The creatives industries are often seen as a young person’s game, where fresh ideas and innovative approaches are valued over experience and wisdom. However, this perception overlooks the benefits of having a diverse range of ages in production talent and directing, and how it can influence creative outcomes.
Age diversity is not only about fairness and inclusion, but also about harnessing the potential of different perspectives, skills, and networks that people of different generations can bring to the table. According to CIPD research, age-diverse teams can benefit both individuals and their organisations, by boosting workforce diversity, addressing skill and labour shortages, and enhancing an organisation’s reputation and brand.
In the context of production and directing, age diversity can also enhance creativity, by enabling workers of different ages to collaborate, share knowledge, and support each other in complementary ways. For example, older workers can offer their expertise, insights, and connections, while younger workers can offer their enthusiasm, curiosity, and digital savvy. Together, they can create more original, relevant, and engaging content for diverse audiences.
Jules Chalkley
A recent report by the OECD found that age diversity has the potential to make a firm’s productivity greater than what the sum of its workers’ individual productivities would suggest. This is because age diversity can foster a culture of learning, innovation, and problem-solving, where workers can challenge each other, exchange feedback, and generate new ideas.
For an example of how age diversity in production and directing can result in creative works that are not only entertaining, but also informative, inspiring, and impactful, you only have to look to the BBC’s Creative Diversity Commitment. This is a pledge which prioritised £112m of its existing commissioning budget over three years towards diverse and inclusive content, both on and off air. The BBC has invested in supporting a total of 67 TV programmes and 90 Radio commissions that reflect the diversity of its audiences, nurturing diverse voices and working with diverse casts and crews.
How Production Companies Can Promote Age Diversity
Age diversity is not only beneficial for creativity, but also for the sustainability and competitiveness of the media industry. However, many production companies face challenges in attracting, retaining, and developing workers of different ages, due to factors such as age discrimination, bias, stereotypes, and lack of flexibility.
Anton Brand
To overcome these barriers and promote age diversity, production companies should take the following steps:-
- Add age to the company’s diversity, equity and inclusion policy. This will signal the company’s commitment to creating an inclusive culture that values and respects workers of all ages, and that does not tolerate any form of ageism or harassment.
- Craft an age diverse and inclusive talent strategy that develops all employees’ critical digital and cognitive capabilities, social and emotional skills, and adaptability and resilience. This will ensure that workers of different ages can keep up with the changing demands of the industry, and that they can leverage their strengths and learn from each other.
- Provide opportunities for workers to remain and grow on the job. This will enable older workers to extend their careers and contribute their experience and expertise, while also allowing younger workers to advance and develop their potential. This can be achieved by offering flexible work arrangements, career development plans, mentoring programs, and recognition schemes.
- Invest in lifelong education and training to ensure that workers remain employable and up to date with the latest skills and technologies. This can be done by providing access to online courses, workshops, webinars, podcasts, and other learning resources, as well as by encouraging workers to pursue their own interests and passions.
- Recruit from a diverse pool of candidates, using channels and methods that reach out to workers of different ages and backgrounds. This can include working with recruitment agencies that have a focus on diversity, offering apprenticeships and return to work schemes, and partnering with educational institutions and community organisations.
- Remove references to age from job descriptions, advertisements, and applications, and use objective and relevant criteria to assess candidates’ suitability and potential. This will help to avoid unconscious bias and stereotypes, and to focus on the skills, competencies, and fit of the candidates.
- Have age-diverse interview panels to present the company as it plans to hire, and to broaden perspectives when evaluating candidates. This will help to create a positive impression of the company’s culture and values, and to reduce the risk of discrimination or favouritism.
- Provide age-diverse role models and mentors to inspire and support workers of different ages, and to foster a culture of mutual learning and collaboration. This will help to break down barriers and prejudices, and to create a sense of belonging and trust among workers.
- Celebrate and showcase age diversity in the company’s internal and external communications, such as newsletters, social media, websites, and events. This will help to raise awareness and appreciation of the benefits and challenges of age diversity, and to highlight the achievements and contributions of workers of different ages.
