Lina Ko March 8th, 2010
While most companies in North America are encouraging synergy among the various generations, a privately-held company in Watertown, Massachusetts, is showing the world that by valuing boomers, you can manage not only to survive throughout the Great Recession, but also thrive as well. According to the New York Times, Communispace started with only eight workers in 1999 offering online focus groups to blue-chip companies. Now, the company has 260 staff. Last year, at the height of the recession, 60 were hired.
There’s a place for boomers as well as other younger folks. While the President of the firm is 55 years old, and several of the eight pioneering members are boomers, the workplace is dominated by tech-savvy 20- and 30-somethings. There are 40 boomers, but there are also 25 who are under 25. Unlike most established companies where top layers of management are dominated by boomers, Communispace is different. Thirty-eight employees who are 40- or over report to someone younger. The company’s core jobs – the 104 community managers who oversee the online focus groups – start at $40,000 fresh from college, with the most experienced approaching six-figure salaries.
In the company’s early years, when the economy was strong, unemployment for boomers was under four percent and middle-aged people were less adept at social networking, hires skewed young. But this has changed. According to the President Diane Hessan, last year the company had 6,500 applicants for 60 positions. “We could hire 3,000 people in their 20s, but our clients don’t want to just understand younger people.” Jobs that were handled piecemeal, like proofreading, have required more experienced supervisors. Many boomers were subsequently hired for their seasoning and experience to get the growing firm to a new place.
When asked how younger supervisors oversee a team of older, more seasoned employees, a Gen-Xer said that the key is to recognize what everyone uniquely brings to the table, regardless of age. “We need to let boomers do their own thing,” she said. “Boomers need to be comfortable reporting to somebody much younger and we need to be comfortable working with a group of more experienced team members.”
Sounds like a recipe for success for other North American companies which are working on integrating boomers with other generations in the workplace.
Lina Ko February 26th, 2010
According to the Calgary Herald, it’s time for boomers and seniors to rethink about what the aging concept really means since different age groups in our country are poles apart in how they view old age, and almost everything associated with it.
Retailers are struggling with understanding older consumers. A woman was recently in a shop enquiring about a particular blouse to which the salesgirl replied, “I think that blouse would be better on someone much younger.” Needless to say, the shopper was furious. Boomers and seniors are upset with antiquated attitudes, patronizing labels, stereotyping terminology and insensitive services that highlight ‘growing older’.
I’ve long blogged about the mistake to treat everybody over 45 as a homogeneous group. According to the Pew Research Center, an unbiased U.S. fact-tank that provides information on issues and trends shaping the world, we don’t even agree on when old age begins!
Young people believe the average person becomes old at 60, but middle-adults put it closer to 70, and those 65+ say old-age really doesn’t begin until about 74. We also now see ourselves in terms of our ‘felt age’ versus our ‘actual age’ and the gap between them widens further the older we get.
At least 60 percent of seniors say they ‘feel’ younger than their real age. And 50+ boomers report ‘feeling’ at least 10 years younger. Moreover, the upsides of aging are being revealed. Older adults are happy – at least as happy as everyone else. The same indicators of happiness among younger adults – good health, good friends and financial security – predict happiness among older adults too. One key difference, being married is a predictor of happiness among younger adults, but not among older adults.
The growth of the older population will continue for the next 20 years. Traditional concepts about aging no longer apply. It’s time for all of us to rethink and rebrand what growing older means today in our country.
Lina Ko February 19th, 2010
Following the playground for adults in London in my last post, here’s an idea for Canada as well.
According to the Calgary Herald, the marketing of the Greater Forest Lawn Senior Citizens Society as the Greater Forest Lawn 55-Plus Society indicates a whole new attitude. The official name of the Calgary club with the mention of Senior Citizens no longer reflects the vibrant and active lifestyle of many of its members. The word ‘senior’ scares a lot of people because some lucky baby boomers are starting to retire and they still want to play. Club activities range from card games and tai chi to ballroom dancing and floor curling. To further diversify the entertainment, the Society is working on establishing a computer course. For members wanting to get away from it all, the Society also puts on bus trips to fun destinations such as Las Vegas, New York City and others.
According to the Society’s administrator, a lot of people have misunderstandings that places like this are like a seniors’ residence. True enough, seniors’ residences have recreational activities too. The differentiation is in the marketing and the branding – try set up a recreation club catering to boomers who want to stay active and have fun and market it that way. The results will be different and the misconceptions will be addressed.
Lina Ko February 12th, 2010
According to The Canadian Press, London, U.K., will soon launch a park for the capital’s aging baby boomers. This specially-designed outdoor playground will offer low-impact exercise equipment to help older people improve their balance and flexibility and tone muscles that may not have been tested for decades. The Westminster City Council is providing funding for the playground, which is planned for London’s popular Hyde Park. The new playground, due to be built by this spring, will have six pieces of equipment bought in Denmark, including a stationary bicycle, a cross-trainer and a sit-up bench.
This seems like such a great concept as every park usually has a children’s playground, but very few have playgrounds for adults. I’ve always observed that seniors are often behaving like kids, and for them to have their own playground just makes a lot of sense. But once again, are we confusing boomers with seniors? Is this playground targeting seniors and the elderly, or are they aiming at boomers who refuse to acknowledge they are old? It’s always a good idea to encourage older people to exercise and socialize. But to name it the ‘Hyde Park Senior Playground’ even though it welcomes anyone of any age to use it is a kiss of death to attracting boomers.
More and more fitness clubs are catering to boomers who found gyms too intimidating in the first place with too much firm flesh. It will be interesting to see how successful the Hyde Park playground will be for boomers rather than seniors.
Lina Ko February 2nd, 2010
Lately, I’ve been seeing a lot of baby boomers reading their e-books on trains and airplanes. Once again, contrary to popular belief, boomers do embrace technology. I recently purchased the Kindle 2 from Amazon and am loving every minute of it. No more papers piled at home or at your doorstep, but I can still skim through headlines in major newspapers before I go to work. The Kindle also offers free newspaper subscriptions for two weeks, and this successfully hooks me up to paying a monthly subscription of The New York Times. I’ve also cancelled my home subscription of The Globe and Mail because I now have the daily version wirelessly delivered to me on my device at half the price of the print version.
For people who love the smell and touch of printed volumes of books, an e-book might not be to their liking. But I think this is one of the most innovative devices for consumers – no more book shelves and no more yearning for library space at home. I can now create my own electronic library capable of storing up to 1,500 books – the Complete Works of Shakespeare, the Bronte collection, the Holy Bible, The Complete Charles Dickens Collection, the Works of Oscar Wilde and other literary greats – and carry it around with me to anywhere in the world when I travel because of the Kindle’s 3G wireless capability. I can wirelessly shop for new books, download them in less than 60 seconds, and read them in more than 100 countries.
Boomers are likely to be attracted to the six types of text sizes to choose from – no more squinting your eyes to read small type fonts in most printed books. The six-inch electronic ink display reads like printed words on paper because the screen works using real ink and doesn’t use backlight, eliminating the eyestrain and glare associated with other electronic displays. And at times if you’re tired of making your eyes work, you can always get Kindle to read to you out loud with its Text-to-Speech feature.
When Apple’s iPad becomes available in March, Kindle might face some stiff competition since the former can offer an all-in-one mobile device including an iBook Store in colour. But for people like me who only want an e-book, a slim and trim, 10-oz Kindle is good enough. If Amazon can continue to keep the e-book prices lower than the print versions; when more quality magazines such as The Economist become available on Kindle; when new books can be accessible to us e-readers even faster, I’m sure more and more boomers will replace printed volumes with the sleek reading device.
Lina Ko January 27th, 2010
According to the Hamilton Spectator, affluent baby boomers intent on offsetting the ravages of time are leading a wave of anti-aging product sales worth billions of dollars. The global market for products ranging from skin renewal to brain games is already worth $160 billion a year and is expected to rise to $275 billion in 2013.
Currently focused on the new trend of edible beauty products such as collagen-infused coffee and anti-aging water to improve the skin, millions of boomers are joining celebrities like Mick Jagger and Sharon Stone in exploring how to fulfill the age-old quest for the appearance and feel of youth in their progressively mature years.
With the first wave of boomers in Canada now hitting 63, anti-aging products are projected to account for just under 20 percent of total skin care sales.
Growth in nutracosmetics – supplements that are ingested in order to change one’s external appearance – is also climbing. One of the newest developments in skin care is a little red pill, taken daily, that supposedly provides nutrients to prevent wrinkles by increasing skin elasticity.
If you’re still not yet convinced about the market potential of anti-aging products, the lineup for a recent Paris lingerie fashion show included new, anti-aging underwear, described as bras and undergarments designed with anti-wrinkle properties that help hydrate the skin. Even in men’s grooming, the fastest growing category is now anti-aging. With older men increasingly competitive with a younger generation, they have to look better.
So much for the body and complexion. What about the brain? The brain fitness market is also booming with new brain games to help boomers keep their minds sharp and boost productivity well into old age. According to a report by SharpBrains, a U.S. market research firm, the brain fitness segment – spending on games, computer programs, training systems and other anti-aging products – has the potential to grow to $5 billion by 2015. Brain maintenance will become a mainstream trend from retirement homes to gyms as boomers seek to give equal importance to cognitive fitness.
Buying time has never been easier!
Lina Ko January 18th, 2010
In recent weeks, another roadside pedestrian death has raised questions about whether seniors over 80 should be allowed to drive. Last week in Toronto, a mother pushing her infant son in a stroller was killed by an 83-year-old woman who allegedly ran a red light.
So, when should seniors park it? According to the Toronto Sun, it’s one of the toughest things you can tell an older person to hand over the car keys. Taking a person’s car means taking away their independence. However, as the population ages, this will become a bigger issue. Many baby boomers are passionate about maintaining their independence and they won’t give up the car keys without a fight.
Ministry of Transportation figures actually show that over the five-year period 2002-2006, the average yearly fatal collision involvement rate per 10,000 young drivers (aged 16-19) was 2.15; the rate for seniors (aged 65 and above) was 1.11. According to the Insurance Bureau of Canada, it isn’t age that impacts driving so much as it is medical conditions that predominantly affect seniors. Others, with conditions such as dementia or failing eyesight, should not be on the road at all.
I think it’s ultimately a sense of responsibility. Many boomers are now very agile and fit to drive. It will be a long time before they will be asked to give up their car keys when they become seniors. But, as with parental guidance for their children, people around seniors should really advise them to stop driving when the time comes – that maybe sooner for some people and later for others. Independence is important, but not when it is at the expense of pedestrians’ or other motorists’ safety.
Lina Ko January 14th, 2010
It’s ironical that as boomers age, freedom at this life stage almost becomes as important as the freedom we enjoyed when we were teenagers. According to the National Post, there’s an inner hippie in all boomers that is saying – Break out. Flee suburbia. More colour, more texture, more of what I like. Who’s going to judge me anyway?
Few aging boomers aspire to stiff and patrician. Quiet is like being dead and that’s what boomers avoid by running towards vibrant youthful images. That explains why trendy buildings nowadays have lots of boomers who don’t want to be relegated to a senior’s ghetto. Retailers used to assume that it’s futile to market furniture to 50- and 60-year-olds. However, after all those years of putting the children first, parents now buy that formerly too expensive leather sofa.
Whether hippie once, or not, boomers as a generation were the centre of attention in their youth. Rather than run away to where retirees are supposed to hide out until they die, more boomers want to continue in the spotlight and at the centre of the action. For these, it’s a loft condominium downtown, not a cabin in the mountains.
I’ve always been an urban, big-city kind of person. This applies to my residence as well as my choice of vacation destination. I’m ashamed to admit that I’ve never enjoyed any ‘in unison with nature’ moments although Canada has lots to offer in this category. Don’t get me wrong, nor do I enjoy big crowds either. I get my energy by keeping younger company. Whether they are my multi-generation colleagues; or my younger neighbours in my condominium; or the arts- and theatre-loving New Yorkers and Londoners, I’m constantly re-energized by those around me. And I’m sure there are many other boomers like me who refuse to move into luxurious condominiums with hidden panic buttons; who continue to work in a profession that constantly requires new and innovative thinking; and who love to experience what big, urban cities can offer us in terms of diversity, energy and passion.
Lina Ko January 7th, 2010
According to a poll released this week by The Investors Group, Canadian boomers are stressed by the dual responsibility of taking care of both their own children as well as their aging parents. In some cases, providing extended financial support may jeopardize their own retirements.
Ten percent of boomers with children also provide support to aging parents, with 42 percent stressed by the dual role. The same report indicated that boomers are not whining about it. Two-thirds feel they are merely repaying their parents for the upbringing they enjoyed themselves as children. However, they are less keen to give money to their adult children. In fact, 25 per cent are bothered by the need to provide financial assistance. Six in 10 boomer parents provide an average of $3,675 a year to their grown kids.
This could jeopardize their own retirements if providing such assistance runs longer than expected. According to retirement planning experts, the sandwich phase may be temporary, but boomers should make it as temporary as they can. This should not be a full-time, long-term solution for grown children. On the other hand, waiting for inheritance is not a good strategy for boomers either. People are living longer and spending more. Based on this recent poll, the wealth transfer is going in the opposite direction. Whether it’s taking care of their aging parents or paying a steep price for parenthood, boomers should involve their financial advisors when gauging the impact of these duties on their future retirement.
Lina Ko December 18th, 2009
I’ve been talking to a lot of my boomer friends lately to wish them well over the Holidays. Some are morbid and pessimistic and keep complaining about the inability to retire. Others are youthful and optimistic, constantly seeking BOTOX as their spa-replacement solution. And they live all around the world in different continents – Hong Kong, Shanghai, London, Florida, Virginia, Palm Springs, New York and, of course, good old Toronto.
I’m determined to beat the winter blues from now on and try to visit friends over long weekends in the warm regions of the world. Moreover, I’ve decided to get brain-fit in the new year. I read from enRoute magazine that the famous Canyon Ranch now offers a brain fitness program – one of the first in North America. A weekend program of fencing, art classes, computer games and nutrition counselling promises to make people smarter and healthier.
The renowned spa is not the only one offering such services to boomers. Last year, Westin Hotels and Resorts placed instructional cards with mental and physical exercises in the showers, pools and lobbies of its hotels as part of its BrainBody Fitness Promotion. The Yorkville Club, a gym in my neighbourhood, introduced a NeuroActive Bike that puts your brains to work with 22 touch-screen games that challenge your recall of faces, shapes and sympbols.
Whether it’s mental or physical health, boomers need to maintain both to keep enjoying life and contributing to society. Here’s wishing all baby boomers (aged 43 to 62) a healthy, meaningful and happy new year ahead of us!
