How does your organization view older job candidates?

Our reader poll today asks: How does your organization view older job candidates?

• They’re highly desirable because of their experience and wisdom: 26%
• They’re desirable in certain situations requiring specific expertise: 22%
• They’re as desirable as any other candidate: 33%
• They’re less desirable because of cost or short future work horizons: 10%
• They’re undesirable because of cost, future work horizons and culture fit: 10%

Does your recruiting execution match your needs? 48% of you said your organizations view older candidates as highly desirable or desirable for specific roles. Another 1/3 said they’re just as desirable as other candidates. The real question is does your recruiting execution match these answers? Clearly many of you are saying your organizations value older workers. The real question at hand is if those desires show up in your recruiting results. Take a look at your new hire class for the last 12 months. Is the balance of older workers reflective of the answers you gave in the poll? If not and they differ significantly, it’s time to explore if you have inherent biases in your recruiting processes. At best, you’re missing out on a great source of talent – which you already said you value. At worst, your organization is susceptible to age discrimination lawsuits. Diverse hiring practices make your organization stronger. Make sure your execution of recruiting matches your beliefs.

Do you agree with these poll results? Let us know in the comments below!

– Mike Figliuolo at thoughtLEADERS, LLC

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These results were originally a SmartPulse poll in SmartBrief on Leadership which tracks feedback from more than 240,000 business leaders. Get smarter on leadership and sign up for the SmartBrief on Leadership e-newsletter.