The Aging Workforce: A Guide for Small Business Owners

As a small business owner, you know how important every team member is to your success. You likely have employees who’ve been with you for years, maybe even decades. With people living longer and working later in life, you’re not alone in noticing that your workforce is getting older.

This shift brings incredible value, with deep experience, reliability, and dedication, but it also introduces challenges and opportunities that require strategic considerations.   

Many of our clients find this “senior wisdom” to be often their competitive advantage, and an opportunity to be leveraged on an ongoing basis.  Here’s a few thoughts that we’ve been sharing with our clients for some time now, on how you can support your ageing team, while keeping your business running smoothly, if not edge ahead. 

Don’t Let That Value Walk Out the Door

Older employees often hold a lot of knowledge about how things work, what customers like, and what’s been tried before.   Capturing that insight before they retire helps your business continue running smoothly long after they’ve moved on.

The value proposition for most small businesses is the personal relationship they maintain with their customers over time…. it’s something that large corporations only wish they had.  And that personal relationship has generally grown through your older workers, whose faces are often the brand ambassadors they’ve come to trust.  In many cases, they are your value proposition.

What you can do:

• Don’t wait until age 65 to start engaging with this valuable resource.

• Engage them in customer-facing groups when developing new products and services.

• Ask them to help train newer employees.

• Encourage them to write down key procedures or share tips.

• Recognize their role as mentors and advisors, not just task-doers.

Build & Maintain an Inclusive Culture

Sometimes, even without meaning to, small teams can fall into habits or jokes that make older workers feel left out or underestimated. A positive, age-inclusive culture helps everyone feel seen and supported.

What you can do:

• Set the tone: remind your team that every employee brings value.

• Celebrate experience and mentorship, not just speed or tech fluency.

• Promote and insist upon a culture of respect and learning across generations.

Bridging the Tech Gap: Keeping Skills Sharp

Digital tools are everywhere, from retail point of sales systems to inventory apps to process automation to mini-ERP systems that the business depends upon today. Older workers may not

always be tech-savvy, but that doesn’t mean they can’t learn new tools and applications.  Investing in your team’s tech confidence can boost productivity and morale.

For client-facing businesses, older workers can bring valuable context to how new technologies or changes to policies and processes can impact on your clients, and from various age demographics as well.

 What you can do:

•  Offer short, friendly training sessions

• Assign a “tech buddy” from your younger team to help out.

• Choose software that’s user-friendly and doesn’t overcomplicate tasks.

• Include your older employees in your change management efforts and software selection groups.

Health and Flexibility: Meeting Evolving Needs

As employees age, they may deal with health conditions, fatigue, or mobility issues that younger staff don’t face.  A few simple adjustments can go a long way in helping your seasoned staff stay

productive and comfortable. 

Consider these “adjustments” to be no different than providing any other tool or equipment to maintain the safety and productivity of any other employee.

What you can do:

• Offer flexible scheduling to reduce strain and support work-life balance.

• Provide ergonomic chairs, standing desks, or anti-fatigue mats.

• Allow short breaks throughout the day to maintain focus and energy.

Planning Ahead: Retirement Isn’t One-Size-Fits-All

Many older employees aren’t ready to fully retire — but they may not want to keep working full-

time either. This thoughtful approach keeps your business stable while respecting your employees’ changing needs.

What you can do:

• Talk openly about future plans — ask what they want, and how you can help.

• Offer phased retirement, part-time roles, seasonal roles or consulting gigs.

• Use the transition period to train new staff and transfer important knowledge.

• Develop a 3-to-4-year Resource Forecast for your business that recognizes the retirement plans of your employees and the transition tactics you’ll need to put into place.  Get ahead.

Final Thoughts

An aging workforce isn’t something to worry about, it’s both a reality and something to embrace.

With a few smart adjustments and open conversations, your small business can become a place where people of all ages thrive.  Your business, your customers as well as your aging workforce have invested in each other over time and have all reaped the benefits of those relationships.  And still can.

Our view at HC2 is that if your employees feel valued at every stage of life, they will continue to give you their best work, year after year… and everybody benefits.

HC2advantage – April 2025