How to adapt new technologies to ageing teams!
With the advent of advanced medical facilities and effective healthcare benefits, the population of the mature citizens is constantly on the rise. And a large number of the old age population forms an important part of the modern day workforce. But the improved quality of living and increased life expectancy has inadvertently created some alarming issues for the new age employers.
Employees are a company’s biggest assets and form the basic structure on which the foundations of an organization are firmly laid down. And the more mature and experienced the employees are, the greater the value they bring to their work performance.
But a common dilemma that plagues the new century is CHANGE. A fast paced and uncontrollable technological change that has encompassed our every walk of like. And work places are no exception to the rule. They are now catering to almost five generations of work forces with the senior members lacking the tools to cope up with high end digital tech devices. Result? Increased disparity between perception, ideas, work ethics, action plan, cognitive abilities and performance rates. And in a such a competitive and heterogeneous environment conflicts are hard to avoid.
Moreover, modern day employers face a lot of difficulties to lead a well engaged and functional team which comprises a wider age demographic. Listed below are some commonly occurring problems with respect to ageing employees.
1) Mature employees face a great deal of age related health issues resulting in physical and mental decline. Decreased speed and compromised work performance are a dreaded outcome.
2) Tension and frequent disagreements between old employees and young recruits, which leads to an un-collaborative and dysfunctional team.
3) Inability of the older staff to adapt to new technological changes and discomfort in transitioning to digital gadgets.
How to adapt new technologies to ageing teams?
Amongst the many problems of ageing workers, the most pressing is the lack of proper knowledge and experience with computing machines and digital devices. And mature employees often find it hard to change their old ways and make a successful transition to the new technical requirements. Moreover, young workers are also quite reluctant to train older workers and aren’t willing to invest the time and patience to help them come up to speed.
But getting rid of the ageing staff is the worst possible solution to this tricky situation. Mature employees have a lot of precious corporate experience and top notch institutional knowledge which if utilised wisely can help the company reach greater heights’. Plus, they hardly require any supervision and are much more dedicated than the new lot. Thus, in order to preserve their expertise and help them to retain their position amongst their younger competition, companies can take the following measures to train their ageing teams to adapt to new technologies.
1) Organizing on job training sessions and explaining the basics of smart devices and digital gadgets to mature employees can help bridge the technological gap.
2) Motivating young employees to clock in extra time to teach their seniors about the workings of company’s app and digital systems. Giving bonuses and good performance reviews are an effective way to kick start the training process.
3) It is a proven fact that people learn a lot when they are having fun and ageing employees are no different. Getting them accustomed to new technologies in a stress free and relaxed environment can help them to conquer their fear and apprehension of using new technologies. And if you want to organize some team building and team bonding activities Singapore, Jambar Team Building offers a one stop resource for all your team building endeavours. We offer a plethora of innovative and easy to execute activities that foster team engagement and allows ageing individuals to master the basics of the modern technologies without the slightest bit of hassle.
