Empower Your Aging Workforce to Use Modern Technology
It is quite difficult asking your aging employees to incorporate modern technology in their work. They might have a hard time adjusting or even learning modern stuff. Most of them don’t even have social media accounts. Considering how essential modern technology is, it would be great if you do something about this problem.
Of course, you don’t want to make them feel as if they are forced to do something they are not comfortable with. There are things you can do so they will embrace the modern ways of working without making them feel uncomfortable.
Create a good environment for training
In order to teach them about modern technology, you have to let them undergo training. They must understand the value of doing the said training. They must also be in an environment where they are going to have fun instead of feeling like they are being punished. It is also great if you mix them up with your younger employees during the training so they will serve as guide or mentor to make things easier for them. Let them discover modern tools and software during the training starting from guided learning up until they become more independent.
Let them realize the impact on their career growth
It is common for employees to ask what’s in it for them if you ask them to do something beyond what they normally do. They will not participate if they don’t see the value of what they are doing. Therefore, you have to connect digital transformation with growth in terms of career or even promotion. Let them realize that once they start jumping to the digital world, they can do more and save more time. For instance, you can make them realize that the world is now moving towards paperless technology. If they can work without using paper and be more efficient, it would help them a lot. It would also make their tasks faster.
Encourage collaboration
At a certain age, learning becomes more difficult. This is why it is essential to encourage collaboration among the members of the company. With the aid of younger employees, it would be easier for the older ones to learn and acquire new information. This also bridges the generational gap. They will learn to understand each other even more and this can only lead to the company’s growth.
Provide them with the tools they need
You can buy software that is easy to use especially among older employees. Let them work on the said software until they have mastered it. Let them use tools that gears toward self-directed learning. Support them and praise them if they have accomplished something significant. Provide assistance whenever necessary.
With all these changes, you can see these employees starting to embrace changes. Again, it is not easy letting them understand that changes are inevitable and we are now living in a different time. Once they understand the value of changes and how it makes them better in the long run, they will complain less and do more.
Photo Attribution:
Featured and 1st image from http://images.complex.com/complex/image/upload/c_limit,w_680/fl_lossy,pg_1,q_auto/v0n641xjrmejpjizmhuj.jpg
2nd image from https://www.zeementor.com/single-post/2017/03/29/The-Training-Blur
