In an age where diversity and inclusivity should be at the forefront of any business, effective management and workplace leadership are more crucial than ever to ensure this is implemented at every level.
From workplace training to ensuring equal opportunities are offered to everyone, managers, senior management and board members should ensure a steadfast method of reducing any kind of discrimination within the workplace.
One of the key challenges facing management is ageism. With the young experiencing their peers valuing their ideas and opinions less due to their age and lesser experience and the older generation subjected to being treated as if they are less able to deliver innovative ideas, management needs to ensure that these archaic ideas are stamped out to ensure this toxic culture is removed.
What is ageism?
Ageism is the act of displaying prejudice or discrimination based on a person's age - this is not limited to the old or the young but can be seen across all ages.
In the workplace, we have seen examples of ideas being valued less, hiring managers disregarding people due to their age and any number of poor practices which simply should no longer exist.
Well-planned diversity practises should be present in every workforce, which can be implemented through ongoing training which should focus on developing community skills and team building.
How can your workplace leadership team support in dispersing negative behaviour?
As a manager, you are able to support in building a more productive and inclusive workplace. There are a few key activities that are a great starting point for anyone unsure of how to effectively implement diversity practices into their workplace.
Promote technology sharing
Where generation gaps occur, there are often gaps in technical learnings, therefore, pairing individuals who are from different generations with different types of technical skills can encourage new and effective working relationships. Skill-sharing builds a positive community within the business and removes the necessity for classroom learning in order to build technical skills.
Team building
Events and opportunities to exercise team building skills are essential for forming a productive workforce. Team building activities can be through training courses which actively teach your employees how to work together, ways to manage conflict, inclusivity and ways of working are just a number of subjects that workplace training can focus on. Furthermore, less formal ways of teaching such as group outings and company events allow individuals to network, share ideas and build new friendships in a less official setting.
Highlight achievements
Finally, community spirit can be built through celebration. Nothing builds morale within a workforce like recognising achievements regularly and rewarding those who go above and beyond or achieve their goals in the workplace setting or otherwise.
Managers who shout about their team's achievements can expect to see higher levels of collaboration and an increased drive to succeed across the board. Better collaboration also encourages individuals to work better together and promotes inclusivity, in order to utilise all of the talents available within a team and achieve overall better results.