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WIP Episode 310 Catherine Collinson
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‘Ageism should be something in the past, not in the present. It’s time to get over it.’

A conversation with Catherine Collinson, president and CEO, Transamerica Institute
By Ramona Schindelheim
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In this episode of the Work in Progress podcast, I am joined by Catherine Collinson, president and CEO of the nonprofit research foundation Transamerica Institute, to discuss the crucial role older workers can play in filling in-demand roles across the economy and how ageism may be standing in the way of tapping into that talent pool.

“Ageism should be something in the past, not in the present. It’s time to get over it,” says Collinson, especially as employers express an inability to “attract and retain talent, as they’re looking to grow their businesses. It is negatively impacting their ability to conduct business.”

A new report from Transamerica Institute and its Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies released this morning – Workplace Transformations: Employer Business Practices and Benefit Offerings – says employers are feeling the impact of a prolonged labor crunch. Thirty-seven percent (37%) say it is negatively impacting them. For larger employers, the number is much higher. It goes to six, even seven, in 10.

There are four – some even say five – generations of workers in the labor force now. Midcareer and older workers are making up a bigger share each year.

Since 1987, the share of workers aged 65 or older has grown from a little more than one in ten (11%) to almost one in five (19%). Currently, about 30% of the U.S. labor forces is over the age of 55.

While these workers want or need to continue working, they are often overlooked when it comes to opportunities to “skill up” to do the jobs that employers say they having trouble filling, explains Collinson.

“Our survey found almost nine in 10 employers feel that they are age-friendly and provide opportunities, resources, and training for workers of all ages to be successful. But when we looked a little bit further, we found not so much, especially as it relates to attracting and retaining talent.

“Very few said they gave a great deal of consideration to age 50+ job applicants. Even some of the things that we saw in terms of professional development opportunities – which, by the way, they could be doing a lot more for workers of all ages – they just seem to be not yet tuned into that opportunity.

“Employers on one hand are contending with labor crunches, and yet they’re missing out on this talent pool that has expertise, experience, wisdom, that wants to work. Why are they not paying closer attention? That’s a rhetorical question, but it also leads to that we’ve got to retire ageism.”

Collinson and I go on to discuss ways in which employers can attract workers of all ages and the benefits of a multigenerational workforce. We also discuss the impact of employers using artificial intelligence to “augment their human workforce.” In Collinson’s words, “Robotics and artificial intelligence may be revolutionizing the business world, but human workers are still critically needed.”

You can listen to the podcast here, or download and listen wherever you get your podcasts. You can also find it our Work in Progress YouTube channel.

Episode 310: Catherine Collinson, president and CEO, Transamerica Institute
Host & Executive Producer: Ramona Schindelheim, Editor-in-Chief, WorkingNation
Producer: Larry Buhl
Theme Music: Composed by Lee Rosevere and licensed under CC by 4
Transcript: Download the transcript for this episode here
Work in Progress Podcast: Catch up on previous episodes here

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Dana Beth Ardi

Executive Committee

Dana Beth Ardi, PhD, Executive Committee, is a thought leader and expert in the fields of executive search, talent management, organizational design, assessment, leadership and coaching. As an innovator in the human capital movement, Ardi creates enhanced value in companies by matching the most sought after talent with the best opportunities. Ardi coaches boards and investors on the art and science of building high caliber management teams. She provides them with the necessary skills to seek out and attract top-level management, to design the ideal organizational architectures and to deploy people against strategy. Ardi unearths the way a business works and the most effective way for people to work in them.

Ardi is an experienced business executive and senior consultant who leverages business organizational transformation through talent strategies. She uses her knowledge and experience to develop talent strategies to enhance revenue and profit contributions. She has a deep expertise in change management and organizational effectiveness and has designed and built high performance cultures. Ardi has significant experience in mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, IPO’s and turnarounds.

Ardi is an expert on the multi-generational workforce. She understands the four intersecting generations of workers coming together in contemporary companies, each with their own mindsets, leadership and communications styles, values and motivations. Ardi is sought after to assist companies manage and thrive by bringing the generations together. Her book, Fall of the Alphas: How Beta Leaders Win Through Connection, Collaboration and Influence, will be published by St. Martin’s Press. The book reflects Ardi’s deep expertise in understanding organizations and our changing society. It focuses on building a winning culture, how companies must grow and evolve, and how talent influences and shapes communities of work. This is what she has coined “Corporate Anthropology.” It is a playbook on how modern companies must meet challenges – culturally, globally, digitally, across genders and generations.

Ardi is currently the Managing Director and Founder of Corporate Anthropology Advisors, LLC, a consulting company that provides human capital advisory and innovative solutions to companies building value through people. Corporate Anthropology works with organizations, their cultures, the way they grow and develop, and the people who are responsible for forming their communities of work.

Prior to her position at Corporate Anthropology Advisors, Ardi served as a Partner/Managing Director at the private equity firms CCMP Capital and JPMorgan Partners. She was a partner at Flatiron Partners, a venture capital firm working with early state companies where she pioneered the human capital role within an investment portfolio.

Ardi holds a BS from the State University of New York at Buffalo as well as a Masters degree and PhD from Boston College. She started her career as professor at the Graduate Center at Fordham University in New York.

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