Editorial
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/SHR-06-2020-184 |
| Pages | 97-97 |
| Date | 28 May 2020 |
| Published date | 28 May 2020 |
| Author | Javier Bajer |
| Subject Matter | HR & organizational behaviour,Employee behaviour |
Editorial
Javier Bajer
Never too old to work
At the time of writing this editorial, I am finding myself in Day 50 of my first ever quarantine.
The world around me is completely differentto the one that we were living in when we came
up with the theme for this issue of StrategicHR Review. Call it coincidence or serendipity, but
having a whole issue of our journal addressthe topic of age is more relevant today than ever
before. So, I am well pleasedto be introducing this new edition of SHR with you, which comes
in with incredibletiming.
One of the reasons why the world took “old is bad and youngis good” as gospel is likely to
come from the assumptionthat as people grow up (and it is always “them”, not ‘me’)they will
struggle to catch up with technology or resist changes. Many readers might be shocked to
know how unquestionablemainstream research challenges this premise,suggesting that –in
many cases –experienceactually plays in people’s favour and not againstit.
And here is another bit of uncomfortable information: “mature”workers are more engaged at
work and –interestingly enough –they find their own ways of being engaged. On the
contrary, millennials (who already took most of our attention during the past 5 years) need
external reasons forbeing motivated. As I have mentioned in previous editorialsand papers,
this extrinsic motivation (career paths, changes of jobs and larger bonuses) ends up being
rather expensiveand, at times, futile.
My final point (I promise). As quality of life increases and people live healthier and longer
lives, there is a fast growing poolof talent who would engage with work that makes sense for
them, gives them a sense of belonging and identity and, very importantly, by keeping
focussed on work,it allows them to remain healthy for a longer period.
Today’s catastrophic but rebootingreality is showing that age should not matter as much as
we thought before. If we combine people’s attitude to work with the changes in the patterns
around how and where work isperformed, I think we might have a winner. Of course, we also
love millennials and I believe we should engage with them as well, knowing that, at some
point, they will alsobecome “mature” workers and we would love for them to work with us, too.
Javier Bajer is based at
London, UK.
DOI 10.1108/SHR-06-2020-184 VOL. 19 NO. 3 2020, p. 97, ©Emerald Publishing Limited, ISSN 1475-4398 jSTRATEGIC HR REVIEW jPAGE 97
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