The Age Smart Employer Awards Competition is Open!
Newswise — New York, NY – The New York Academy of Medicine (NYAM) is accepting applications and nominations for the Age Smart Employer Awards, a new award competition that honors New York City employers who have innovative practices that optimize the multigenerational workplace as part of a 21st century business strategy. The deadline to submit applications is July 1, 2013. Award winners will be announced in September 2013 and honored at a ceremony in October 2013. Information and further details can be found online at www.agesmartemployer.org.
Currently, 700,000 of New York City’s workers are over 55 and they hold a disproportionate percentage of jobs that support the sectors and industries that drive New York City’s economy. For the first time in history, the number of older adults in developed countries is growing faster than the number of young people. Fueled by increased longevity and declining birth rates, this global phenomenon is transforming societies and economies around the world and is reflected in our workforce. In seven years one in four workers in the United States will be at least 55 years old and a significant portion will continue to work past traditional retirement age.
The purpose of the Age Smart Employer Awards, an initiative of NYAM and Age-friendly NYC, funded by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, is to encourage and acknowledge employers that identify and embrace the needs of older adults in the workplace and create an environment that fosters a multigenerational workforce. A selection committee of business and civic leaders in New York City will select the winners.
“Workplaces have people from age 18 to 80 all working together,” said Ruth Finkelstein, Senior Vice President of Policy and Planning at NYAM. “The time is NOW to reward the businesses and organizations who are leading the way to use everyone’s best abilities. The Age Smart Employer Award will recognize these leaders.”
Eligible organizations will be considered for the Age Smart Employer Awards based on their ability to demonstrate that their workplace optimizes the talent of older workers and creates environments that capitalize on age-diverse workforces, while meeting both business and employee goals.
A new report by NYAM, The Age Smart Compendium of Strategies and Practices, outlines existing research and best practices of employers and will serve as the basis for judging entries. The compendium was developed with the guidance of leading researchers in economics, organizational management, aging, and business. Several globally-based companies, including Wells Fargo, Marriott International, and BMW, have begun to embrace the idea of developing intergenerational work environments. As a result, they are seeing increases in productivity or profits—or both.
Employers who proactively implement strategies such as these, facilitated by older workers, create beneficial environments for workers of all ages. By embracing the multigenerational workplace as an opportunity, these leaders use innovation, flexibility, and creative talent management to stay ahead of the curve. These employers are age smart.
“As our population ages more and more people in the workforce are becoming caregivers to older relatives and friends,” said Jack Watters, Vice President for External Medical Affairs at Pfizer. “Juggling work and caregiving is hard and employers can play an invaluable part in supporting their employees who find themselves in this role. It’s the right thing to do—it’s good for morale, business, and society.” Are you an Age Smart Employer? If so, tell us your story.
To learn more about this new award opportunity or to receive information on the report, please contact Andrew J. Martin, Director of Communications, at (212) 822-7285 or via email at [email protected].
About Age Smart Employer AwardsThe Age Smart Employer Awards is an initiative of Age-friendly NYC and The New York Academy of Medicine (NYAM), funded by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. These awards honor New York City employers who have innovative practices that optimize the multigenerational workplace as part of a 21st century business strategy. The goal of the Age Smart Employer Awards is to identify and promote innovative strategies employers use in New York City use to create age-smart workplaces.
About NYAMThe New York Academy of Medicine advances the health of people in cities.An independent organization since 1847, NYAM addresses the health challenges facing the world’s urban populations through interdisciplinary approaches to policy leadership, innovative research, evaluation, education, and community engagement. Drawing on the expertise of diverse partners worldwide and more than 2,000 elected Fellows from across the professions, our current priorities are to create environments in cities that support healthy aging; to strengthen systems that prevent disease and promote the public’s health; and to eliminate health disparities.
About Age-friendly NYCAge-friendly NYC is a public-private partnership between NYAM, the NYC Office of the Mayor, and the New York City Council dedicated to making New York City a great place to grow old by promoting active engagement of older adults in all aspects of city life. Age-friendly NYC’s contributions to the lives of older New Yorkers have attracted widespread attention locally, nationally, and internationally, and the initiative has become a model for similar efforts in other cities. Age-friendly NYC was the first city to be recognized by the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Global Network of Age-friendly Cities, a network of more than 100 cities around the world.
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