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34 mbiz | may 2015 age diVerSity for the 21St century By Alexandra Lopez-Pacheco there is a widespread prejudice in canada resulting in workplace policies and approaches that undermine many employees. W hat is this prejudice? It's ageism — discrimination anchored on stereotypes, generalizations and assumptions. Ageism is so engrained that it is invisible even to those committed to leveraging diversity and building respectful workplaces. As a result, HR professionals are not being proactive in developing strategies to address it. Today, the push for greater inclusivity is stronger than ever, but ageist stereotypes are at an all-time high. According to Age-Based Stereotypes: Silent Killer of Collaboration and Productivity, a 2011 study published by international skills and leadership training firm AchieveGlobal, this is largely due to the focus in recent years on generational differences. "Today's popular view of the generations has little basis in science. Instead, it arises from stereotyping, over-generalizing from isolated examples, biased research methodology, and widespread prejudice toward older and younger employees," the study states. Ageism is often an unconscious bias, and it has serious impact in the workplace. Researchers have found ageism, particularly towards workers 45 plus, likely plays a significant role in many HR decisions, from hiring choices to worker evaluations and even to segregation within workplaces and in team building. All this is happening without the business leaders, managers or HR professionals themselves being aware of their own prejudice. Researchers have found that in ageist workplaces, the self- confidence of older workers erodes. They simply internalize the negative perceptions. But ageism also affects overall productivity and collaboration. Whenever there is an underlying prejudice there are resentments, frustration, miscommunication and conflict. The solution is age diversity. Researchers are pointing to the urgent need for formal HR initiatives to raise awareness of implicit ageism in the workplace, as well as more education at all organizational levels on the business case for age diversity. ThirdQuarter, a Canadian non-profit organization that specializes in recruitment services for job seekers aged 45 and older, recently published a comprehensive handbook, A Guide for Human Resource Professionals: The Business Case to Hire Experience. This handbook is filled with practical insights and tips for countering implicit ageism, from recruitment to retention, as well as best practices for nurturing an inclusive age-diverse workforce. Change is in the air, but it will take the leadership of HR professionals to seize that change from the air and translate it into practice in their organizations. ■ ThirdQuarter is a division of Skills Connect Inc. which is a partner of the Manitoba Chambers of Commerce. For more information about recruitment and candidate services please go to www.thirdquarter.ca.

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