64. Get a gran in

64

GET A GRAN IN

The modern obsession with the young and beautiful can be counterproductive for brands. There are hotels and shops who deliberately – and illegally – recruit people on the basis of their looks, but as that’s diffi cult to prove, it still goes on, despite well known organisations being taken to employment tribunals.

The belief that young, beautiful staff make your brand more attractive is often misplaced.

The idea In the 1980s, an airline announced that it was going to be retiring its female air crew early; they had decided that their mostly male businesses passengers only wanted to be taken care of by younger women. They wanted to reposition their brand with the help of young, glamorous, sexy air hostesses, as they were still called. This was greeted by a fair amount of outrage in the press. What the airline staff weren’t expecting was that their male passengers started asking for the older crew members to be brought back again. Some of the staff who had been retired were asked to come back.

Delta Airlines also make their business class customers feel at home by putting their most senior, experienced staff at their service on long haul fl ights. It was a case of image being trumped by effectiveness. One of the reasons that business people travelled with the airline was they got a quiet, effi cient service. They wanted to be given their meals

and drinks by responsible considerate people, and be allowed to travel in peace. Neither women nor men wanted the attention of young women who’d been sent to charm them and amuse them.

Boldon, Tyne & Wear, is probably best known for the occasional mention by the comedian Sarah Millican, who’s been known to shop at the Asda. Boldon’s big supermarket has the most marvellous greeters you could hope for. They turn grocery shopping from an everyday, slightly tedious chore, into a happy occasion. Their managers have recruited grandmothers to give everyone a cheery Geordie hello as customers come in the front door, and help them fi nd what they need.

Organisations pontifi cate about diversity, including employing older people, but often there is an unspoken feeling that they want to put the young ones at the front and hide the older ones inside the warehouse. They could help to build their brands’ reputations for helpfulness and effectiveness by putting people with experience and wisdom on the front line.

In practice • To learn more about how older staff can contribute to your organisation, read The Secret Life of the Grown-Up Brain by Barbara Strauss. • Older people often take things in their stride that younger people don’t know how to deal with. They’ve seen it all before. A balance of young enthusiasm and energy with older experience and wisdom will give you a stronger team. • Recruit people who behave well towards your customers,