The work of SageCo continues to be inspired by the hundreds of mature age workers who have shared their stories and experiences with the team and continue to invigorate us with their passion and energy. Through these first hand accounts we have heard tales of reinvention, achievements, disappointments and missed opportunities. The generous sharing of these stories continues to help us clearly see the stepping stones required to address the gap between optimum and actual experiences faced by Australia's mature aged workforce. Here are a just a few of the stories that continue to shape our thinking.

Continue... Bruce had over forty years in a major financial planning organisation. He was well regarded as a single source of knowledge on the organisation’s most mature policies which were responsible for over 50% of annual revenue. His departure posed a considerable risk to the organisation. When commencing SageContinuity, Bruce had no intention of retiring in the near future. As Bruce worked through the program, he realised that it was an enormous relief to be able to transition his knowledge and mentor his team members. By the end of the program, Bruce was able to reconsider his retirement plans and designed an on-going part time / project role with the organisation focussing on his core skills and knowledge. SageCo worked with six Credit Risk Managers from a major banking institution – all due to retire within a year of each other. Many of the participants in the Explore workshop were from the Business Sales area – typically a much younger workforce who had never worked through a recession. Having been given a ‘safe’ forum to ask questions, one of the salesforce asked of the group of sages: ‘So how do you know a loan application is dodgy?’ One of the sages leaned forward in his chair and replied, “You can just sniff it!” Through a structured knowledge transition program of activities such as mentoring and the ‘Rules of thumb’ guide, the sages were able to identify the skills and experiences that would help their younger salesforce be able to ‘sniff’a bad deal.

Create... Denis was a senior partner in a legal firm - financially secure, dreaming of an environmental hobby farm and a sailing trip upon his retirement. His key 'focus factors' were how to have meaningful conversations with his family about expectations for the future and 'getting on the same page' plus some thought about replacing the 'five functions of work'. The result of a 6 month retirement success coaching program was a plan with Denis’ partner for 'shared' and 'individual' pursuits and a proposition to the Firm to take a few months leave upon retirement, then return a few days per week to work on a specific project that had been previously outsourced. A win win situation. John was in his mid 60's when he attended a Create Retirement Success seminar, along with his wife. John was still active in his work and enjoyed a busy social life. His 'take away' action point from the seminar was to stop putting off his health check and he organised an appointment with Good Health Solutions within the fortnight. He was referred directly to a cardiologist and was in for major heart surgery within a month. This action plan saved John's life and ensured he was able to enjoy Christmas (and many more to come!) with his wife and grandchildren. SageCo worked with a large insurance company rolling out a Create Retirement Success seminar series nationally to over 400 staff. 6 months on, the participants were surveyed to find out 'what changed' and how did the seminars return on investment. Key finding were that 8% had decided to defer retirement  for an average of 2 years, 25% opted for more flexible work arrangements, and 90% recommended the seminars to colleagues. With the replacement cost of staff averaging $20K, this represented a net cost saving to the organisation of over $1.2m.