Young and Old Workers in the Workplace / New York City’s age-smart designation

New York City’s age-smart designation is about identifying businesses in which a multigenerational workplace boosts the bottom line.

Last week, Settepani was honored with aninaugural Age Smart Employer award from the city. The other winners includedMontefiore Medical Center, Pfizer (PFE), and Renewal Care Partners, a long-term care business started by two recent MBAs.

The idea, funded by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, came from Ruth Finkelstein, a health policy expert at the New York Academy of Medicine who has already received global recognition for her Age-Friendly NYC partnership with the mayor’s office and city council. Finkelstein has battled corrosive stereotypes before as one of the architects of the 1990 Ryan White CARE Act, which brought medical treatment to lower-income people living with HIV/AIDS. Older workers labor under many misconceptions on the job: that they’re less productive, less interested in skills training, less trusting, and less willing to put in long hours. Millennials find themselves typecast as narcissistic job hoppers who only want to work with their peers. Neither image is true. The most successful employers create a flexible environment that draws on the strengths of both age groups, giving everyone a chance to build their skills and advance.

Adapted chosen excerpts by Job Market Monitor. Read the whole story at Workplaces Boost Profits When Young and Old Workers Mentor Each Other – Businessweek.