Although I had realised the term was a little hackneyed, I had not realised that this phenomenon has been known about in government, academic and professional circles for over 20 years. This means that an assortment of politicians, civil servants, academics and financial professionals have all known about this problem, and many have been working hard to devise workable solutions, since the 1990s.
The outcome? Different organisations and institutions have worked separately (sometimes together) but still the problem remains … and the preferred solution from the current national government is to remove pensions for all but a very few at a low level of entitlement, in the coming 20 years. I will refrain from comment the merits or otherwise of this approach. What I aim to do in this piece, is to introduce a series of posts which all focus on a central theme: the sustainable workforce in the sustainable workplace, and the positive role that older workers ought to have at the heart of a growing UK economy in the future.
Anyone in employment aged 50+ is viewed and termed an “older worker” but in fact may have a further 18 or so years to work before any formal entitlement to state pension materialises. So why is it that so few companies operate effective and well-regarded age management strategies within their companies? B&Q, Airbus, Barclays are all names mentioned for building older workers into their workforce for their intrinsic value. There are, however, only a handful in the UK … as far as we know. If, while you are reading this, you start to bristle because your organisation respects, values and deploys older workers in a positive and productive way, PLEASE shout about it in the comments below. You need to raise your company profile for this, believe me.
What I mean by “sustainable workforce” is a workforce which, despite its members ageing, remains agile and market-responsive. Specifically, it does this not by shedding people to keep its workforce ever younger, in the mistaken belief that the latest tech’ gimmick will be their corporate salvation. Rather management value the workforce as individuals and also as a cohesive group where everyone celebrates its diversity. It would also be an environment where the sum of its parts really does add up to a lot more than the whole. In this workforce, older workers with long years of experience and expertise would buddy younger workers. They could transfer knowledge and skills – both ways. This is not Silver Surfers-lite. This is a strategic business decision to retain longer term investment and make sure it is deployed for the benefit of the organisation’s financial and operational health. In this way, age management is put to the core of the organisation’s culture, not to address a problem so much as to celebrate, protect and capitalise upon a rich asset.
By “sustainable workplace” I mean one where everyone has a role to play, which they understand, and which everyone respects because they felt engaged by a shared culture. The obvious cliche is the NASA janitor who, when President John F Kennedy asked him what he was doing, responded, “I’m putting a man on the moon, Mr President”. It has a core of truth in it, however. A workplace is sustainable if it works well based on shared values, principles, attitudes, norms. These are shared, but not uniform. Different perspectives are vital to prevent a sterile working environment, which stifles innovation. Too often a workplace will feel increasingly hostile to older workers (and remember that’s anyone over 50). A significant percentage of 50+ workers leave the workplace through stress. Much of this has been shown to be age-related anxiety due to pressures put on workers by colleagues and management. This is unpleasant for the workers – and very, very costly for employers and the taxpayer.
A work colleague I know celebrated their 50th birthday and some wag bought a cake, decorated with a “Zimmer” walking frame and a cartoon of an aged decrepit person on the icing.
Did this make you smile?
Would it, if it was your cake … and you didn’t see yourself as old at all?
This could be laughed off as a joke, and as a 50+ with a false hip I do get the gags and make them about myself. However, if this caricature becomes a workplace norm, it is tedious and it could also indicate something more sinister. It could be insidious ageism in the workplace where older workers are not valued, with those aged 50+ equated to those aged 80+. It seems obvious, but 40 year olds aren’t normally lumped into the same group as ten year olds, are they? So why make the assumption that 50 and 80 are so similar? When you stop to think about it, it’s bizarre … and a bit silly. So let’s stop this ageism – and please also remember it’s all relative. There are millions of extremely fit, healthy and active people around aged well in excess of 80 years. Our children are likely to live on beyond 100 … think about it …
The modern workplace needs to be valuing older workers, not because of their age, but because of what that age has permitted them to acquire: skills, experience, expertise, knowledge, connections … and a lot of good ideas for new and better ways of doing things yet. Just think how successful organisations could be, if they harnessed all the resources at their disposal, instead of discarding them due to outmoded and business-limiting prejudice.
I would be interested to hear people’s views on this
If you’re interested in how I would address this in your organisation, please get in touch so we can have a conversation.