Picture this- You are a 30 year old young Senior Manager and you are asked to manage a group of people in their 40’s and 50’s. At times people possessing good qualifications, in their young age achieve higher levels in the organization.

Now, on the face of it this seems to be an easy situation; however if we look more closely we will find that this needs some sort of introspection.

The older employees may not like some one younger to them handling them. So it becomes very important to understand their frame of mind and understand what’s bothering them.

You need to understand that in terms of experience they are much ahead of you and you should see this as a positive point. Tell them that the organization is banking on their experience and they need senior people to achieve the organizational goals. Never ever let them feel unimportant.

If you feel that these people are short of training, you need to identify their training needs and provide them the right platform for getting trained. It is normally felt that older workers are resistant to change and trainings. However, if you will tell them the benefits which they would be getting out of it they will definitely look forward to such trainings.

You need to make them aware of the goals which are expected to be achieved without disparity to age. Knowledge of older workers can be of a great advantage to any company. However, you need to be a little tricky to handle them.

You also need to understand that workers in different age groups have different goals and expectations. You can’t treat a 50 year old and a 20 year old in a same manner. You have to keep in mind their individual goals and then deal with them accordingly.

The most important thing which needs to be kept in mind is Constant Motivation.
You need to constantly motivate them and tell them that they are imperative for the business.

Last but not the least- Use them as mentors. Let them coach and train younger employees. Older workers have huge knowledge and experience that they would like to pass on. Give them the opportunity to do so and the entire organization will flourish.