Bridging the divide by finding new ways to prosper

Some time ago, I read an article in our local newspaper that struck a chord. An increase in volunteering was noted due to a surge of retirement by a new generation. However these new volunteers unequivocally stated “they were not interested in licking stamps or other such menial tasks, but wanted to be involved in leadership positions using their hard earned experience to truly make a difference.”


This thought frequently crosses my mind in my current job as a call center reservation agent for a rather large cruise company. We, the more mature folks are hired, for a number of reasons. Most likely because we are more responsible (i.e. arrive and leave on time) as well one would hope for our professional and life experiences. We also tend to be a bit more informed about what is happening in the world at large. However, most of us, who know we will have to work for another ten years or more, would like eventually to move up the ladder to a position commensurate with our skills. This job like most jobs that deal with human interactions, can be stressful and tedious. Because the staff has little or no experience, either in the travel industry or other business environments, numerous rules and regulations govern the reservation process. The majority of these rules also serve to limit the company’s legal liability. Some of the processes are governed by decisions made by an upper management team that is far removed from the realities each reservation agent faces, regardless of age and experience. The whole structure of the process though, drives some of the more mature individuals crazy because there is no room for using their life long experience to improve, change or adapt the process. In many cases, where it involves customer service; the process decimates the ability to make an individual judgment about the situation at hand. Even more disturbing for those of us with a long history in the hospitality industry, is the lack of interaction between the company’s management team with the people who are on a daily basis day in contact with the company’s clients. Not only do they miss valuable input, they also seem to be totally unaware how their policies and procedures affect their own bottom line.

Of course, the young and the old reservation staff are joined at the hip as one, working with and at different levels of competency and experience. This presents, of course, some difficulties. The younger crowd, because they have less work experience, require a stricter infrastructure, as not to cost the company its livelihood. While, we a bit more mature, are depending on our life experience, to make the right choice, using different approaches to different situations, to make the sale. And, yet we are all measured by the same evaluation methods.

Moving up the company ladder is a process that is either non-existent or wrought with so much despondency that most of us rather stay where we are. Lack of experience with the company is one of the most cited reasons, to move beyond the reservation position. One person, with an outstanding career as a Human Resource Manager, was told that he could not join the Customer Relations department, because of lack of experience with the cruise product. Never mind that when it comes to solving people’s problems, understanding human behavior in all its facets, usually solves the problem, not how well one interprets company’s policies.

Presently reaching an age of fifty or even sixty is just a milestone in active people’s lives, just like reaching the age of forty some years ago. Some of us retire and enjoy our retirement. Others, either for financial or other reasons, look forward to continuing their professional careers and sharing with others our experience. And, finally for some, the option to retire does not exist, as the necessity to stay fully alive and be actively involved in a career, is a necessity. Should we then be satisfied with just petering out in the least empowering way? Someone, I actually like told me to just look at it as a job, something we do just eight or more hours a day, but does not define us? That would perhaps be so if you were an individual who had a large family, loved to garden, had sufficient money not to work, etc. But for most of us, this is life! I wonder how many illnesses (mentally and physically) could be avoided by giving more people like us the opportunity to share what we have learned. What about teaming up younger people with the older folks, so that they can learn from each other? What about teaming up in career advancement sharing long term expertise with knowledge of up to date technologies? What about sharing life experiences that have taught us, the importance of human communication versus the use of cell phones or other communication devices.

This is of course not a new problem, but one would have thought that over the past decades there would have been some change. I remember vividly, an older employee, approximately my age at present, in a large company I worked for, whose vivacity and the way she dressed drew my admiration. I did not know much about her, but loved to just chat with her. In our conversation she mentioned how sad she was about the tediousness of her job, which was way below her experience. Yet, I did not really understand what she meant, until one day I went to her birthday party and entered this magnificent apartment, small as it was, decorated by her absolutely vibrant paintings. And I was shocked about the cruelness of life and people’s perceptions of other human beings.

In a business whose success heavily depends on how it is perceived by its clients, a majority of which fall in the mature and older market, it is mindboggling to think that a company does not mine the wealth of experience present in its older employees. Who else will point out that smaller text in a brochure may save paper, but at the same time, if a client cannot read the text or with difficulty, he or she will lose interest. Sending a brochure by bulk mail is certainly cheaper, but if it takes a week or more, the client might have found a brochure closer at hand from another company.

The problem of creating a progressive link between its employees, whether it is between young and mature, or people with different job titles or experiences in the same department, is not just the problem of this company, but many in the business of serving clients. And those at the top who could make a difference by mining the opportunity to change this, are so far removed from day to day activities, that they do not even know how this affects their bottom line.

Where are the employers who realize that they are losing big time opportunities by not taking a road that matches long term human as well as professional experience with the freshness of ideas by the younger generation? In these difficult economic times, this certainly is a road that offers new opportunities to boost revenue for all businesses directly servicing clients.