Develop Teams & Culture
It’s the foundation of everything, and an ongoing exercise. Build a workplace culture that values contributions at every life stage by addressing workplace age discrimination, fostering age-inclusive leadership, supporting flexible work norms, and creating opportunities for cross-generational collaboration.
Foster an age-friendly workplace culture
- Host a speaker or workshop on the five-generation workforce
- Include age in discussions of company values & policies
- Create a multigenerational ERG
Prepare managers to lead multigenerational teams
Tailor Benefits & Supports
Design benefits and supports that reflect the diverse needs of a multigenerational workforce navigating multiple life stages and career transitions.
Provide flexible work options
- Offer flexible work arrangements where possible, including flexibility in when and where work is done
- Understand generational perspectives on remote & hybrid work
Offer benefits and policies that support all life stages and career stages
- Conduct a review of current benefits offered
- View employee benefit usage data through an age lens
- Leverage your benefits in your job postings
Support employees with caregiving responsibilities
- Provide parent and family caregiver navigation support and education
- Provide dedicated caregiving leave or extend parental leave to family caregivers
Provide life stage education, planning and support
- Provide informational financial planning resources that help employees address their needs through different life and career stages
- Provide guidance on the use of available benefits for specific life stages (e.g. parents, menopause, family caregivers, bereavement, solo agers)
Find & Manage Talent
Increasing longevity and an aging workforce are requiring employers to think differently about talent. Attract, hire, and manage teams with practices that welcome workers of all ages, focusing on skills, potential, and career pathways that support mobility across the full span of working lives.
Practice age-friendly recruitment & talent acquisition
- Assess hiring practices end to end
- Review job descriptions, employer branding & imagery on career sites
- Review application processes for elements that may unintentionally create age-related barriers, such as requests for date of birth or graduation dates
- Host a free training workshop for Talent Acquisition team and hiring managers
Support learning, growth, & capability building across all ages
- Review Learning and Development practices to ensure they support employees of all ages
- Support learning new skills across all ages
- Provide multidirectional mentoring programs
- Review apprenticeship and internship eligibility criteria for potential age-related barriers
Support knowledge transfer and succession planning
- Map skill silos using an age lens to determine the most critical areas for knowledge transfer
- Leverage experienced workers to build next generation leadership
Create pathways for retirement transitions and returning to work after retirement
- Offer retirement planning, Medicare education and Social Security education
- Offer phased (or other flexible) retirement options and build knowledge transfer into those programs
- Create a retiree project talent pool
Build a Business Case
Promote the value of a multigenerational workforce by linking age-friendly practices to outcomes such as retention, productivity, knowledge transfer, and customer alignment. Employers who implement multigenerational strategies can help position themselves to better navigate demographic shifts and sustain long-term business performance.
Assess organizational motivation to leverage a multigenerational workforce
Leverage data for continuous improvement
- Conduct employee surveys to understand how age affects employees’ experience across benefits, learning & development, etc.
- For any age-friendly initiative, create clear measures for success and include those metrics in regular dashboard reporting
- Include age ranges in ESG reporting/human potential reporting
Share success stories and discuss progress
- Meet with leadership to reflect on progress and review success measures
- Create and update an annual action plan
When you’ve selected your action(s) for this year, please let us know. We’d love to support your efforts and celebrate your wins! Email us at employeralliance@aarp.org.
Want more ideas? Take this short assessment to see how you can strategically use your influence to help your organization take action. You’ll receive a customized guide with up to three recommended actions, each with free resources to make it happen. The Employer Resource Center also has a searchable resources section.
Already working on a specific initiative? Have a fresh idea for an action you don’t see listed here? Reach out to us at employeralliance@aarp.org and tell us about it so we can support and celebrate you.