What implications do the anticipated changes in age of the workforce have for the management of human resources?

Answer 1

There are basically three essential retention strategies: (1) becoming the kind of company for which older workers want to work; (2) reorganizing company benefits, programs, and job structure to meet the needs of an aging workforce; and (3) keeping all employees' skills current by means of training and retraining programs.

How to earn your employees' favor and loyalty:

***Becoming an age-friendly organization

Almost regardless of their income, the last thing that older adults want is to return to, or extend their time in, a workforce characterized by disrespect or lack of appreciation for its mature workers. According to an age diversity consultant, "the most important thing that companies can do is to stop looking at age as a number and really look at the abilities of people" . But for this new attitude to completely infiltrate the company, merely declaring it to be so won't do.

***Respect through diversity training

Companies need to implement diversity training programs in which all employees participate. For while it is imperative that senior management be well-informed about the real abilities of older workers, the people with whom they will interact daily and who will have the greatest impact on the work environment are their direct supervisors and coworkers. In fact, "disliking the boss" is the main reason that most employees (of all ages) give for quitting their jobs . Furthermore, since the new workforce will be characterized not only by an increased number of older adults, but also by a much higher percentage of women and minority group members, such training should address racism and sexism issues as well as ageism .

Sitting all your employees in a big room for eight hours while an 'expert' explains the merits of older adults won't be effective; age diversity training doesn't happen overnight. Organizations that are serious about overhauling company attitudes need to implement a step-by-step program , beginning by setting up an age diversity task force that includes older adults. This group will keep company efforts on track and help broaden understanding.

Under this team's direction, conduct a cultural audit of your organization. Before you can influence the opinions of your employees, you need to know what they are. What is more, you need to know how these notions manifest themselves in day-to-day work activities. Distribute voluntary, anonymous employee surveys that include a question about the respondent's age, and stress that their purpose is merely to assist in workplace diversity efforts. In conjunction with the surveys, hold older worker focus groups that include current older employees (or recent retirees). Find out how they feel and what they would change, if they could.

After you know where your company stands, formulate an educational program specifically designed to debunk older worker myths. Hundreds of resources dedicated to older Americans provide information free for the taking. (See reference page or internet links listed in the Appendix). While you are informing all your employees, don't forget to check back in with management and review managerial practices; corporate culture filters from the top down. Carry out any necessary revisions in discriminatory or discouraging policies, training programs, job designs, performance evaluations, and reward systems. Make sure all employees have an equal opportunity to excel. Prove to your older workers that you understand their needs by equipping offices with ergonomic equipment, proper lighting , and provisions to accommodate employees with vision and hearing impairments . Finally, build morale and encourage productivity by showing all your employees that they are appreciated. Implementing mentoring programs or giving honorable mention for outstanding achievement by an older worker (without stressing his/her age) in the company newsletter are just two possible ways that you might go about it. Likely, your task force can provide additional suggestions.

****Lowering work stress

Second to wanting to work in an atmosphere of respect, some older workers want a less-stressful work environment. Sure, we all do, but they have served their time in the trenches, and many of them don't need to return to the workforce. You need them. So what can you do to lessen anxiety in the workplace?

These include helping older workers manage their time and prioritize; supplying clear and up-to-date job descriptions; providing honest, rapid, and frequent feedback, followed by appropriate training when necessary; and maintaining good communication practices. This last point -- communication -- merits further discussion.

***Keeping the lines of communication open

Without painting all older adults as former victims of corporate America, one must take into account the war wounds born by those who were axed without warning by their long-standing employers. Communicating in a timely manner with all employees about external and internal developments will prevent them from feeling the need to constantly check over their shoulders and will help to stop rumors before they get out of control. Likewise, personal communication and interaction with company leaders can go a long way to help foster organizational trust and a spirit of unity . Managers and executives should send memos, reports, and letters directly to employees instead of channeling them through HR or corporate communications departments. Be available and accessible to your employees when feasible. You might even invite employees to take a break with you; get acquainted with them as individuals to show them your interest is genuine . While you don't want to favor or single out older workers, these employees, in particular, may appreciate your efforts to get to know them and to establish mutual respect.

These recommendations are just a starting point for companies wishing to retain older workers. While becoming an age-friendly organization must begin with changes in attitudes toward mature adults, if such changes are not followed by the reorganization of benefits packages, job structure, and company policy, older workers will not be adequately motivated to stay.

***Reorganizing to retain older workers

Older adults are not naive. Organizations such as the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) see to it that mature Americans know that companies need them. On its website, AARP has various pages dedicated to educating workers about what they can ask for and expect in the way of flexible benefits and retirement plans (AARP, "Flexible ways of working"). Benefits created with a predominantly younger staff in mind or during different economic times will not be as appealing to older employees in the 21st century. It's up to you to change your compensation packages where needed.

***Benefits that work for older employees: health insurance and pension plans

To be competitive and to demonstrate a commitment to the physical and emotional wellbeing of employees, providing health insurance is practically a must. Furthermore, "the most competitive programs offer benefits to family members as well." In a survey of 100 HR professionals, nearly all firms provided some sort of family health insurance, including prescription drug coverage, as well as life insurance. What's more, over 80% provided long-term disability, short-term disability, and dental insurance. Other health benefits and programs that are less common but on the rise include smoking cessation programs, blood pressure testing, health risk assessments, fitness classes or health club memberships, disease management, weight-reduction programs, and nutrition counseling ("Employers add benefits to meet boomers' retirement needs").

It comes as no surprise that pension benefits are also of tremendous value to older workers. In a study conducted by Watson Wyatt, more than two-thirds of employees aged 55 or older preferred a defined benefit pension plan over a defined contribution pension ("Workforce Management: The cultural shift"). In the former, years of service, salary, and a "generosity factor" were used to determine the retirement benefit, whereas in the latter, both employer and employee make tax-deferred, interest-accruing contributions, the value of which is transferable if an employee changes employer . Clearly, as employers change their pension programs, they must calculate the impact on aging workers, and make adjustments that communicate a concern for the employee's long-term welfare.

***The rising importance of elder-care assistance

As more baby boomers find themselves caring for aging parents, eldercare-oriented benefits such as long-term care insurance are also becoming a must for some employees. According to a study conducted by the National Alliance for Caregiving (NAC) and the National Center on Women and Aging (1999), workers who were also responsible for the care of at least one aging family member lost an average of $659,139 in total wealth over the course of a lifetime. But employees were not the only group to suffer losses; over half of the workers stated that they felt their ability to work was hampered to some degree. In fact, another study conducted in 1997 by the NAC and AARP estimated that caregiving costs U.S. employers $11.7 to $29 billion per year in lost productivity (Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, 1997; Timmerman, 2000). Despite these figures and the evidence that for every $1 companies spend helping employees care for aging family members, they save $3 to $5 in productivity, only five per cent of work/family programs in 1997 targeted elder-care resources .

For those companies that are serious about better serving the needs of older employees, in particular those with elder-care needs, several options are available. Some benefits include providing elder care vouchers and nursing home care subsidies. Peugeot provides daycare facilities . To educate your HR department as you reconsider company benefits, or to assist your employees in locating elder-care resources, there are numerous public and private agencies that provide everything from general information to a local client care manager. The Aging Network , for example, provided by the federal government's Administration on Aging, links more than 600 government-supported Area Agencies on Aging (AAA) with thousands of community organizations nationally . It also supplies links to Eldercare Locators, online resources for retirement and financial planning, and elderly nutrition plans.

****Flexible jobs

Other benefits that will mean a lot to your employees can be implemented at very little cost to the company. Offer an extended lunch period to allow time for midweek appointments. Increase vacation time for those older workers longing to travel and/or permit it to be taken by the hour for those who need more personal time. Allow and facilitate short leaves of absence for employees faced with family or personal emergencies or, better yet, opportunities for self-betterment .

Another cost-effective way to increase older employee job satisfaction and keep them in the workforce longer involves restructuring the jobs themselves. Successful work arrangements can include:

 Flextime -- employees can begin an eight-hour workday any time between, say, 6:00 a.m. and 10:00 a.m.

 Job sharing -- generally two employees split one full-time position and take it upon themselves to coordinate their schedules so that job needs are always met

 Part-time employment -- usually less than 30 hours/week, with corresponding benefits

 Consulting -- many employers are finding that their older workers are more than happy to work on a contractual or part-time basis in a consulting role

 Seasonal work -- because older workers know the company, picking up where they left off a few months ago is often easier than training someone new for one season

 Compressed work week -- 20 to 40 hours worked in two to four days

 Short-term projects/Special assignments

 Reduced hours (even with reduced pay)

 Job rotation/Flexible shifts

 Telecommuting -- allows employees to do company work, such as data entry, at home

 Mentoring -- allows older workers to help organizations preserve their institutional history and values by passing such elements on to newer employees

 On-call work

Restructured jobs permit employees to maintain or advance their careers while supporting family and personal needs. Like elder care, such programs benefit the firms as well as the employees by increasing productivity, profits (Harrington, 1997), and, likely, employee loyalty.

In addition to being effective answers to the 'traditional' 40-hour work week, some companies have found these arrangements useful in enticing workers planning to retire to postpone, or at least prolong, their departure through phased retirement.

Options such as phased retirement allow older workers to ease themselves into life outside the workforce, while transferring their expertise to the persons who will eventually take over their positions. Companies have different ways of compensating such employees, but they generally do not involve a reduction in benefits or pension. One organization known for its efforts in retaining and rewarding older workers is the British company Sainsbury. Under its "flexible retirement and pension protection plan," employees can choose to take their full pension at any time between their 50th and 75th birthdays, regardless of whether they continue to work or not. If they do continue working, but draw a full pension, Sainsbury will contribute towards a new pension plan . Such reorganization of benefits, job configuration, and even retirement is effective in keeping older workers satisfied and interested in your company.

Answer 2

Anticipated changes in the age of the workforce, such as an increasing number of older workers, may require HR management to adapt policies and practices to accommodate diverse needs and preferences. This could involve implementing flexible work arrangements, offering training and development programs tailored to different age groups, and promoting intergenerational collaboration in the workplace. Additionally, HR may need to focus on succession planning and knowledge transfer to ensure continuity as older workers retire.