Wiser Society Competition.

Several weeks ago I posed an important question about an ageing society to the members of the LinkedIn Wiser Society group. The question was:

‘What is the most important, single action that we can all take to ensure that older people contribute effectively to a wiser society?’

This is a synopsis of their replies.

Thanks to everyone who participated in this competition. That included Andy Sargent, Lex Kennedy, Dr Stanley Theron, Joan Baker, Rob Ball, Sandra Des Forges, Rob Ball, John Walkley, Andrew Barron and Jean de Bruyne. Nancy King also posted but her comment went ‘walk about’ for some reason!

These were interesting responses that seemed to split into two camps – those who believe that seniors should take action for themselves and those who want to see society take action to change the circumstances for seniors. I will attempt to summarise the contributions from each person so that we can consider their suggestions and vote for them. I have dared to add a one line ‘gut’ synopsis in brackets at the end of each short summary.  Please comment if you feel that I have mis-translated your comments!

Actions that can be taken by elders themselves

Joan started by taking an older person’s perspective and suggesting we all need to converse with younger people as well as our own age group.

1.       (We should all talk with people of different ages).

Jean added that she would like to see elders continuing to engage with society and that the way in which others respond to us is often a ‘self-fulfilling prophesy.

2.       (We should all take responsibility for staying involved in society  as we age)

Rob continued with a similar approach suggesting that our view of the role of older people is to become ‘curmudgeonly’ and that we might be the self-fulfilling this belief. In fact we should be able to demonstrate open thinking and positive actions as we become less dependent on bosses and ‘our betters’.

3.       (We should change our personal beliefs about ageing and use our newly found liberation to be positive and open).

John pointed out that older people should focus on areas of work where they had the advantage of mastery through years of experience rather than compete with young people in areas where they could perform equally well. This could include mentoring younger employees in larger organisations.

4.       (We should all learn about our particular mastery that comes with age. We should offer that and stop trying to compete with younger people in areas where they can contribute).

Andy reminded us that we see things very differently because of our cultural and generational upbringings. We should accept that generations will be different. This current older generation was brought up to communicate ‘properly’ and does so instinctively. Social media has undermined the ability for the younger generations to write clearly and succinctly. Elders are able to offer (and should be able to guide younger people) in effective communication skills.

5.       (We should all offer our specific generational skills as we age; in the case of this generation, it is communications skills).

 

Actions that can be taken by others for elders

Andrew focused on developing new performance indicators that would better reflect this contribution of older employees. Without new metrics, elders will be at a comparative disadvantage within the organisation and knowledge would not be shared easily.

6.       (Companies should develop new performance metrics that match elders particular competencies)

Dr Stanley cited an example from Northwest University in South Africa. Roles are created to keep retirees and Phd graduates and lecturers who cannot get jobs are contracted as associates. They are contracted to write papers and do other work as requested – which keeps them in touch, able to use the facilities and part of the social group for their mental health and their sense of purpose.

7.       (Educational organisations could create new contract roles to include retired academic’s extra capabilities).

Liz thought that we need to develop a process that matches the skills, interests and energy levels of older people to a need in society. Individual elders should be able to choose how much they contributed or not in this process.

8.       (Organisations and society should create relevant opportunities for elders to choose from).

Lex asks that we all acknowledge their experience and skills and offer opportunities for them to contribute these. We should give them love and envelope them in the family with gratitude and take time to do this through all generations.

9.       (Our attitude to elders should be one of grateful intergenerational inclusion, offering relevant opportunities to contribute).

The LinkedIn voting facility has been discontinued I’m afraid, so can you please vote for one of these 9 entries here – by mentioning the number. Also check out the actual comments and add yours here about the discussion overall if you feel moved to do that! This is an important issue from a social and economic point of view and becomes more critical every day. Those of us who are thinking about this need to take some action soon. We need to create a more positive future for older members of our community. These comments are a useful contribution to start a more structured conversation.

Thank you for your interesting contributions.