Older Workers Have Higher Levels of Engagement

As reported by HRI, workers ages 55 and over surpass younger employees on levels of workplace motivation and engagement, according to a 2005 Towers Perrin study, which also asserts that such engagement encourages retention as well as a worker's sense of connection to a company's achievements. Though the study found moderate overall engagement levels for the roughly 60,000 workers polled, older workers still recorded higher levels of engagement than younger workers. Industry profiles suggest more stark contrasts in the engagement levels of different age groups, however. Within the energy industry, for instance, older workers showed significantly greater levels of high engagement than workers ages 29 and younger, 22% compared to 8%, respectively. Drawing on earlier academic findings that question the presumed connection between lower productivity levels and advancing age, the study concludes that experience and knowledge can more than compensate for age-related losses of mental acuity. (WorldatWork Journal [Feinsod and Davenport], Third Quarter 2006, pp. 15-17)