Valuing Experience

Older workers are a valuable resource for employers.  Demographic changes, skill shortages, changing markets, the need for increased productivity and the growing demands of just doing business, means that it is becoming even more important to retain the skills, knowledge and experience of your current older employees as well as making sure you don’t overlook the potential of older workers when you are recruiting.

It is not just about having older people represented in your workforce.  It also means making sure you get the best from them, that they want to stay and that they are enthusiastic about contributing.  That requires a deliberate consideration of the needs, aspirations and expectations of older workers, with an ability to recognise and treat all staff as individuals.  Inevitably the benefits of doing this for older workers flow on to benefit all other employees as well.

If your organisation has typically designed jobs, work and employment relationships in conventional or traditional ways, this may require additional thought, planning and problem solving.  The organisations that are already well down this path, though, are clear about the benefits it is bringing them.