Valuing Experience

Introduction

If you ask employers if they employ older workers, increasing numbers of them will cite an example of a 65-year-old woman they employed last year who has become an important member of their team, or the valued 69-year-old man who is still working for them. These are typically individual success stories; stories that are visible because they are exceptions.

What is still rare are the employers who take a deliberate and proactive approach to recruiting and retaining older workers, employers who accept older workers as a normal and valuable part of their workforce.

This guide, developed by Top Drawer Consultants,  is for employers who want to actively tap into the full labour market, including older workers; for employers who want to ensure their older workers can fully participate and contribute; and for employers who want to retain all valuable employees, regardless of their age.

The guide is based on the experience of New Zealand employers. We would like to thank the Southern Cross Medical Care Society, Fulton Hogan, New Zealand Post and Ministry of Social Development who chose to participate in a year-long project to identify and address issues related to older workers that were specific to their organisations. We would also like to thank a wider group of employers who were willing to share their thinking and experience about issues of recruiting and retaining older workers. These companies include CentrePort, ACC, ANZ National, New Zealand Racing Board, Genesis Energy, O-I New Zealand , Department of Internal Affairs, Lyttelton Port of Christchurch, Department of Conservation, Orion and New Zealand Customs Service. This guide reflects their thinking and their questions, their successes and their challenges, and particularly the lessons they learnt.