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7586 years

Posted by Alison in What we're up to on June 8th, 2011

7586. That is how many years of experience and knowledge were in the room on Tuesday morning at Parliament House.

250 senior executives and sages from the NSW Public Sector met for the inaugural mature professionals breakfast convened by Department of Premiers and Cabinet, IPAA NSW and SageCo.

Opening the breakfast, Director General of DPC, Chris Eccles said;

You all possess knowledge that has influenced and will continue to influence how we will do things in the Sector going forward. Every day this rich knowledge is harnessed to deliver services. This knowledge is not in policy guidelines and manuals…it goes beyond the ‘what’ to the ‘how’ and the ‘why’…

The Director General went on to encourage a return to the Master and Apprentice model, adding;

When you share knowledge, the very act allows you to gain unique insights and develop new knowledge from others. Share it and it will multiply.

We also heard from Ken, a retiree with 43 years service in the Public Sector. A ‘master’ who, with a colleague, wrote a software system that is now sold in over 100 countries around the World. Ken has worked with his ‘apprentices’ to identify and share his unique knowledge since 2008.

Participants at the breakfast engaged in conversation, created new connections, and identified their areas of specialist ‘mastery‘ – a very tangible first step in igniting a knowledge sharing culture within the Sector.

Hats off to DPC for leading the way in tackling the very real risk of knowledge loss in NSW.

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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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Global issues and updates

Posted by Alison in Commentary, Research on May 22nd, 2011

Ageing Workforce News is a website you may wish to take a look at to stay informed on what is happening here and around the Globe.  You can also subscribe for a monthly email update.

We hope you find this useful in keeping updated on global ageing workforce issues!

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Bring down the barricades

Posted by Alison in Research on March 4th, 2011

In January the Productivity Commission released a working paper focusing on the labour force participation of women over 45.

A few key points arising from the paper;

  • there has been quite a significant increase over the past three decades in ‘contribution to total hours worked’, rising from 6% in 1979 to 15% in 2009
  • labour force participation rates for women 45-54 are currently 78% but decline significantly over 55, with women still retiring earlier than men (at 58 years compared to 61.5)
  • a woman’s health, care giving responsibility and access to flexible working hours are the major factors in determining workforce participation
  • half of women working full time want to work less hours and one quarter working part time want to increase hours
  • an acknowledgement that barriers to participation are significant and not easy to address

Around 7% of mature women (200 000 potential employees!) could be attracted back into the labour force…if we bring down the barricades and support care givers, create opportunities to work longer (but differently) and promote health and wellbeing.

There is much ado about gender diversity in the workforce with the new ASX reporting guidelines. But an opportunity exists to go one step further. Employers can view gender through the life course lens and take active steps to embrace women over 45. Those who do will attract enthusiasm, experience and empathy.

All qualities that customers love…

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demographic deficit

Posted by Catriona in Commentary on February 3rd, 2011

In a major speech on economic reform, the Prime Minister, Julia Gillard said we need:

“… long-term strategies that address the expectation that Australia’s population over the age of 64 will nearly double to 25 per cent of the population by 2050. That is why this year I will continue to take steps to improve the incentives for such potential workers to rejoin the labour market, while also investing in the intensive support needed to lift their skills and job readiness,”

But it’s not just the workers who need incentives. The crunch comes when employers have not invested in creating a work environment that will attract this demographic. Investing in job redesign and support programs that challenge the traditional model of work is the key. People will work longer if they can work differently.


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