Some of the ways we talk about older adults can be damaging

Tinsley-Fix: Older adults are also guilty of an unconscious ageism

June 11, 2024

“Older workers are a fantastic asset to employers. They’re a really important part of a multigenerational workforce. So we really believe all ages bring something to the table. And counting older workers out is only going to hurt you,” says Heather Tinsley-Fix, senior advisor on financial resilience at AARP, the nonprofit working to empower people over the age of 50.

Tinsley-Fix outlines the strong reasons to hire older workers as part of a multigenerational workforce. “Older workers tend to bring a lot of skills to the table in terms of experience in their professions, but also in terms of these durable human skills, skills we often call soft skills that are difficult to hire for. These are things like being able to make judgment calls, relationship building, negotiation skills, communication, management, and leadership.”

In her role, Tinsley-Fix works with job seekers, employers, partners of the AARP, and academics to highlight inclusive practices that promote an age diverse workforce and erase barriers to employment for older adults.

A big part of that, she says, is raising awareness about bias against older workers, something that is often not done consciously. Tinsley-Fix says it’s time to flip the switch on ageism. “Ageism is so embedded in the way that we view the world. It’s such an unconscious way that we see things. It starts from when you’re young and so that makes it unconscious.”

She points out that older adults can be just as guilty as younger adults in how they use words to create a gulf between the generations.

“I think that’s the key. A lot of ageism is unconscious and it makes it, sort of, acceptable in the workplace to make comments like ‘that was before your time’ or ‘you’re too young to know about that’ or ‘I’m having a senior moment’ or ‘do you think you’re going to be able to keep up’?” explains Tinsley-Fix.

She adds: “I think, bringing it into consciousness, having the conversations, driving that awareness is really key to combating ageism in the workplace. It’s part of a culture shift, and that takes time. But awareness is the first step.”

Heather Tinsley-Fix spoke with me on the subject of age, ageism, and economic wellbeing as part of the Age in America series, a collaboration between WorkingNation and Scripps News Network which began in June.

Watch a clip from our interview below.

Why you should hire an older worker | Age in America | Heather Tinsley-Fix
Have you heard the term “durable skills”? Employers have, and most say it is a priority when it comes to hiring. These are skills such as critical thinking and problem solving. And older workers have them. Still, employers are missing out because of hiring bias against older adults.

Get more of our WorkingNation Age in America articles, videos, and podcasts here.
Get more of Scripps News’ Age in America coverage 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.