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Archive for category Media

Baby Boomers – satisfied but overlooked

Posted by Catriona in Commentary, Media on September 14th, 2011

Mercer’s What’s Working survey declares that baby boomers are more satisfied with the work they do, less likely to leave BUT they are overlooked for career development and opportunities. Do you agree?

Sageco always encourages employers to actively support mature workers in their late career and retirement decisions. Sometimes it is the ‘assumption’ of retirement that is the greatest barrier to this. If you manage mature workers, then follow these three easy steps to ensure that they’re not being overlooked:

  • Have a conversation about their work and retirement intentions. Ask the questions, “What would you like the next ten years working here to look like?”
  • Encourage your mature workers to think about taking charge of their own career development.
  • Make sure that performance and development reviews are constructive and don’t assume that someone is ‘just going to retire soon’ because they are over 50.

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hitting the ground running

Posted by Alison in Media on August 2nd, 2011

On Monday, the Gillard Government announced the appointment of the Hon Susan Ryan AO as Australia’s inaugural Age Discrimination Commissioner.

In her new position of Age Discrimination Commissioner, Ms Ryan will be a dedicated advocate not only for older Australians, but also young people who might be affected by age discrimination

said Attorney-General Robert McClelland upon announcing the appointment.

Ryan is the independent chair of the IAG & NRMA Superannuation Plan, as well as honourary chair of the Australian Human Rights Group and ambassador to WomenAid Australia.

Ryan says her track record in the area of gender discrimination gives her confidence things will change, in legislation, culture and the workplace. On a personal note Ryan adds;

I’m 68 and want to hit the ground running!

Ryan takes the baton from Elizabeth Broderick, who has been at the forefront of keeping age discrimination issues firmly on the agenda.

Read more…

 

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The Big Story: maximising mature-age employees

Posted by Alison in Media on July 8th, 2011

Baby Boomers have challenged each and every life stage they’ve passed through, and the concept of retirement is proving no different. However, with unconscious bias and discrimination still occurring, clearly there’s a lot more that employers need to be doing to maximize the potential of this workforce.

In this HCTV Big Story, we talk to Alison Monroe, managing director, SageCo, about what employers need to be doing to facilitate mature age workers in their workforce. As Catriona Byrne, director, SageCo, points out, often it starts with a conversation between manager and employee. Cindy Grass, HR director, Millward Brown adds that flexibility can work for all employees. As an example of how seriously the mature age challenge is being taken by many organisations, Rowan Arndt, head of diversity & inclusion for the NAB Group, talks about his company’s new mature age strategy.

Watch the video interviews here!

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age equality front and centre

Posted by Alison in Commentary, Media on June 24th, 2011

Elizabeth Broderick spoke this week at The Sydney Institute on the pervasive issue of age discrimination and confirmed that from July 2011 there will be an inaugural, dedicated Age Discrimination Commissioner in Australia.

Elizabeth shared stories gathered throughout her term with AHRC from mature workers not given a ‘fair go’; reviewed the positive changes and reforms that have taken place in recent years; and talked about the development of a Convention on the Rights of Older People.

A binding convention will recognise the fundamental human rights and freedoms of older people globally. A convention will open up a space for the voices of older people to be heard – for older people themselves to be the architects of their own destinies.

Elizabeth reflected on a personal story of her father, when hearing ‘exclusive language’ being used, asks “Where’s the evidence?”.

A question that organisations and recruitment agencies across Australia should be asking when it comes to the recruitment and career opportunities of mature workers.

One thing is for sure, Elizabeth Broderick has paved the way for a ‘community where when we speak about human rights, age equality is front and centre’.

Full speech

 

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age on an equal footing

Posted by Alison in Media on May 27th, 2011

This week saw the passing of amendments to the Sex and Age Discrimination legislation, paving the way for a dedicated Age Discrimination Commissioner in Australia. Thereby placing age discrimination on an equal footing with other areas of discrimination.

“This is a great day,” said Commissioner (Elizabeth) Broderick. “The Age Discrimination Commissioner will be responsible for raising awareness of age discrimination, educating the community about the impact of age discrimination, and monitoring and advocating for the elimination of age discrimination across all areas of public life.”

This, in the same week as research commissioned by Leadership Management Australasia found ‘Baby boomers are the most unpopular demographic in the workplace‘. Age-old stereotypes seem to be rife in this research (of a relatively small sample of 774 workers) which speaks of mature workers being ‘inflexible’ and ‘technologically inept’.

At SageCo we beg to differ.

Our most recent 60-something ‘flexi worker’ has joined the SageCo team to contribute his wealth of knowledge, skills and experience after expressing a desire to continue working ‘longer but differently‘.  Not only does Michael fit hand in glove with the SageCo team (a diverse bunch!) but he has just introduced us to new facilitation technology which will maintain our position at the cutting edge of the ageing workforce challenge.

Read the full article here

 

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