Court Courtesy by Using Older Providers

In the US, full-time employment of people at least 65 years old in service and sales positions has been substantially increasing over the past years. Analysis of results from a set of more than one hundred studies indicates this means those service and sales settings are showing more courtesy. You’ll decrease friction by hiring and retaining older employees.
     The University of Southern Mississippi, Istanbul Technical University, and Artvin Coruh University researchers who analyzed the studies attribute this effect to what has been labeled “senior cool.” University of Zurich studies conclude that what distinguishes people who live happily into their advanced years is a habit of composure and poise which reduces problems of daily living to manageable levels.
     As we age, we become less upset. Anger and defensiveness fade. Behind this is a recognition that the remaining life span is limited, so what time we have should be invested in pleasant experiences. This positivity bias calms the customers, clients, and patients who are receiving services, melting away their rude treatment of the service providers, which then further reduces any friction. Along with this, any consumer rudeness becomes more likely to be interpreted by the senior as a call for help, and the response of helpfulness also turns around upset.
     The 103 samples used to document this included a total of 48,067 frontline employees. The large and diverse sampling across age ranges from numerous cultures when subjected to sophisticated statistical analyses of the results allowed the researchers to tease apart the elderly employee service courtesy effect. It was found to be stronger in settings like health care than in settings like hotels.
     The effect also held true more in cultures with low power distance belief, such as America and Austria, than in cultures with high power distance belief, such as China and Columbia. The “power” refers to the degree of influence people have over others. The “distance belief” refers to the degree to which a consumer accepts that there are wide differences in the amount of power possessed by people. North American and European residents have relatively low PDB, believing that in retail transactions, for example, the salesperson and the shopper deserve to have about an equal amount of influence.
     In high PDB cultures, the emotions of service providers are little valued. Consumer rudeness is insensitive to a gentle, solicitous response. In such cultures, the service provider’s age might make little difference.

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