Let’s get frank. Ageism is real. And nowhere does it start younger than in tech.
In First Round Review’s annual survey of 529 startup founders, 89% believed older workers face age discrimination, a number that was even higher than for race and gender. They estimated ageism begins around age 46–or even 36, depending on how you interpret the data.
Ageism, though, receives little public attention. We’re hearing more conversations about what companies are doing to hire women and non-Caucasian employees, which is great. Yet, there is almost no conversation about creating more generational diversity.
I recently sat in a room in San Francisco with 10 women in tech, all of whom identified as being “of a certain age.” (Older and female: It’s a discrimination double strike!) I asked what they thought tech companies should do to increase age diversity in their workforces. Their thoughts offer some excellent and actionable insights:
1. Come clean: Publish the numbers
Metrics matter. As the old Peter Drucker principle goes, what gets measured gets managed. Very few companies publish age metrics, yet they do for racial and gender divides. A recent Google search reveals only one company going totally public with age numbers, Atlassian. Going wider than tech, PricewaterhouseCoopers’ 2015 Annual Global CEO Survey found that while 64% of 1,322 CEOs in 77 countries had a diversity and inclusion strategy at their company, only 8% included age in those strategies. A baby step is to release the numbers internally first, which at least raises employee awareness.
2. Foster an intergenerational culture
Capitalize on the experienced workers you do have. Plan seating or teams to include diverse ages and encourage informal mentorship. Create systems that encourage people who are different from one another to connect and converse.
3. Support Employee Resource Groups
A few tech companies have ERGs for older employees, which creates an environment where everyone can experience inclusion.
4. Mimic success
Look at what other companies are doing. See who’s doing diversity well, whether in tech or not, and adopt their practices.
5. Recruit with referrals
Employee referrals are the best pipeline for recruiting. Incentivize! Reward employees who consider their network in a thoughtful way that leads to diverse candidates.
6. Hire for values, not “bro culture”
Pay attention to the way you describe culture fit, and do a frank evaluation of how this plays out in interview practices. “Would be a great seat partner on a long flight” or “Fun to go out with for a beer” are not valid assessments of culture fit. Instead, everyone on your team should be well aware of the company values and able to question candidates regarding their fit to these values. That’s culture fit.
7. Think diversity in product development
Users are diverse in age. Smart tech companies get feedback from older employees about product, especially when developers may be digital natives and out of touch with this demographic’s habits.
Diversity has been proven to highly contribute to corporate success, and this is as true for age as gender and race. The women I spoke with are living proof. My hope is that tech companies will take their ideas to heart and adapt hiring practices and cultures that stimulate age diversity.