasks and to demonstrate their wisdom, such as by mentoring others. A burgeoning interest among the elderly is the desire to leave a legacy.
     Conquering the tendency to ruminate is tougher for most seniors than is easing stress. That’s because aging disrupts the executive functioning in the brain which helps people successfully stifle distracting thoughts. Availability of an employee assistance program could assist those who are having trouble shaking off the stereotype threat.
     The way you respond to seniors’ memory lapses also counts. Purge age bias. At the same time that you are alert to the possibility of memory impairment in your employee, place more emphasis on the objective of the task than on it having to do with memory. When your employee experiences a senior moment, where the experience is of a temporary mental lapse rather than a false memory, be patient, avoid embarrassment, and move on.

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