The Ready for Ageing Alliance – a new charity sector coalition

We note and welcome a new coalition, The Ready for Ageing Alliance, formed to increase the pressure on Government and all political parties to face up to the major changes and challenges from our rapidly ageing society.

Like other commentators we wish it every good fortune but we have reservations. Some of those reservations have been adequately expressed elsewhere and we link you below to Dick Stroud’s excellent blog 50-Plus Marketing on the subject.

http://20plus30.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/ready-for-ageing-alliance-will-it-make.html

We have long been asking for some statesmanlike approach to the subject of growing older but have seen very little so far. Indeed only this week we have seen major press coverage devoted to the exceedingly trivial issue of who should or should not receive free bus passes and TV licences. This does no credit to the media nor to the politicians involved but does highlight the very poor level of debate currently taking place.

Although the participating bodies in this new alliance are all much esteemed they do, in my opinion, have a fatal weakness – they are mainly concerned with today’s existing old, not tomorrow’s. As such they do not feature all that highly in most people’s consciousness.

The real way to get people involved in ageing issues is to make today’s young realise that this is coming for them, like it or not, and any change now will be for their benefit. And if they want improvement they must take personal and collective responsibility for their futures. Therefore, I would argue for a somewhat different mix of pressure groups to extend the sphere of influence.

Employers want default retirement age reinstated

Depressingly – but not unsurprisingly – a recent survey conducted by law firm, Eversheds, reveals that nearly half of employers would like the default retirement age (DRA) reinstated.

The survey revealed that a third of employers felt the abolition of the DRA has had a negative or very negative impact on their organisation: two-thirds cited difficulties in succession planning whilst just under half reported that opportunities were being blocked for younger workers.

Other implications included increased costs of redundancies and/or providing benefits (37%), more management time having to be spent on performance management (29%), whilst just over a fifth reported an increase in ill-health absence.

Unfortunately, older workers aren’t going to go away so employers will just have to accept that these are now facts of working life.

One wonders if it was the way the survey was worded and the way the results are being reported, but didn’t the other half (who don’t want DRA reinstated) have anything positive to say about older workers?

Some good news media support would go some way to supporting the cause of older workers and overcoming negative perceptions amongst the unconverted

See: http://www.workplacelaw.net/content/46850

Unready for ageing

Although there is nothing new in the House of Lord’s “Ready for Ageing” report published yesterday, it is a useful summary of the issues which our society now faces in relation to changing demographics. And, as the report highlights, it is not just society’s problem, or the government’s, but one about which we must all take greater personal responsibility.

The report recommends, amongst much else, that the 2015 government establishes two Commissions – one to consider the financial aspects of our ageing population and the other to focus on health and social care. However, having pointed out elsewhere in the report that employer and societal attitudes – and lack of flexibility – continue to impact older people’s ability to work longer, I believe there should also be a third Commission to focus urgently on this aspect.

We need a change in attitudes overall to ensure that older people aren’t seen as dependent, needy and a liability but are recognised for what the majority are – active, contributing citizens. Let’s hope that this report leads to action – and isn’t just yesterday’s news.

The report can be downloaded here: http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld201213/ldselect/ldpublic/140/140.pdf 

It can also be browsed here: http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld201213/ldselect/ldpublic/140/14002.htm

The Psychology of Retirement

 

These days the line between work and retirement is increasingly difficult to define. How, when and in what manner it occurs is less certain than in the past. Its very meaning has changed with many people continuing to work even though they claim to have ‘retired’.

And, despite its inevitability in one form or another, many individuals still fail to plan adequately for its arrival. For example, a new report from financial services company MGM Advantage claims that “three in five (60%) over 55s admit to being unprepared for retirement”.

Thus the relevance to those interested in older workers of a valuable and interesting new book: The Psychology of Retirement – coping with the transition from work*. It is written by Derek Milne who retired as the Director of the Newcastle University Doctorate in Clinical Psychology training programme in 2012.

Unlike most other guides to retirement which tend to deal with the practicalities of growing older outside of full-time work, this enlightening handbook tackles the unspoken issue that many people find the transition to a happy and fulfilling retirement difficult and stressful.

In response, the book draws on proven psychological coping strategies to aid the process of coping with retirement, ensuring that individuals are able to gain a better understanding of the realities of retirement and maximize their enjoyment of a key period of life.

Incorporating the author’s personal experience, real-life case studies, the latest research and well-established theories, The Psychology of Retirement provides many insights and much food for thought concerning the nature of retirement and the new challenges and opportunities it represents.

* published by Wiley (February 2013).

MGM’s Retirement Nation Report 2012: http://www.mgmadvantage.co.uk/island/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/Retirement-Nation-2012.pdf

Employing Older Workers

A new publication from the DWP (February 2013) seems well worth highlighting. Although it says nothing new (if you already have a rudimentary awareness of the issues), it does provide a concise and accessible summary for employers of the benefits of employing older workers and what to take into account.

If nothing else it’s good to see that the DWP hasn’t entirely abandoned the issue now that the legislation has been introduced and the topic is no longer ‘flavour of the month’.

The guidance is drawn from employers who report clear business benefits from effectively managing an ageing multi-generational workforce. It provides answers to employer questions and offers non-bureaucratic solutions tried and tested by employers of various sectors and sizes.

It also addresses misconceptions about employing older workers concerning productivity, up-skilling, health and ‘blocking’ opportunities for younger workers.

It’s called Employing Older Workers:  An employer’s guide to today’s multi-generational workforce and is available at http://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/employing-older-workers.pdf

Who’s doing what for older workers?

If progress is being made in respect of employing and retaining older workers in the UK, it is also – by and large – being kept very quiet. A number of old case studies are trotted out whenever ‘evidence’ is needed, but few new examples of good practice emerge to provide food for thought for employers and workers themselves.

Although it is a US publication, this report – Flex strategies to attract, engage and retain older workers from the Sloan Center on Aging and Work at Boston College – is well worth a read.

You can access it at

http://www.bc.edu/content/dam/files/research_sites/agingandwork/pdf/publications/flex_case.pdf

Media personalities vs. ordinary people

An interesting comment has appeared in HR Magazine in response to the news that racing commentator John McCririck is seeking damages of £3m from Channel 4 following their decision last year to drop him. McCririck, 72, is alleging ageism.

In the article, Caroline Gumble, HR director of manufacturing organisation EEF, highlights the need for employers to be “hotter” on performance management if they are to avoid leaving themselves open to potential ageism cases such as this.

Ms Gumble is undoubtedly right in as much as this case will probably encourage employees to bring cases against their employers where they feel they have experienced ageism. Employers who have not exercised good performance management prior to terminating the contracts of older employees may well find themselves with scant defence to offer.

However, like the Miriam O’Reilly case a couple of years ago where the BBC was sued for dropping a presenter for reasons of both ageism and sexism, there are issues in this case that are undoubtedly unique to the nature of the media. For example, how can a media channel replace a presenter when they feel a need for some new blood and a fresh approach if they are constrained by potential claims of ageism? And at what age does ageism kick in – presumably it must be linked entirely to the nature of the programme?

It will be interesting to see the outcome of this case, but even more interesting will be finding out the extent to which improved performance management would make any difference at all in relation to this type of media role.

For HR Magazine article click here

Dealing with the reality of living for a hundred years

A new report from Scottish Widows predicts that a third of babies born today will live to be 100 and, as a norm, will work until the age of 70. Girls are more likely to reach this age – 39 per cent – compared to boys (32 per cent).

There’s something of a fairy-tale quality about the phrase “living for a hundred years” and thinking about the implications shows that a good fairy with a magic wand might be required for ensuring a long and happy life for today’s babies who are going to experience such longevity.

The report anticipates that as people face the challenge of saving for their first home and paying off student loans (which at around £73,000 will take until average age 52), ‘an increasing proportion will either have no children or just one child’.  

They will also need to find money to save for a pension and to continue to work longer in some capacity in order to fund living comfortably for the longest anticipated retirements in history – up to three decades.

Naturally (as it comes from a financial products provider) the report’s main message is that these ‘new centenarians’ will need to start saving at the age of 25 to build up a decent pension to have any chance of being able to retire comfortably.

However, surely it is simplistic to think that this will be sufficient to deal with a change of such magnitude? It seems to me that innovation will be required in a number of areas, including:

·  Housing – in terms of both assisting younger people to get on the housing   ladder, and more flexible options for helping older people free up housing equity.

·  Education – a review of our current ‘university education at any cost’ culture and a greater emphasis on life-long learning

·  Working patterns – making part-time, flexible and contract roles throughout the career-span the norm, thereby enabling people to dip in and out of the workplace more easily – and to extend their working lives.

·  Spending patterns – a review of priorities e.g. although divorce rates remain high it is predicted that young centenarians will spend around £39,000 on their wedding (compared to their grandparents average of£4,400)!

· Attitudes to healthy living – to ensure that those later years are spent in some kind of good, or at least moderate, health.

Commenting on the report, leading economist and trend forecaster Steve Lucas of Development Economics suggests that today’s parents “should encourage their children to start understanding finance and stress the importance of saving from a young age”.

This sounds a worthy strategy but might it be undermined by the reality of today’s parents neither understanding financial matters sufficiently themselves, nor having the ability and/or will to save for their own old age?http://reference.scottishwidows.co.uk/docs/2012_11_new_centenarians.pdf

However, before anyone becomes too smug or complacent, other indications suggest that the pensions industry is already planning for anticipated life spans of 125 years!

Deciding when to persist and when to quit

Harvard professor Rosabeth Moss Kanter writing recently in the Harvard Business Review blog provided twelve guidelines for deciding when to persist and when to quit.

I was attracted by the piece as it seems to me that this epitomises a common dilemma faced by many older people searching for work.

Often I’m asked for advice about how long older jobseekers should persist in sending out CVs and completing application forms in the face of employers’ general disinterest and lack of response. Where does the line lie in this situation between admirable persistence and perseverance and dogged stupidity and lack of acceptance of the situation?  

Although Rosabeth’s list (below) relates to projects and start-ups it nevertheless seemed to me to have some resonance for older people seeking work:

1. Are the initial reasons for the effort still valid, with no consequential external changes?
2. Do the needs for which this is a solution remain unmet, or are competing solutions still unproven or inadequate?
3. Would the situation get worse if this effort stopped?
4. Is it more cost-effective to continue than to pay the costs of restarting?
5. Is the vision attracting more adherents?
6. Are leaders still enthusiastic, committed, and focused on the effort?
7. Are resources available for continuing investment and adjustments?
8. Is skepticism and resistance declining?
9. Is the working team motivated to keep going?
10. Have critical deadlines and key milestones been met?
11. Are there signs of progress, in that some problems have been solved, new activities are underway, and trends are positive?
12. Is there a concrete achievement — a successful demonstration, prototype, or proof of concept?

Perhaps the unemployed over 50s would find it useful to have a similar checklist to help guide their thoughts. If so, what might it highlight? Are any of the above points relevant? Any views?

http://blogs.hbr.org/kanter/2012/10/12-guidelines-for-deciding-whe.html?goback=%2Enmp_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1

Older vs younger workers: to what degree is it irrelevant?

I was interviewed on BBC Radio Sussex last week talking about why employers should hire older workers. The piece had originally intended to focus on why they should hire older workers rather than younger workers but fortunately, in the event, they steered clear of that aspect and took a more general approach.

Much as I’m happy to comment on issues relating to the over 50s and older workers, I loathe the polarisation of young vs old that the media seem determined to pursue. Intergenerational warfare is definitely something we can do without and, I believe, isn’t an approach that reflects the views of the majority of people – old or young.

In preparation for the interview I had a quick look round for any new evidence underpinning the case for employing older workers and, fortuitously, came across an article published the previous day in the US focusing on a new survey which had been carried out by the recruitment agency Adecco.

Apparently in their study of 500 hiring managers, 91 per cent associated mature workers with reliability and 88 per cent associated them with professionalism. Older workers were also seen as having better communication skills (especially written) than those born between 1981 and 2000.

On the other hand, 74 per cent of hiring managers said that younger workers are more creative, better networkers and have more technological know-how.

So – the same old perceptions persist, demonstrating strengths and weaknesses for both groups. The danger lies however, as I pointed out in the interview, in applying group stereotypes to a situation where the skills and strengths of individuals are being assessed.

But, in reality, is it a better policy to stress to employers that they should try and achieve a balance of attributes in their workforce (e.g. professionalism and creativity) by hiring both young and old while acknowledging that neither generation has exclusive ownership, or to ignore the existence of these generational stereotypes entirely? Any views?

To see the article go to: http://www.dailycomet.com/article/20121004/WIRE/121009827?Title=Lesson-from-surveys-help-all-looking-for-jobs

Never forget your dreams

I was attracted by the headline of this article on the BBC website: Young workers: ‘Never forget your dreams’.  It seems to sum up what we should be saying to older workers too as we/they wrestle with issues regarding how to remain employed – and for how long, what sort of work to do, and how to design a meaningful and rewarding retirement.

Clicking through to the article, a glance at the subheadings showed that there really isn’t much that’s different between the advice it gives to those just starting out and what I’d be saying to an older person, e.g.’Don’t get discouraged by failure and keep trying’, ‘Have the courage to stand out, and stand up for yourself’, ‘Find a strategy that emphasises how interesting and unique your background is’.

So are the challenges faced by older and younger job seekers essentially very similar – what are your views?

To access the BBC article go to:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-19464117

 

Ageing workforce starts to impact UK businesses

According to Aviva’s recent annual Health of the Workplace report* UK companies are now starting to see a change in their workforce demographics with 29% of employers in their survey reporting a rise in the average age of their employees. Alongside this, 37% expect to see their workforce get older in the future.

Although half of employers believe there are positive benefits for individuals working past the traditional retirement age, 38 per cent predict that health issues associated with an ageing workforce will impact their business.

As a result, 29 per cent  of employers said they would need to offer different health advice while over a third (36 per cent) realised they may need to introduce flexible working hours for older employees.

The report also reveals – based on interviews with older workers – that employees’ requirements change with age and, as a result, so do the benefits that they value. Over a third of employees over 55 said that having access to benefits such as private medical insurance could help them stay healthy, compared to a fifth of 25-34 year-old employees.

The report is interesting and valuable in respect of the confirmation it provides that working longer is now starting to be recognised as a practical and immediate concern in the workplace rather than the somewhat theoretical issue that it has been until now.

Our prediction has long been that workplace policies and practices – and attitudes – would only change and improve when employers and employees find themselves surrounded by increasing numbers of older faces. Let’s hope this is starting now.

*Aviva’s Health of the Workplace report is an annual research study of 1,000 UK employers and 1,000 employees. The research was conducted by independent research company One Poll in August 2012.