October 1 is the International Day of Older Persons. The theme this year is “The Future we want: what older persons are saying.”
Recently I was contacted by an organisation for ideas about how they might use 1 October to celebrate older workers. I had some initial thoughts but decided to discuss this with two groups of SME’s I am working with in Brisbane. They are part of a Experience Plus program funded by the Australian Federal Government. So here are some of their ideas and a few of mine.
Ideas
- Profile older workers going about their everyday work
- Try to have stories that challenge some of the stereotypes and myths
- Have older workers tell their career stories, many have done really interesting jobs along the way that people are unaware of
- Highlight people in the public eye who we take for granted
- Have the CEO send a message out acknowledging the contribution and value of older workers to the organisation
- Subscribe to an older persons magazine for the lunch room. Make sure it is for the 50 – 70 year age group not the 65 – 85 group.
- Run a True /False quiz. Have a set of statements, could be demographics, could be quotes and ask people to say if they are true or false
- Provide information on services that are available through your company e.g. financial planning
- Run a easy stretch or yoga group as part of your wellness program. Not focusing on older workers but ensuring that any activities are age inclusive
- Managers, ask your older workers 3 questions. 1. What do you enjoy most about your work 2. What is the contribution you want to continue to make 3. What could we do as a company to make this an even better place to work?
Remember the theme is “The future we want: what older persons are saying”. This invites you to be talking with your older workers about what matters to them.