Age, Work, Learning, Curiosity and Your Brain

The headline at Management Issues reads "Older workers more focused than the young."

The article is a snippet of a study by Hewitt Associates of the 50 best employers in Canada.

The Results Aren't What You Might Think

I get a number of inquiries about ageism in the workplace. In fact, I wrote about that issue on September 14 and September 15.  But the issue isn't quite playing out in the way that some feared.

The Hewitt study showed that:

1. Older employees were more likely to be engaged in their work than younger ones, with 74% indicating their engagement on the job. That contradicts the belief that many older workers simply want to coast to retirement.

2. The least engaged group was generation X (26 to 40 years old) at 61 per cent.

What really seems important for organizations is that HR activities are designed for Boomers with Boomers in mind. The issue, therefore, isn't age itself. It's the approach toward employees that misses the learning styles of a significant part of the population. I'm assuming that training and development are key activities under the HR function.

Good News for Learners Regardless of Age

Regardless of the "high engagement" data, Boomers still have to put up with the "too old to learn" bias found in some quarters. Research shows that's just not so.

Dr. Ellen Weber at Brain Based Business notes:

"Increasingly, research shows evidence that there can be very little neuron brain cell loss with age. When they compare people in their 20s with seniors in their 70s and 80s, they find very little difference between brain scans".

She cites Dr. Marilyn Albert at Harvard. According to Dr. Albert, "4 factors determine who will retain their mental acumen – and even develop more--far beyond their golden years":

1. Constant learning – which increases the number of dendrite brain cell connections and grows intelligence.

2. Regular exercise – which will improve a person’s blood flow and oxygen to the brain.

3. Lung function -which ensure there is enough oxygen in the blood to supply the brain’s need for 21% of the body’s entire oxygen supply.

4. Self worth – which provides a sense that you have a calling or purpose in life and that what you do on a daily basis will make a difference.

While each individual is personally responsible for pursuing development, organizations can look with confidence at workers in their fifties and older. The objective becomes to help people in that age group focus on  the four factors and then design work experiences and activities that promote learning and stimulate the mind.

And Curiously. . .

It turns out that curiosity is a characteristic directly related to personal growth. The University of Buffalo published findings showing curiosity as a key ingredient in workplace motivation.  Curiosity sparks a desire to learn and can even be identified using a structured questionnaire (see their site). Equally important is the connection between curiosity and intimate relationships. That should be enough to motivate us to read their findings thoroughly!

Let's face it. If we're concerned about people and productivity, the issue of lifelong learning--and the ability to learn--is important to all of us.

This is pretty good news, don't you think?

 

Comments

[Valeria Maltoni]

And *love of learning* is also one of the strengths highlighted in the positive psychology research on Authentic Happiness.

If we then switch to evolutionary theory and research, we find that ability and willingness to learn are key factors in survival that are not by force alone.

In neurological development studies, it has been proven that the brain grows by use and when we increase one area of the brain through a specific competence, the whole brain grows. This is the only closed system that has that ability.

What you get with age is wisdom -- having learned from mistakes and experience. And that is priceless.

[Steve Roesler]

Ah, yes, Valeria. Wisdom. I think that would make a wonderful topic for a future post.

Thanks for the sequential take on learning. . .

Steve