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Posts Tagged staff retention

Solutions for mature age workforce participation

Posted by Catriona in Commentary, Research on March 13th, 2012

The Australian Human Resources Institute have just released a their  pulse survey findings about mature age workforce participation. It’s a neat snapshot of the sentiments of 1212 AHRI members. No surprises, but it confirms Sageco’s findings over the last seven years.

Here are some of the key points with our ideas for solutions:

  • Just under half the respondents said the departure of older workers from their workplace has caused a loss of key knowledge or skills.
  • Approximately 20% report that the departure of older workers has caused the organisation to be less competitive.
  • More than 80% would like to see steps taken to retain older workers.

(Sageco’s Exchange program provides a strong framework for transferring knowledge between workforce generations and developing older workers as knowledge coaches. It distils the critical knowledge requirements, bolsters natural knowledge sharing and enables the intentional transfer of knowledge before older workers choose to retire. In fact, older workers may choose to continue working albeit differently – with a key component of their role as a knowledge coach.)

  • Over two thirds or respondents believe the retention of older workers would benefit productivity.
  • More than 75% see retaining older workers as a necessary precaution against the sudden loss of essential knowledge and skills.

(Sageco’s Envisage program is a visible, tangible way to support mature workers making work and retirement decisions. If you seriously want to retain mature workers, you need to support them as they plan for their career, their finances, health and relationships. Help them answer the question, “If not retirement, then what else?” Help your mature workers create a positive and productive future.)

Thank you to AHRI for providing the snapshot about this much discussed issue. This data cannot be ignored. Compare the cost of proactive investment in your current mature employees to the cost of recruiting, replacing, losing knowledge and losing competitiveness. Take action now.

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Alumni – A nice thing to do for older people?

Posted by Catriona in Commentary, Media on February 23rd, 2012

As mature age workforce specialists, we are often quizzed about alumni programs for organisations. Most of the questions are about how to engage retired ex-employees  into such a program. We don’t really ‘do’ alumni programs, but the solutions we have for mature workers would definitely contribute to an alumni initiative.

Here are some of the questions we ask:

  • What’s the business imperative for setting up an alumni? Is it a potential talent pool or living, walking knowledge base? (If it’s just about doing a nice thing for older people then it’s dooooooomed.)
  • How are you engaging your mature workers now? How do you support their decisions about work and retirement? Maybe you could start with pre-retirees for the alumni. (There’s often quite a pause before people answer that question – if they can.)
  • Do you have a transparent and defined process for re-engaging or re-employing  people who have retired? (The answers here are more miss than hit.)

The Washington Post Capital Business recent article on a graying workforce cites some good examples of how organisations are engaging retired workers.

The Agriculture Department is working with the National Older Worker Career Center to encourage people 55 and older — many of them retired federal employees — to come back to work on a specific project or be a temporary or part-time worker.

Joel Reaser, senior vice president at the Arlington-based center, said the program benefits older people who don’t want a full-time job but still have experience and knowledge as well as a government agency that’s facing an impending wave of retirements.

The effort is “not just a nice thing to do for old people,” said Reaser. “It’s absolutely critical that all employers, including the federal government, learn how to … retain [employees] further into their lives, extending their work lives and finding creative ways to bring them back.”

We couldn’t agree more.

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We need to raise the age definition of ‘old’

Posted by Catriona in Uncategorized on June 1st, 2010

Phil Ruthven has a refreshingly different viewpoint on intergenerational challenges. We particularly liked these  comments:

At 65 years of age :

  • in 1800, you were dead 27 years ago
  • in 1900, you were dead 12 years ago
  • in 2000, you had 12 – 15 years to go
  • in 2100, you may be two-thirds through your life

We need to be very careful about what an ‘ageing society’ or the ‘greying of Australia’ really means

Even at 70 years of age many will still be working, probably part-time and will be fit and healthy.

Sourced from Market Watch, AICD

We agree; we need to raise the age definition of ‘old’. We also need to challenge the traditional assumption of retirement.

Yes – we will have a growing porportion of older workers – most only too happy to do different and mostly part-time work beyond 65 years of age.

Sourced from Market Watch, AICD

Employers need to build capability in role redesign and incorporating flexible work practices into their modus operandi.

SageCo’s key questions::

  • How clear is your pathway for mature workers in your organisation?
  • How are you supporting your  employees in preparing for work and life in late career?
  • How many roles incorporate flexibility?

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What will you do when you retire?

Posted by Catriona in Musings on April 29th, 2010

Create retirement success

Create retirement success

Do you have an answer to this question? It’s a commonly posed question, but think about the answers you get. My experience is that the question is oft met with a shrug of the shoulders and a laugh.

” Oh – definitely play golf every day.”

” Don’t worry; my wife has a long to do list for me.”

” I can’t afford to retire the rate my kids are going.”

Our business is built around influencing work and life decisions and slowing the rate of retirement so thatorganisations are sustainable in the future.

Last week I had coffee with a  CEO of a not-for-profit in Adelaide. Whenever I talk about our Create seminars which are designed to support employees in their ‘retirement’ decisions, I throw a version of the above question in: What do you want when you retire?  She impressed me with her answer:

“I plan to work a few more years at this level. Then I want to retire and provide support for organisations that help underpriveleged children, because my children have had such a comparably priveleged upbringing. I also plan to do some study in the Fine Arts. I imagine that I will always work in some capacity, but not the way I’m working now.”

Retirement is an assumption. What most people we come across want, is the opportunity for redirection. Working, but working differently. Making time for other success factors like your nearest and dearest, your own wellbeing and your long time goals.

What do you say when you’re asked this question? Do you shrug it off with some glib answer? Or can you articulate what ‘retirement’ looks like for you? Try it..

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a bright future

Posted by Catriona in Commentary on April 15th, 2010

Great article from last weekend’s Sunday Age. Here’s an excerpt:

Here’s another image: a newer, more sombre reality. You work in an office. Your 65th birthday comes and goes. Life as you know it ticks on, the humdrum of the office continues. You turn 67, then  70. You watch your salt-and-pepper hair turn grey, then take on a silver-white shimmer. You look across your ergonomically designed desk (with the adapted lighting to aid your weakened eyesight) at your colleague; he or she is older and more silvery than you. Forget the  golf course; you are not going there – at least, not yet.

Welcome to 2050, where, according to the Rudd government’s intergenerational report, nearly one in four of us is over 65. The future is grey.

Here’s the trick: How do we work longer but work differently? I’ve had a stab at providing an alternative picture. Organisations who invest now in workforce development for their late career employees could assure their staff of something like this:

Here’s another image: a newer, bright reality. You work in an office. Your 65th birthday comes and your Gen Z manager gives you a day off to celebrate with your grandchildren.  Work as you know it has taken on a whole new dimension, the hum of the office alternates with the trill of birds when you work at your home office two days a week. You turn 67, then  70. You watch your salt-and-pepper hair turn grey, then take on a silver-white shimmer. You add a purple streak to it in acknowledgment of the wisdom you share with your two mentees over lunch. They thoroughly approve.

You look across your ergonomically designed desk (with the adapted lighting to aid your weakened eyesight) at your colleague; he or she is older and more silvery than you. Forget the  golf course; they are packing up for ‘snow goose’ leave and will return in three month’s time from their beach holiday to be part of the contingent workforce for the ‘busy season’.

Welcome to 2050, where, according to the Rudd government’s intergenerational report, nearly one in four of us is over 65. The future is surprisingly bright.

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