Four ways to create a more age-inclusive business
The recent Spring Budget announced a range of new measures to encourage over 50s back into the workplace, including so-called midlife MOTs and the ‘returnership’ apprenticeship programme.
These aim to help the Government tackle the increasing number of economically inactive over 50-year-olds, with the Office of National Statistics reporting that there are now 308,000 economically inactive people in this pre-state pension age group, up from 37,000 just three years ago.
Older workers offer many qualities to employers, including being a rich source of knowledge and experience, positive role modelling for younger employees and, according to figures from The Centre for Ageing Better, staying in jobs longer and taking fewer short-term sick days than younger colleagues.
Especially with the current labour and skills shortage, it’s more important than ever that businesses are fishing from as large a pool of potential employees as possible. So, what can they do to create more inclusive and age-friendly employment opportunities? Here are four key action areas.
Skills and training
Jeremy Hunt’s ‘returnership’ apprenticeship scheme aims to help refine existing skills programmes to make them more accessible to older workers. Although the details are yet to be released, it is likely to focus on technology as well as upskilling and reskilling, taking advantage of previous workplace experience.
In terms of what businesses can do themselves on this front, offering on-the-job training helps to open the door to older people, who may have many of the right qualities but need some of their skills updating.
The digital world can feel particularly daunting to people who’ve been out of the workplace for a few years as it changes so quickly, so offering general IT refresher courses, in conjunction with role-specific training, is also beneficial.
In return, these more experienced workers may be able to offer mentoring or coaching to those who are less confident in certain areas, or they could be tasked with creating sessions for their colleagues. This type of ‘share and learn’ can be powerful in refreshing subject knowledge and the ability to plan, prepare, present and receive constructive feedback, as well as empowering returning workers with the fact that their many decades of career experience have enduring value.
Enhanced flexible working
People in their fifties and sixties will be increasingly likely to have living parents with care needs and/or some caring role for their grandchildren. According to the Office for National Statistics, between the ages of 52 and 69 is the peak time for caring responsibilities and this will certainly be a factor in the decision of many older workers to leave employment.
Alternatively, they may simply not want to be in the workplace five days a week.
Either way, it’s therefore vital that any companies seeking to attract this age group are offering flexible employment opportunities, such as part-time positions, job sharing, flexitime or compressed hours, as well as flexibility over the choice of home and office working, which can also support those with ill health or disabilities to return to the workplace.
One concern for employers about older workers is that they will be looking to retire in a much shorter timeframe, but firms can also help to mitigate this with actions such as reduced contractual working hours, additional holidays or even contracting workers for short-term projects, thereby helping to extend people’s working lives.
Research shows that only 4% of older workers typically change employers in a single year however, compared to 21% of millennials, so they are statistically much less likely to job-hop, making the investment in their recruitment and training more cost-effective.
Support for health and wellbeing
Firms should ensure they build a comprehensive benefits package which caters for all generations, in order to attract and retain talent.
Ongoing support for health and wellbeing is particularly relevant for the older demographic as more than half of workers have a long-term health condition by the time they reach 60, according to the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD). This will have been the cause of some workers exiting the labour market early in the first place, while others will be limited in the kind and amount of work they can do.
As well as offering employee benefits such as private medical insurance and income protection, employers must also be open to implementing suitable reasonable adjustments that facilitate people working with a health condition and embed a wellbeing culture where people feel comfortable speaking to line managers about health-related issues.
A survey by Benenden Health also revealed the shocking statistic that almost a quarter of women are leaving their jobs because of the menopause.
Reasonable adjustments are at the core of helping women cope with menopausal symptoms and the CIPD states that often a few simple changes to someone’s working environment can make a big difference, such as frequent breaks, a temporary change of duties, dress code or working patterns, or providing a desk fan. Firms can also consider introducing a formal menopause support policy, to help recognise the impact of the menopause at work and outline the support available.
Debias the recruitment process
The final challenge is to encourage over 50s to apply for positions in the first place and be successful in their applications.
It’s therefore vital to emphasise benefits right from the recruitment phase that might appeal to older workers, such as flexible working, the health care package and in-house training opportunities.
Job descriptions and adverts need to be worded with care, to ensure that they aren’t intentionally or unintentionally age-biased. Age UK notes the examples of ‘a minimum of 10 years’ experience’, ‘enthusiastic young candidate’ or ‘recent graduate’ as obvious examples of looking for applicants from a particular age group but less obvious are terms such as ‘innovative’, ‘adaptable’ and ‘technologically savvy’. These were all identified by older respondents in research by the Centre for Ageing Better on recruitment advertising as being off-putting and negatively affecting their perceptions of both their eligibility and potential success in the application process.
A recent study of UK managers from the Chartered Management Institute found that only 42% would be open to hiring people aged between 50-64, so firms could also consider implementing a blind application process, which removes any indicators that could give age clues. For example, this would show ‘relevant work history’ as opposed to the entire working history, which can be an obvious indicator of the candidate’s age.
The global talent shortage in 2022 was the highest seen in 15 years, so older workers are a valuable resource that companies need to both attract and support. Workplaces that can create an age-inclusive culture will be both more sustainable and resilient with a wider range of skillsets and experience, so for business leaders and HR teams, focusing on how their firms can create and embed their own ‘returnership’ opportunities will be key in the years ahead.
Gill Wetherill is Head of People at Progeny
Featured Photo by Microsoft 365 on Unsplash
