Digital Consultancy Onboards Senior Talent

Events April 14, 2020 By: Kayla Hunt

The bid for senior talent remains competitive in the tech space, with every digital agency vying for the sweetest grandma to boost company morale by showing countless pictures of her newborn grandson! At Iversoft, we love to see how tech can positively impact peoples’ lives in the Ottawa community. We spend all of our days using technology, so we thrive on the impact it has both in work and in play. It can be easy for a digital agency to take digital literacy for granted.

More and more older adults have embraced technology as a way to bring ease, joy, and connection into their lives. But so many others struggle to adopt it, despite many being eager to learn. For many older adults, technology could be the window to entertainment, family, activities, and resources, but the path to getting comfortable with tech seems to be filled with barriers. We decided we wanted to help change that.

After rounding up tech-savvy mentors from all corners of the company, Iversoft showed up to Ottawa’s Gloucester 50+ Centre to help seniors with their tech questions. Step one was to immediately divide the room between Apple and Android users. No one is ever too old to learn of the deep-seated rivalry their device represents. Step two was to refocus our team; we have a common goal on differing devices! Sounds like any other day if you walk into a digital consultancy office.

We went in prepared to do a lot of explaining around Facebook. What it is their kids and grandkids insist they use, how to use it, and why it might just be more fun than they thought. No surprise, lots of people wanted to talk about how to use social media. As a digital consultancy, it’s easy to see social media as a tool, an ad platform, or a mechanism for increasing metrics. Being able to showcase platforms like Facebook and see a newfound excitement on how to connect and share is a perfect reminder on why many of us are working in a digital agency to begin with.

More than any other question about how to use a phone, tablet, app, or social media platform, we saw an overwhelming request to learn how to send messages and photos to loved ones. We melted. For all the ways we use technology, the value in staying connected to family and friends was the obvious benefit to the seniors we spoke to. One woman was moved to tears when our CEO sat down to show her how to facetime and message her grandkids for the very first time. There is no meeting on a CEO’s calendar to top that moment.

By the end of the afternoon at Gloucester 50+ Centre, we owed them all a round of applause. To try something new is intimidating, and many seniors who try to learn how to use technology, frustration and self-confidence are big factors in getting through the learning curve. We’re glad the tears didn’t come from frustration that day! Even though we went in as mentors, it turned out to be just as much of a lesson for Iversoft to remember on how technology brings us value to the most important aspects of our lives.

Sometimes you just need someone who has a little patience when you ask for help. We would love to hear from other organizations who would love to bring our digital consultancy in for an afternoon of tech mentorship! Reach out on social or get in touch with our Director of People & Culture to make it happen!