Transcript No Slide Title

Creative approaches to
workforce ageing:
An imperative for national
governments, business and people
Dianah Worman, OBE – CIPD Diversity Adviser
John Ball, TUC Policy Officer
CAWA EU Conference, Madrid
13 November 2007
Managing age in the 21st
century – the UK experience
Why it needs attention:
• demographic changes
• labour market
challenges
• part of the broader
diversity agenda
• the war for talent
• replacement costs
•
•
•
•
•
national interests
social interests
business interests
personal interests
new legal
requirements
• maintaining
knowledge and skills
imprint
Demographics: the patterns
and challenges are similar
across the EU
UK demographic changes
• in 2020 51.9% of the workforce is projected to be
aged 40 and over
• the average age of minority groups in the
population is younger than their white counterparts
Source – Office for National Statistics (ONS)
UK labour market challenges
• increased longevity
• decreased birth rate
• economic activity rates
• economic employment structures
• economic growth
• globalisation
Part of the broader diversity
agenda
CIPD inclusive
definition of diversity
Everybody is different,
everybody is unique,
everybody has
strengths and
weaknesses, everybody
‘has something to bring
to the party’.
The war for talent
84% of survey respondents experienced difficulty in
filling vacancies
Source – Recruitment, Retention and Turnover 2007: A CIPD survey of the
UK
The war for talent
Key facts
• recruitment problems persist
• key reason for recruitment difficulties is a lack of
necessary specialist skills
• the majority of employers claim the main business
driver for seeking to recruit younger and older
workers is overcoming recruitment difficulties and
skills shortages
Sources:
• Tackling Age Discrimination in the Workplace: Creating a new age for all. CIPD 2005
• Recruitment, Retention and Turnover 2006: A CIPD survey of the UK
The war for talent
Key facts
• almost a quarter of organisations say that age is a
factor in their recruitment decision-making process
• many individuals experience age discrimination at the
recruitment stage
• new 2006 survey shows retention initiatives are
important because employers are struggling to keep
hold of employees, for example difficulties jumped up
from 69% to 78% from 2005 to 2006
Sources:
• Tackling Age Discrimination in the Workplace: Creating a new age for all. CIPD 2005
• Recruitment, Retention and Turnover 2007: A CIPD survey of the UK
The war for talent
Replacement costs
• The UK average turnover cost in 2006 was £7,750
• The UK average recruitment cost in 2006 was £4,333
Source – Recruitment, Retention and Turnover 2007: A CIPD survey of the UK
UK plc interests
Personal interests
If older people were
not discriminated
against, more would
be in work and the
economy would
benefit by
c £31 billion/
€41 billion
Although many people
retire early, as people get
older more say they want
to carry on working for
longer – 31% of
respondents wanted to
work until the age of 60
Source – The Employers
Forum on Age
Source – Age, Pensions and
Retirement: Attitudes and
expectations. CIPD 2003
New UK age regulations
• give individuals rights not to be discriminated
against because of their age regarding jobs and
training, and responsibilities to all employers and
providers of vocational training not to discriminate
unfairly on the basis of age
• prohibit direct and indirect age discrimination,
harassment and victimisation
The Employment Equality (Age) Regulations October 2006. European Equal
Treatment Framework Directive (2000/78/EC)
Main points about UK age law
• allows for ‘objective justification’ of different treatment
where it fulfils a legitimate aim and where
circumstances make it appropriate and necessary
• provides for General Occupational Requirements and
Positive Action
A consultation on UK discrimination law in 2006
raised questions about extending age law to include
access to goods and services
Actions employers have taken
and still need to take to remove
age bias in employment and
training
Reviews of:
• recruitment advertising
• application forms
• recruitment and selection processes
• reward and recognition systems
• the use of medical advice
• policies and practices on training and development
• issues related to retention and redundancy and retirement
• harassment based on age
Many employers made changes ahead of age law
Challenges employers face to
manage age in the workplace
• auditing employment and training policies and practices
• designing a strategy for change
• training and engaging decision-makers including line
managers and individuals
• guarding against bullying and intimidation related to
age
• keeping up to date with good practice and case law
• being alert to age issues regarding access to goods
and services
Key challenges employers face
to manage age in the workplace
Changing mindsets from
negative to positive thinking
How?
• focus on the business case and the spirit behind the law, not on
‘damage’ limitation and compliance
• being creative about employment policies and practices and job
design
• being solution focused
• addressing health and wellbeing and age
• age is part of the mainstream equality agenda
• managing change to make progress
Hot topics for attention
• retirement
• flexible working
• training and career management
• job design
Retirement
People’s views about
retirement
• 80% of people expect
to retire by the age of
65
• yet over 60% think that
the ‘average person’
will retire at 66 or
above
Employers’ issues
on retirement
• need to retain skills
and knowledge
• succession planning
• pensions
• managing poor
performers
Suggested
employer
responses to
manage retirement
• financial incentives
(30%)
• flexible pension
arrangements (25%)
Source – Tackling Age Discrimination in the Workplace: Creating a new age
for all. CIPD 2005
Flexible working
older workers look for more flexible working options
• 68% of respondents anticipate working part time
towards the end of their career
• 24% of respondents say that this would be the
most important factor when deciding when to retire
• 32% of organisations offer older workers part time
opportunities
l
Source – Tackling Age Discrimination in the Workplace: Creating a new
age for all (CIPD 2005)
Training and career
management
Older employees need:
• more tailored training and career development
opportunities
• tailored career advice
• greater encouragement to embrace technology
• to be used much more as mentors
Source – Tackling Age Discrimination in the Workplace: Creating a new age
for all. CIPD 2005
Training and career
management
Over 90% of managers agree with the need to invest
in older workers’ skills
Challenges ahead include:
• providing appropriate, tailored training and career
development opportunities and advice
• offering encouragement to embrace technology
• using older workers more as mentors
• job design
Source – Tackling Age Discrimination in the Workplace: Creating a new age
for all. CIPD 2005
What’s happening?
UK employers are beginning to target older workers
• 70% of employers are
actively seeking to
recruit people aged
between 55 and
pension age
• 31% of organisations
are seeking to recruit
people already
entitled to the state
pension
• close to three-quarters are seeking to
recruit people aged between 55 and
state pension age
• a further 30% are seeking recruits
already entitled to the state pension
• almost half of organisations are keen to
hold on to their existing older staff
• around half of organisations consider
both flexible pensions and flexible
working as important means of retaining
older staff
Source – Recruitment, Retention and Turnover 2006: A CIPD survey of the UK
Challenges for the future
Meeting business needs by:
• understanding and meeting older workers’ needs
and preferences
• engaging and motivating older workers
• developing flexible retirement options
• designing flexible pensions
• making provision for caring responsibilities
Health warning: DON’T FORGET
Managing age includes addressing the younger
workforce too!
NEW UK consultation
related to managing age
• How can we keep working
• What underlies the apparent growth
age people healthy and how
in mental health problems in the
can the workplace be used to
working age population and how can
promoted health?
this be addressed?
• How can people best be helped • What constitutes effective
to remain in or quickly return to
occupational health provision and
work when they develop health
how can it be made available to all?
conditions including chronic
disease or disabilities?
• What would be the impact on
poverty and social inclusion of a
• How does the age of the
healthier working age population?
person affect the support that
is needed?
• What are the costs of working age
ill-health to business and what are
• How can we encourage action
the benefits to companies of
to improve employee health?
investing in the health of your staff?
NEW UK consultation
related to managing age
• How can we keep working
• What underlies the apparent growth
age people healthy and how
in mental health problems in the
can the workplace be used to
working age population and how can
promoted health?
this be addressed?
• How can people best be helped • What constitutes effective
to remain in or quickly return to
occupational health provision and
work when they develop health
how can it be made available to all?
conditions including chronic
disease or disabilities?
• What would be the impact on
poverty and social inclusion of a
• How does the age of the
healthier working age population?
person affect the support that
is needed?
• What are the costs of working age
ill-health to business and what are
• How can we encourage action
the benefits to companies of
to improve employee health?
investing in the health of your staff?
CIPD research and good
practice guidance on age
and employment
• Managing Age: A guide to good
employment practice (Survey report,
February 2007)
Joint CIPD and TUC
• Age and Employment (Factsheet, March
2006)
• Tackling Age Discrimination in the
Workplace: Creating a new age for all
(Survey, October 2005)
• Equality and Diversity: Coming of age
(CIPD response to the DTI consultation on
the draft Employment Equality (Age)
Regulations 2006, October 2005)
• The Challenge of the Age (Change
Agenda, November 2003)
OASPG
O pportunity
A ge
S trategy
P artnership
G roup
UK cross government initiative
Employment sub-group
3 Case Studies
• Arriva Bus
• Centrica
• NHS
The context
• All Have gone through organisation change and
market positioning
• All have had recruitment and retention issues
• All suffer from skills shortages
• All have decided to challenge the issue of age and
labour/skills depletion
Arriva Buses
• Maintain Terms and Conditions
• Flat Rate Salary not bonus related
• Flexible Working along with part time
• Maintaining health and well being
• Training opportunities
Arriva
•
Job Satisfaction
• Opening up of other job opportunities
• Imprint of work collectiveness social solidarity
British Gas Centrica
•
•
•
•
•
•
Life style contracts
Flexible job design
Work patterns blend business and individual needs
Maintain terms and conditions
Creating engineer career development
Assessor qualifications
British Gas Centrica
•
•
•
•
•
•
Workforce planning for succession
Maintain knowledge footprint
Wider age apprenticeships
Adult entry training
Diversity (e.g gender, race, age)
Reflect customer base
NHS
• Removal of retirement age
• Flexible retirement
• Active returners policy
• Flexible working
• Challenging any age discrimination
NHS
• Auditing age profile
• Understanding the demography
• Training and development strategies to reflect the
need to maintain workforce
• Healthy workplace and well being
• Intergenerational learning
• Using Volunteers
• Age Champions
Finally
Age comes to us all……………………see it as a
personal investment for the future.
Thank you