It is a huge advantage to have a diverse spread of people, personalities, skills, experiences and knowledge in any team, says Guy Moreton
This month I was going to discuss how the ever-changing buying policies of multiple retailers were affecting suppliers' recruitment strategies. I was just putting pen to paper when I received a lengthy email in response to my article last month about the irate radio caller who lambasted job centres and recruiters for not getting him a job.
The writer (my new number one pen pal) also criticised the Government, job centres and recruiters, but the focus of his biggest gripe was ageism. And guess what? I wrote back and agreed with him. We have since chatted at some length about - if you'll excuse the pun - the age old issue of discrimination based on the number of years a person has been on the planet.
Now my business is somewhat different to a lot of recruiters, in that we have always marketed ourselves on the breadth and depth of experience we have as a team in the specific areas we work in - ie fresh food and horticulture. With a number of my team heading rapidly towards 60 and an average age well into the forties, we could hardly be accused of being ageist. In fact, I am proud we operate in a sector that values experience and likes to see evidence of a few well-earned battle scars alongside the odd grey hair.
We do, on occasion, have to remind the odd client who asks us to look out for someone in a specific age bracket that, aside from being illegal, this is not the right way to approach things . It's about finding the right candidate - and age shouldn't be the leading factor.
It is, I believe, a huge advantage to have a diverse spread of people, personalities, skills, experiences and knowledge within any team. It adds significantly to any business's ability to deliver and prosper.
My new pen pal told me of conversations he'd had recently with major recruitment organisations - ones that should know better - who said he was "like their dad and probably too old for the role". Of course, this was followed by a quick "this is all off the record of course".
Not only is this unethical and legally suspect, what these 'youngsters' don't realise is that they are also breaking someone's spirit. They are paid to talk to someone, assess their skills, character, personality and experience and then match that against a job specification - ie act professionally. Attitude and ability are key. Age should not be a factor at any time. Those organisations whose shortsightedness causes them to overlook experience in favour of 'youthful vigour' run the risk of forever having to re-discover things. That wastes time and costs money - and in today's economic climate that's something no-one can afford to do.
Guy Moreton is director of recruitment practitioner MorePeople.
This month I was going to discuss how the ever-changing buying policies of multiple retailers were affecting suppliers' recruitment strategies. I was just putting pen to paper when I received a lengthy email in response to my article last month about the irate radio caller who lambasted job centres and recruiters for not getting him a job.
The writer (my new number one pen pal) also criticised the Government, job centres and recruiters, but the focus of his biggest gripe was ageism. And guess what? I wrote back and agreed with him. We have since chatted at some length about - if you'll excuse the pun - the age old issue of discrimination based on the number of years a person has been on the planet.
Now my business is somewhat different to a lot of recruiters, in that we have always marketed ourselves on the breadth and depth of experience we have as a team in the specific areas we work in - ie fresh food and horticulture. With a number of my team heading rapidly towards 60 and an average age well into the forties, we could hardly be accused of being ageist. In fact, I am proud we operate in a sector that values experience and likes to see evidence of a few well-earned battle scars alongside the odd grey hair.
We do, on occasion, have to remind the odd client who asks us to look out for someone in a specific age bracket that, aside from being illegal, this is not the right way to approach things . It's about finding the right candidate - and age shouldn't be the leading factor.
It is, I believe, a huge advantage to have a diverse spread of people, personalities, skills, experiences and knowledge within any team. It adds significantly to any business's ability to deliver and prosper.
My new pen pal told me of conversations he'd had recently with major recruitment organisations - ones that should know better - who said he was "like their dad and probably too old for the role". Of course, this was followed by a quick "this is all off the record of course".
Not only is this unethical and legally suspect, what these 'youngsters' don't realise is that they are also breaking someone's spirit. They are paid to talk to someone, assess their skills, character, personality and experience and then match that against a job specification - ie act professionally. Attitude and ability are key. Age should not be a factor at any time. Those organisations whose shortsightedness causes them to overlook experience in favour of 'youthful vigour' run the risk of forever having to re-discover things. That wastes time and costs money - and in today's economic climate that's something no-one can afford to do.
Guy Moreton is director of recruitment practitioner MorePeople.
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