Case Study: Six Major US Employers and Age Diversity

The Sloan Center on Aging & Work at Boston College has released a report examining the evolution of age diversity strategies within six major U.S. employers finding, among other things, that while U.S. employers tend to have formal diversity programs at their workplace, age diversity isn't always a clearly defined element, nor is it effectively communicated. In "Age: A 21st Century Diversity Imperative," the report looks at Cornell University, Dell, GlaxoSmithKline, Marriott, MITRE and Wells Fargo, each of which shared a promising practice along with its business case, implementation steps, metrics of success and future outlook.

The report also found that the approach to age diversity is evolving within organizations: from a compliance-only focus, to an older worker and then multigenerational approach, to an integrated age management strategy. Even in organizations that have implemented age-related initiatives focused on younger or older workers, the internal strategic focus is on the four generations in the workplace--veterans (born before 1946), boomers, Gen Y, and the up and coming Gen 2020 (born after 2000--and enhancing intergenerational relationships.

The practices examined included:

• a program for retirees enabling
  project work, consulting, volunteerism and website resources.
• a toolkit to better equip managers with the resources needed to successfully lead multigenerational teams.
• employee resource groups for boomers and young professionals

Source: Sloan Center on Aging & Work at Boston College Publication Archive (September 2011)