Ageism: The Pause that Perplexes
Patti Temple Rocks and Scott Monty Opine on the "Agedemic" at the PRSA Silicon Valley Friday Forum on November 20, 2020.
Ageism is getting old. “Long on experience” used to be a
badge of honor. Oh how times have changed. Ageism, the practice of
sunsetting experienced pros, has been with us in the work force
for many years but today has become a routine practice in technology and many
other industries. For many of us it is the pause that perplexes. Our
November 20 Friday Forum featured Patty Temple Rocks and Scott Monty to discuss
and dissect strategies to rise above ageism in the workplace and thrive.
Patti Temple Rocks is the
author of I’m Not Done: It’s Time to Talk About Ageism in the Workplace. Her
book, an Amazon bestseller, was ranked as one of INC Magazine 9 Books Every
Professional Should Read in 2019 and Kirkus described her book as a “compelling
argument and a spirited call to action against workplace age discrimination.”
Patti is also Forbes contributor and public speaker. In close to four
decades in the communications business, Patti has held senior leadership
positions in four different areas of the industry: PR, Advertising Corporate
and Start-up. Patti is known as an inspirational leader, innovative thinker, problem-solver,
growth driver, passionate brand steward and both an agent for change and a
counselor during that change.
Scott Monty is an executive
advisor, speaker, and Neoclassical strategist who's a recovering Fortune 10 executive. He advises
corporate executives and boards on modernizing their culture to meet the
changing needs of customers, but does it with examples of history, literature,
philosophy and poetry. Together with his ability to trend-spot, he shows teams
and audiences that the key to our future is in understanding timeless wisdom
about human nature and focusing on integrity. From 2008-2014, Scott was the
first global head of social media and digital communications at Ford Motor
Company, where he helped turn the company around. He served as a strategic
adviser across a variety of business functions, leading the company's global
social media strategy. Alan Mulally, the CEO of Ford Motor Company, called him
"a visionary." With another decade of experience in communications
and marketing agencies, Scott has advised clients that include Walmart,
McDonalds, IBM, Coca-Cola, and Google, among others, and The Economist ranked
him as #1 atop the list of 25 Social Business Leaders.
Ageism Statistics (July
31, 2020) (builtin.com)
- 10% of people aged 65-69 employed
- 20% of workers are aged 55+ (50% are employed)
- 58% of workers notice age bias first hand when they
enter their 50s
- 33% of people believe their age is putting job at risk
- 7% of people report losing job due to age
discrimination
- 12% of people lose out on promotion due to age bias
- It takes an average of 46 weeks for boomers to find a
new job
- Of companies that have D&I strategies, only 8%
include age
- 72% of women aged 45-74 believe people experience
workplace age discrimination
- 57% of men aged 45-74 believe people experience
workplace age discrimination
- 59% of workers who are white experience age
discrimination
- 77% of workers who are black experience age
discrimination
- 61% of workers who are Hispanic or Latino experience age discrimination
Signs of Ageism
- No promotions
- Performance reviews have disappeared.
- Career development and training is off the table
- Salary increases decline
- Plum assignments go to younger people
- Supervisors whisper in your presence
- Being passed over for new challenges
- Not invited to client meetings
Top tips from Patti and Scott:
Chronology is Old Hat.
Patti points out that the Covid-19
Pandemic has caused a serious setback in any progress the industry has made in
improving the environment for senior level professionals. As Patti
noted we are all a collection of skills and experiences. We have to know how
to translate what we have done and move away from chronological
list. Don’t buy into the chronological resume. Everyone brings value
to the table in different ways. Identify what makes you stand out and craft
your resume appropriately.
Craft a Narrative to Make
People Feel Something
As Patti and Scott both emphasized,
we are all storytellers. Customize your resume in a way that will make
people feel something and take action. Craft a narrative that positions
you for the specific opportunity you are seeking and will differentiate you
from everyone else. What’s to stop us from doing something very
distinctive? It demonstrates initiative, creativity and uniqueness.
Show up Different
As story tellers we often find
ourselves carving a very unique pitch to grab the attention of a journalist or
reporter. Job search can be thought of and acted on in that same
vein. Customizing your resume is hard work but will help. Scott cited two
such examples that illustrate the point. One job seeker created a targeted
Google ad directed at a specific hiring manager. And when the hiring
manager went to search for a particular term, a link to the job seeker’s
portfolio appeared and included a narrative by the job seeker on the rationale
for their interest in the company. In another case, an individual created
a podcast episode that was placed on iTunes with the link transmitted to the
hiring executive. These unconventional techniques can be the unique device
to get a hiring manager’s attention.
Five Magic Words
One of the biggest problems with
Ageism says Scott is that people make assumptions on what work someone older is
looking for. It is unfair to assume just because someone is older that
they expect a higher salary and seniority. Hiring managers and candidates
alike need to communicate and manage expectations. Scott recommends using
five magic words, “Tell me more about that.” We are more than a single
dimension. We need to seek to understand in order to be
understood. It is time to move away from assumptions and explore outside
of the norm communicating openly and effectively to get through to the person
on the other side of the interview table.
Work the Network
Let’s face it, job boards are more
like “Job Bored.” The chances of landing a new gig from a job posting are likely
slim to none. The network is the way in. Chances are by the time a
job is posted it is likely filled. Work your network hard and seek to find
the actual hiring manager and then look at your connections to see who can open
the door to the appropriate person. Put on your Sherlock Holmes hat and
seek out everyone who can make short work of a hard reach.
Career Shifting
Consider creating something that
uniquely fits work you can do and fashion a method that enables you to
convincingly approach an employer. It could be a part time gig for a task
that you can do in a time frame much shorter or at a cost much less than a full
time employee. Patti cited a case where pharmacy firm CVS created
positions for people looking to work less months out of the year and wanted to
work in the South where CVS was seeing increasing demand at certain parts of
the year due to population shifts. That said, you should never sell
yourself for less than you are worth but you can create a different
job. Considering flexible opportunities can be a win-win for everyone.
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Gerard Francis Corbett Bio
Gerard “Gerry” F Corbett “ Corbett
is Chair and CEO of Redphlag LLC, a strategic public relations firm focused on
helping people and companies define and communicate their intrinsic value. Gerry
has served 50 years in communications and technology roles with Fortune 200
firms and NASA. He serves on the board of advisors of Infinite Retina and
the Museum of Public Relations. Gerry served in leadership positions at
Producers Forum Inc., Hitachi, Loral, ASARCO, Gould Inc., International
Harvester, National Semiconductor, Four Phase Systems and the National
Aeronautics and Space Administration.
Gerry most recently was branding instructor in the Entrepreneurship Program at the University of California at Berkeley, Extension and an adjunct professor of PR at San Jose State University. He was Chair and Chief Executive Officer of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) in 2012, a member of its College of Fellows, served on its board for eight years and joined PRSA as a PRSSA member in 1974. Prior to Redphlag, he was vice president of Branding and Corporate Communications and general manager of the Web Strategy Center of Hitachi, Ltd. He launched his career in Silicon Valley as a scientific programmer at the NASA Ames Research Center. A native of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Gerry has a B.A. in public relations from San Jose State University and an A.A. with a major in electronics engineering from the Community College of Philadelphia.
Gerry also is a member of the London-based Public Relations and Communications Association, senior member of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics; a member of the National Association of Science Writers and San Francisco PR Roundtable. He is past president of the International Advertising Association; and past member of the Arthur Page Society and the National Investor Relations Institute.