Over 50s over-looked for promotion

Employees over the age of 50 are constantly being overlooked for promotion despite possessing essential leadership skills, according to a new report.

The report released by The Institute of Leadership and Management (ILM) shows that many organisations assume that staff members over 50 lack the desire to develop and progress into more senior positions.

ILM surveyed over 1,400 British managers who scored workers over 50 at 46% for attributes such as keenness to learn, develop and progress. The managers scored workers born between 1965 and 1976 scored at 67% on the same attributes. Millennials, born between 1977 and 1997, scored the highest at 79% on the same attributes. However, when the workers over 50 were asked, they scored themselves at 94% on their keenness to learn, while the millennials scored themselves at 87%.

Speaking exclusively with HR Grapevine, Kate Cooper, Head of Applied Research & Policy at ILM, says that report shows a “large and worrying leadership age gap.”