Menu Search

Looking for practical strategies & solutions for your ageing workforce? Try our online Risk Assessment.

Get Started Now

Posts Tagged age discrimination

Budget bonanza for employers of baby boomers – or is it?

Posted by Catriona in Commentary, Musings on May 17th, 2012

The recent Australian Federal Budget decision to reward employers of mature age workers with $1000, generated a bunch of articles in mainstream and industry press about mature workers – the barriers and the opportunities. Given our 10 year focus on the risks and challenges posed to organisations by this demographic shift  in the workforce, we are avid absorbers of all research and commentary. We would love to read something more ground breaking and insightful than a regurgitation of the barriers of discrimination, the inevitability of retirement and the general assumptions about mature workers . That said, anything that keeps mature workers firmly on the agenda is good. But in the words of Elvis, “a little less conversation, a little more action please”.

Here are our suggestions for actions and a more thoughtful approach:

  • Don’t treat ‘mature age workers’ as an homogeneous group; within this demographic there is a raft of diverse needs and ambitions. Are they long term unemployed? Are they wanting to ‘downsize’ their work responsibilities? Do they want a more flexible role? Do they want a complete career change? Are they seeking a portfolio of a career? Do they need less physical load in their role? Do they simply need more time to address caring responsibilities? Are they experts in their field whom you need to retain for their knowledge?
  • As an employer, how can you redesign roles that suit the needs and ambitions of the mature age worker you want to retain or employ?
  • As an employer, how are you supporting your current mature age workers to make decisions about their future work and retirement plans? Unless we challenge the assumption of retirement and create options for work beyond the traditional age of retirement, we won’t be successful in increasing workforce participation for this demographic. Take a look at Envisage for instance!
  • As a mature age worker, what are you doing to stay connected and current and marketable to future employers? There is plenty of free and low cost help available to help you shape your approach to your career.
  • As a manager, what deeply held stereotypes do you adhere to when thinking about employing or retaining a mature worker? What are you doing about shifting those and what will you miss out on if you don’t?

By all means, reward employers who employ mature age workers. But if they haven’t done some of the groundwork as mentioned above, it could be $1000 bucks down the drain.

Here are some of the better articles we’ve read lately – enjoy.

Adage - Mature workers feeling the love in Swan’s budget for battlers (an excellent breakdown of what the government is offering)

The Advertiser – Older workers not the retiring type (a positive article on working longer)

Human Capital Magazine – Mature age workers – added extras at no extra cost! (the argument for employing mature age workers)

Saipan Tribune (US) – Age, appearance and attitude (tackling some elephants in the room)

On-Line Opinion – Hiring older Australians – Lessons from Singapore (a compelling argument for how the money might have been better spent with better returns)

 

, , , , ,

No Comments

Finders Keepers

Posted by Alison in Commentary, Musings on April 22nd, 2012

Anything that keeps the ageing workforce issue on the agenda and in the spotlight gets the thumbs up from Sageco. However, the Jury’s still out on the new mature worker bonus incentive package announced this week.

In response to the Final Report of the Advisory Panel on the Economic Potential of Senior Australians (also entitled ‘Turning Grey into Gold’), the Government has pledged $10M over 4 years for new ‘Jobs Bonuses’ to help tackle age discrimination and encourage 10,000 businesses to employ 50+ workers. In return, the business will receive a $1000 bonus if the employees stays on board for a minimum of 3 months.

Which all sounds well and good. In principle. We are keen to read the fine print which will reveal how employers will find out about (and access) funding,  how much paperwork (and time) will be involved, and the criteria for eligibility (any mature worker 50+ or restricted to long term unemployed?)

As Sageco we would not seek financial incentive to hire mature workers. It simply makes good business sense. Why wouldn’t we want experienced, knowledgeable, sometimes quirky people over 50 joining our team and adding to our deep smarts?

So on the topic of hiring mature workers, here are Sageco’s 5 top tips for making sure you can not only find the goodies but also keep them on board:

1. Look in the right places. There are a wealth of fabulous candidates sitting on the databases of some of the niche job boards such as Adage and on the books of boutique recruitment firms like 2discover and 360hr. Mature workers are fed up of being overlooked and ignored by the ‘big guys’ so gravitate towards more mature age friendly employment providers.

2.Review your employer brand. When you take a look at your own careers page on your website, what do you see? Fresh faced young Grads smiling back at you? Or a page that represents a diverse workforce and therefore will also attract a diverse set of applicants? How is the language sitting? Age neutral? Steering clear of ‘fast paced’ and ‘dynamic’ that covertly indicates ‘youth’?

3. Assess your hiring process. Two candidates are on the short list, both with the skills and qualifications you are seeking. Candidate A is 27 and Candidate B is 57. “A” has been with their current employer for 18 months and is seeking a change. They are abreast of current interview techniques and psychometric testing. “B” has recently left their company after 26 years. They haven’t been for an interview in all that time and have never experienced modern testing methods. Who is set up to win? Think about levelling the playing field and adapting your processes accordingly to give everyone a fair shot at the goal.

4. Be flexible. Our research shows that over 2/3 of mature workers would continue working longer, if they could work differently. Funnily enough, ‘differently’ means different things to different people! So have the conversation. Find out what flexibility means to your new hire. It could mean full time hours over a 4 day week or later start/finishing times. Flexibility is a no-brainer. It engages, retains and enhances productivity.

5. Prepare for the future. We love this quote “Plan for the future, because that’s where you are going to spend the rest of your life”. Wise words from Mark Twain. So, it goes without saying that if you support your mature employees to think about, plan, prepare and take action regarding their ‘late career’ and future retirement, then they will give you their loyalty and commitment. And you will benefit from them being ‘fit for work’ health-wise and taking ownership of their work and life decisions.

The full paper detailing the Government response to the EPSA report can be found here

We would love to hear your thoughts…

 

 

, , , , ,

1 Comment

What’s your attitude to older workers?

Posted by Catriona in Commentary, Media on February 6th, 2012

Last week’s survey results featured in the Financial Services Council paper on ‘Attitudes to Older Workers’ spurned commentary in a number of mainstream newspapers and industry mags. Adele Horin wrote in the Sydney Morning Herald, the editor in the Australian commented – though not directly about the research, and Human Capital took the story up. The research paper is excellent and there are some pearls of quotes that we’ll tuck away. OK – I’ll share one with you now.

“…In the resources sector, we’ve had to be quite creative in actually keeping older people on-board. We see them as a wonderful source of experience and knowledge. The labour demands in our sector are massive – and the skilled talent pool is actually drying up…” Senior HR Director, Resources Sector.

The topic of discrimination is of course very serious. But it intrigues me that over the eight years that Sageco has focussed on mature age workforce solutions, we struggle to find anything new under the sun. Except, of course, the fabulous new Age Discrimination Commissioner, Susan Ryan.

So, I asked myself the question, “What’s my attitude to workers (putting age aside)?”. Here’s my list as someone who has recruited and employed people for my various teams over the last 20 years.

I want ‘workers’ for my team who:

  1. Keep themselves current - with skills, news, styles, professional associations and good coffee.
  2. Keep themselves connected - team members who connect me with other great people. Is there a better way to network?
  3. Keep managing their career - workers who grow their own career, invest in it and keep moving forward. The ones who can’t imagine not having a career in some way, shape or form.
  4. Keep curious - I love workers who ask questions, challenge the norm and always want to find a better way.
  5. Are confidently competent. Fullstop. I’ve come to believe that the description ‘highly competent’ is one to strive for. The cost of incompetence and a manager’s inability to deal with it is astounding.

Hand on my heart, I can say that I’ve employed 24 year olds and 67 year olds who get big ticks against all five characteristics. If you’re a ‘mature worker’ , this is a gentle nudge to check yourself against this list. How do you fare?

To employers – maybe you need to write your own list. And seriously ask yourself: What does age have to do with it?

PS Want to found out how over 10 000 mature age workers have started to Envisage their own future and move beyond the attitudes they face? Come and try in February and March.

, ,

No Comments

A level playing field

Posted by Alison in What we're up to on November 30th, 2011

On Monday in her speech at the National Convention Centre in Canberra (‘Australia’s Welfare 2011′), Susan Ryan called for new visionary thinking when it comes to mature age workers.

We need to create a more fluid working environment where we are encouraged to keep learning at intervals throughout our life cycle – in a workforce that lets us move in and out – at any age, without penalty.

Today at an employer roundtable luncheon convened by The Age Discrimination Unit in conjunction with Sageco, The Commissioner was therefore encouraged and enlightened to hear from organisations doing just this.

Organisations in attendance were at various stages of their age management journey, from  building the business case through to showcasing Award winning strategies. Telstra, National Australia Bank, QBE, Service First, PepsiCo, TabCorp and 2disccover shared their thoughts, their challenges, their initiatives and the positive impact of their strategies with the group and members of The Australian Human Rights Commission team.

Catalysts for taking action were explored. What was it that made these organisations move forward in developing mature age strategies and solutions?

  • the data story – including a comparison of the average age of retirement within the organisation to the national average (59)
  • health and safety – in roles with a high level of physicality and an ageing workforce
  • knowledge loss – key people in the business retiring and taking with them critical know-how
  • a wave of premature retirements and the mention by one executive that he ‘didn’t want to drop dead two years from now!’

Attraction and recruitment. Why are more mature workers not breaking through to final offer stage?

  • a triple edged sword – successful placement requires a combination of marketable mature workers, age positive recruiters, and enlightened employers
  • over qualified – the assumption being made that an experienced worker is not prepared to ‘downsize’ in late career
  • ‘language’ – communication used in job ads by agencies and employers screening out mature workers at application stage

Retention. What are some of the triggers for retirement and how can organisations enable working longer, but differently?

  • unconscious bias – unearthing myths, assumptions and stereotypes residing amongst people leaders
  • conversations – enabling authentic conversations between mature workers and their people leaders
  • flexibility – throughout the life course, all ages, all stages
  • culture – creating an environment where mature workers feel valued and acknowledged for their experience

…and so much more!

Older workers have always been, and will continue to be, an important part of the Australian workforce. We are on the cusp of a vastly changing demographic, and it is now necessary for older workers to remain in the workforce to support Australia’s society and economy

- The Hon Susan Ryan, Age Discrimination Commissioner

, , , , , , ,

No Comments

Lifting the bar

Posted by Alison in Commentary on November 3rd, 2011

Yesterday the Assistant Treasurer Bill Shorten announced that the age bar for superannuation guarantee contributions would be lifted completely – updating the previous decision to raise to 75 years.

From July 2013, all employees regardless of age will receive the superannuation guarantee.

This decision has been welcomed by Susan Ryan, Age Discrimination Commissioner, who says:

It sends a strong and positive message to older employees and to their employers that age should be no barrier to equal employee rights.

This decision means that in respect of superannuation, older workers, be they over 75 or over 80, will have the same rights as all other employees.

One more move in the right direction for mature workers in Australia. Chip chip…

, , , , ,

1 Comment

Get Email Updates of SageCo Talk / Entries (RSS) and Comments (RSS)