Working it out
It’s time for employers to wake up and smell the arthritis cream. Actually, that’s a sad little joke based on the bizarre attitudes Irish companies have to older workers. Organisations need to realise that growing older does not mean you, or your body and mind, stop working. The employer’s office will not be filled with glasses containing dentures or littered with walking sticks. In fact, an office with older workers might just be more profitable.

Our workforce is getting older and we all need to start doing the maths. As you may have read, the Irish Government recently announced plans to raise the retirement age. As part of the new National Pensions Framework, the age we retire is set to rise to 66 in 2014 and to 68 by 2028. It’s a necessary move because of our pensions deficit and possibly because we are living longer, healthier lives.

By 2025, it is predicted that 36 per cent of Ireland’s population will be over the age of 50. As time goes by, clearly, there will be proportionally fewer young people and more experienced older people available to work.

Companies in denial
However, Irish companies seem almost determined not to think about the greying of their workers. In 2008, the Manpower Ireland Older Worker Survey found that, despite almost 70 per cent of the average workforce currently being aged between 30 and 45, 72 per cent of employers failed to recognise that the average age of their employees will inevitably increase in coming years.

A year earlier, the same survey found just 9 per cent of Irish employers had strategies to recruit older workers and barely a quarter had put in place plans to retain older staff members after retirement age.

It’s time for the corporate world to wise up and begin to harness the power of the silver worker.

Silver workers
There are obvious benefits to employing older workers and to encouraging them to stay in the workforce past 60 or 65. In 2006, Entrepreneur magazine found older workers were more likely to be committed, detail-oriented, punctual, honest, efficient and confident, among other positive traits.

In June 2009, a study by the Sloan Center on Aging and Work at Boston College found older workers were far more likely to be resilient and cope better than their younger colleagues during times of economic downturn.

Time for a rethink
Given the value older people can bring to the workplace, the Irish corporate world certainly needs to move away from forced retirement, which remains prevalent and effectively dismisses workers on simple age grounds, although they have a wealth of experience and may still retain ample energy and enthusiasm for their jobs.

Our managerial culture needs to overcome age stereotyping. Bosses have to avoid making silly age-based assumptions about workers. Just because someone is over 55 or 60 doesn’t mean they are going to be a fuddy-duddy or a stick-in-the-mud. Old dogs can learn new tricks in the workplace. It’s also important to recognise the different perspective and insights older people can bring to the workplace.

With a little imagination, employers can devise ways to motivate and encourage older employees by giving them new challenges, and providing training and education – people of all ages gain job satisfaction through being given responsibilities and having a sense of accomplishment.

A separate study by the Sloan Center on Aging and Work found that people over 50 are more likely to stay in employment if they can control their hours, keep some autonomy and learn new skills.

Looking ahead
Companies and organisations also need to make practical adjustments to facilitate what is known in the US as the ‘silver tsunami’, or the increase in older employees. Sometimes it’s as simple as providing larger computer screens to those with poor eyesight. More generally, however, employers need to provide more flexible working arrangements and modify job specifications to suit workers in their 60s.

Instead of pushing someone out the door at 60 or 65, it makes sense to implement phased retirement or other compromise solutions, such as shorter working weeks, switching to occasional consulting work, telecommuting, decreasing the number of shifts spent working antisocial hours and moving older people to less physically taxing work, if relevant.

Smart thinking
A recent article in The Economist gave an example of how a blue-chip company sought to accommodate older employees. BMW conducted an experiment in which it staffed a production line entirely with older workers. At first “the pensioners’ line” was less productive. However, the firm brought it up to the level of the rest of the factory by introducing 70 relatively small changes, such as new chairs, comfier shoes, magnifying lenses and adjustable tables, according to The Economist.

Irish workers are getting older. The silver tsunami is an unstoppable tide. The companies and organisations that recognise this, and allow for it now, will enjoy a successful longevity.

For more information on this subject read the article Challenging the silver ceiling, http://silvercircle.ie/finances/669-challenging-the-silver-ceiling.html