It is no secret that companies are reluctant to hire older professionals, without even imagining the great contribution that a talent with extensive experience can offer to the organization.
However, the reality, and good news for everyone, is that life expectancy worldwide is increasing (in Spain, life expectancy is 83 years, according to data from the World Bank). Consequently, there is an increasing number of professionals over 50 years of age who are active in the labor market.
And this, far from being a tragedy, is a great opportunity for businesses.
The market is constantly changing. Companies must become increasingly flexible to adapt, and this transformation includes debunking myths.
What are the main myths that companies need to debunk when hiring professionals? senior?
Myth 1. Sky-high salaries
Many times companies prefer to hire young professionals without experience because of the salary, without realizing that the lack of know-how This can affect the quality of work and productivity, making this decision more costly.
While it is true that a senior professional demands a higher salary, this will be directly proportional to the results of their work, so that "sky-high salary" will result in greater profits for the company.
Myth 2. Resistance to adapting to the organizational culture
In the business world, there's a common misconception that as professionals get older and more experienced, they become less flexible and less willing to adopt new ways of working. This is nothing more than a myth!
As professionals gain more professional and personal maturity, they become more comfortable and no longer feel the need to prove themselves or compete. Therefore, in addition to adapting to their environment without difficulty, they are willing to share their knowledge with their team.
What does happen, and we think this is the origin of the myth, is that thanks to their vast experience they have the ability to quickly realize if the applied work methods or some aspect of the organizational culture is working against productivity and, when they want to change them, they encounter the company's refusal, which alludes to the tragic phrase "we've always done it this way".
Myth 3. Poor digital skills
It is true that younger professionals, having been born in a digital age, have a greater aptitude for using technology. However, this does not mean that older professionals lack the necessary digital skills to perform their jobs successfully.
Today, in the Age of digital transformationMore and more professionals with senior profiles are concerned with keeping up to date with technological advances.
Myth 4. Health Risks
We begin this article by discussing the increase in life expectancy worldwide. This means that, in most cases, people are much more concerned about their physical condition and overall health.
In this way, people's working lives are also extended, thus having mature professionals with extensive experience, in perfect health.
Advantages of hiring senior talent
There are many advantages to adding a professional with more than 20 years of experience to the work team; below we list the main ones:
Experience: They have extensive work experience that has allowed them to develop into well-rounded professionals.
Increase the value of the work team: contribute their know-how, enriching the team with his technical and management knowledge.
Productivity and efficiency: They have sufficient knowledge to analyze the situation from different perspectives, propose effective strategies and solutions, with successful results in the short term.
Companies must understand that hiring senior professionals is more than a luxury; it's a necessity. They must avoid wasting the human talent that has spent years developing and learning from mistakes, obstacles, and experiences. In this sense, organizations must develop strategies focused on attracting this type of talent.
Within the objective of business competitiveness, the role of the Interim Management It can help them grow by hiring senior managers with extensive experience in business management, for specific projects and for a set period of time.
En this article You can see in detail what the value proposition of a interim manager.