The inevitability of change is a fact that proves itself in every aspect of human life. Organizations particularly have to deal with the challenges of rapid and constant change in the 21 st century workplace which makes effecting and maintaining change more complex than it has ever been before. The prospect of a new generation entering the workforce and the ageing workforce further complicate this dynamic ( Patrickson & Ranzijn, 2005) . Unfortunately, leaders have no option but to master the art of effecting organizational change despite the shortcomings they may face as this is the only way to ensure that their companies remain successful in the current market environment ( Gleeson, 2017) . It is significant to conduct research on this topic so as to identify the causes and possible solutions since firms have to be flexible and innovative to survive as competition has extended to a global scale due to globalization and the advancement of technology. Managing the ageing workforce is a great challenge organizational success in the 21 st century workplace as this age group is significant due to its experience and a liability due to its rigidity to accept change.
The advancement of technology has digitized everything from communication, filing, data analysis, marketing and sales, management, and production. However, the baby boomers generation, which forms the greatest percentage of the global workforce, poses a challenge to most organizations ( Patrickson & Ranzijn, 2005) . This generation is a great asset in the workplace due to its strong work ethic and vast experience which they can pass on to younger generations. Organizational leaders find it difficult to strike the balance and solve the challenges posed by this generation while at the same time leveraging their positive characteristics to increase efficiency and productivity.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
According to a survey conducted by the Sloan Center on Aging & Work at Boston College in 2010, older employees are perceived by state agencies to have a strong work ethic (95%), low turnover rates (87%), and be loyal (94%), while compared to middle ages and young employees ( Sloan Center, 2011) . However, according to the States as Employers-of-Choice survey they are more resistant to change (41%), reluctant to try new technologies (34%), and difficult to train (18%) ( Sloan Center, 2011) . This poses a challenge because the current workplace is ridden with rapid change and there is often need to update employee skills through training so they can catch up to new technologies and methods of production. At the same time, organizations cannot retrench older employees in favor of new ones due to government policies that would view that as age discrimination. Governments also encourage organizations to keep the aging population in the workplace so as to decrease dependency in the retirement years ( Patrickson & Ranzijn, 2005) . It is also inevitable to have older employees in the workforce due to the better standards of living that ensure people are healthier for longer so that people past their sixties are still energetic enough to work.
There are several challenges that will require organizations to find solutions for the resistance to change experienced by the workforce. The first one is the inevitable threat of automation. It is estimated that nearly 50% of jobs may be lost to machines in the next twenty years. Machines are more efficient and cost effective so organizations have already began replacing human workers with computers and robots ( Patrickson & Ranzijn, 2005) . At the moment, these machines often need human supervision to avoid errors and young people despite having little or no experience regarding how a company operates usually get these jobs due to their conversance with technology. The idea of customer service has also changed as most consumers are either millennials or conversant with technology so to market, advertise, and sell to them, one has to adopt these futuristic methods as well. To keep the older generation in the workforce, they need to adapt to these technological advances so that they can relate to younger colleagues as well as customers.
The development of the freelance culture should also be viewed as a threat to the ageing workforce. More people are leaving the traditional office and working on computers from their homes. Many companies have also resorted to using freelancers for tasks that its current work force cannot produce due to lack of skills. If the older generation is to prevent the dissolution of the traditional office before they all reach retirement and pave way for a younger workforce, they need to learn some of these skills ( Bouton, 2018) . This especially applies to managers who are supervising a younger generation as they might lose their jobs to younger people if they are unable to grasp the dynamics of managing a virtual office.
The mindset of the ageing population also causes resistance to change. The way the world worked when baby boomers got into the workforce is different from how it is today. Today’s employee cares about a company culture that can make a real difference in the world and not solely about output ( Bouton, 2018) . Younger employees have also grown up at an age of rapid change so it is very easy for them to accept changes as compared to the older generation whose philosophy of work is built on stability ( Lipman, 2018) . These rigid mindsets, differences in communication, and old beliefs that reject diversity in the workforce while promoting gender, racial, age, and other types of discrimination hinder the ageing workforce from easily accepting change.
The tendency of older employees to resist change is a huge problem for individuals, organizations, and governments. This is due to the possibility of an over dependent ageing population when these workers retire or are forced out of work by new advancements. Nevertheless, older workers are valuable assets to an organization as they offer stability, loyalty, and are good role models to the younger generation of workers in terms of work ethic. It is therefore in the best interests of organizations to understand why these groups are resistant to change and formulate solutions to help them cope better with new advances in the workplace.
References
Bouton, K. (2018, June 8). Meet the Needs of the 21st Century Workplace and Workforce. Retrieved from https://www.thehrdirector.com/features/workforce/21st-century-workplace/
Gleeson, B. (2017, November 11). How Leaders Inspire Change In The 21st Century. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/brentgleeson/2017/11/08/how-leaders-inspire-change-in-the-21st-century/#9c94e474bfd8
Lipman, V. (2018, December 3). How To Manage Generational Differences In The Workplace. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/victorlipman/2017/01/25/how-to-manage-generational-differences-in-the-workplace/#7f3c4de34cc4
Patrickson, M., & Ranzijn, R. (2005). Workforce ageing: The challenges for 21st century management. International Journal of Organizational Behavior , 10 , 729-739. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/228351988_Workforce_ageing_The_challenges_for_21st_century_management
Sloan Center. (2011, June 3). Older workers seen as more loyal but more resistant to change. The Sloan Center on Aging & Work at Boston College. Retrieved from https://www.bc.edu/research/agingandwork/archive_news/2010/2010-01-25_s_e.html
