Philippa Lamb introduces the podcast and sums up the demographic position faced by much of the developed world. One third of the UK workforce will be over 50 by 2020. The coalition government has announced plans to abolish the default retirement age in 2011. The CIPD has been working to develop the business case for older workers.
Andrew Harrop is head of Age UK. His organisation has campaigned hard to get the law on retirement age changed and has heard from older workers just what difficulties they have encountered. Andrew suggests ways of addressing these problems. He talks about what can be done to help older workers continue to make a useful contribution. Sickness levels are often used as an excuse for not employing an older person. Is this justified? Listen to Andrew to find out.
Dianah Worman, CIPD Advisor on Diversity agrees with Andrew about training and goes on to say that the perception of age and what that means, varies from industry to industry.
The CIPD has carried out a survey, Managing an Ageing Workforce, jointly with the Chartered Management Institute (CMI), on the value of older workers. Some of the results are discussed, but you can also read the survey by clicking on the link at the end of the shownotes.
Listen to Dianah talk about why it’s advantageous for organisations to employ and retain older workers and some of the issues involved. Managers, it seems, are getting very little training on the introduction of flexible working: such an important concept for holding on to older workers.
Dave Thomsett, chairman and non-executive director of RJD Technology, is himself an ‘older worker’. His organisation employs a very wide age group and has taken steps to stay engaged with his staff. Dave says that flexibility is an important and useful strategy, also born out by the survey. He goes on to make a point about the ‘right to work’ and the psychological contract.
Flexible working and honesty play a big part in the career path of an older worker and equality laws, which make dealing fairly with people as they approach retirement, need to be followed. Dianah says that ultimately the law can be used but employers will need to get their heads around elongating the working life of employees for the long term good of their organisations. She says that HR has a strategic function in ensuring organisations have enough workers to be competitive in the future. See if you agree and if you can pick up some useful pointers to deploy in your organisation.
Useful links
The research discussed in the podcast, Managing an Ageing Workforce, was done jointly with the Chartered Management Institute. It can be found on their website
Managing an ageing workforce: the role of total reward is a 2008 report that examined how total reward can be managed for an age-diverse workforce. In particular how total reward can help attract, retain and engage older workers with six case studies.
Age discrimination in retirement is covered in a member only FAQ in our employment law section.
You might also like to see Retirement practices - making the right choice! An employer’s guide. CIPD worked together with the Age Positive team at the Department for Work and Pensions, with the support of Acas, to produce this short guide to good retirement practices.