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Why Can’t I Be a Zaddy?
Why can’t I be a zaddy? Well, I clearly don’t meet the requirements. Maybe you don’t either. A zaddy is “a sexually attractive man, especially an older one who is fashionable or charismatic.”
Yes, I had to look it up when I came across a reference to California Governor Gavin Newsome. I’m a little bit behind in my internet slang. However I got there, though, “zaddy” raised a question for me.
Is there even a word for an attractive older woman who is fashionable or charismatic? Not that I can think of. There’s “cougar” but that’s really about dating, specifically. And you don’t hear it much anymore anyway.
Maybe they don’t even acknowledge that an older woman can be fashionable or charismatic. How do we change that?
Because we do need to change it. Not in the dating world, necessarily (although that wouldn’t hurt!) but in the business arena. And not only for the sake of us more senior professionals.
It’s true, the world is full of people in their 50’s, 60’s and up who run into significant age bias as they try to find … or keep … a position.
Beyond that though, when older workers are shunted aside or shown the door, companies miss out on their wealth of experience and the contributions they can make. And I can think of men who’d disagree, but it seems to me women may be a particular target for ageism in business.
That’s a problem now and will become an even bigger one.
The management consultants at Korn Ferry say by the end of this decade, “85 million jobs will go unfilled due to talent shortages resulting from shifting population demographics.”
Their suggestion? “Employers must seek talent from across the age spectrum” to fill the job gaps that are growing in so many industries. That means keeping us around as we grow older.
The Age Equity Alliance is on it. Their goal is to shift our focus from generational stereotypes to individual skills, abilities, and potential. To that end, they say, “the best way to prepare for labor shortages is to reshape the workplace culture to value workers of all ages.”
But how?
It’s an interesting question, isn’t it? How can we create that shift to focus on individual talent rather than stereotypes? I’ve done some workshops lately for job seekers in mid-career and beyond, and it’s an urgent issue for them. They want to contribute, they need to work, and they’re often discounted because of their age.
You might remember that well-publicized lawsuit against IBM. The evidence included documents in which company leadership referred to older employees as “dinobabies” who should be replaced by millennial employees.
We “zaddies” … and “zommies maybe?” … run into that sort of thing regularly.
Barriers come up in interviews, resume-sorting, and even on platforms like LinkedIn. A user can take one look at our Experience, and our Profile Picture, and draw some conclusions about us that may well operate to our disadvantage. And LinkedIn has been less than sensitive in addressing the issue.
The Age Equity Alliance is launching a working group to focus on LinkedIn and age inclusiveness.
The plan is to delve into questions like how to create workplace age equity? How do we determine what is ageist and what is not? What does an “older person” look like, anyway? And how can we collaborate to address ageism when we see it?
You may not be surprised to hear that I’ve agreed to be part of this working group. I’ll let you know how its working unfolds.
And I’m counting on you to tell me about your experience working with, um, seasoned professionals … or being one of those people who’ve been around for a while. Please share your story in the comments section below.
