An age-positive business

As every business owner knows, any form of discrimination in the workplace on the grounds of race or gender is unacceptable, whether it is among staff or in company policy.

It is also becoming increasingly important to be aware of the issues surrounding the problem of age discrimination. The Government is committed to introducing anti-discrimination legislation by 2006, and there are also a number of ways your business could benefit from having an age-positive policy.

Here are some steps you can take now:

Judge people on ability, not age

• Remember that ageism works both ways, especially when recruiting. If a job involves IT, it does not automatically mean that a younger person is best suited to it. But similarly, a job that involves supervision of other people's work may be equally well performed by a young person as an older one. The key thing to remember is that if a person has the required skills and abilities, they are the right age.

Beware when advertising

• As well as avoiding placing job advertisements which include phrases such as 'candidates should be aged 25-35', you should also be aware of less explicit forms of age discrimination. Requiring 'GCSE maths' automatically rules out everyone old enough to have taken O-Levels.

Promote staff on merit

• If a person is an obvious and capable candidate for promotion, it is bad practice to refuse to promote them on the grounds of age, as a drop in their morale and productivity is inevitable. If employees are told they are too old they will feel that there is little point in doing more than the minimum, while if told they are too young they will feel that their efforts may go unrewarded, however well they perform.

'Teaching old dogs new tricks'

• Do not fall into the trap of thinking that training and development are wasted on older employees. Research shows that turnover is significantly lower among older workers, so if you want your long-term staff to stay up-to-date, be prepared to invest in skills training.

Make redundancies with caution

• In cases where companies have to make a number of redundancies, age is all too often used as a simple criterion for selecting candidates. Beware of this, as it can lead to a sudden and significant loss of skills and knowledge, and can damage customer relations.

At a time of skills shortages in the employment market, and with age demographics shifting in favour of an older workforce, being 'age-positive' is more than just political correctness: it is good business practice.

Useful link: www.agepositive.co.uk