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

Status quo or retirement – what sort of choice is that?

A recent article in the Daily Telegraph exhorts us to “Bring back the retirement age”, maintaining that older people are blocking the promotion prospects of their younger colleagues.

It says: “More people staying on at work for longer is causing a bottleneck at the lower end of the career ladder, with young people missing out on promotion opportunities because their older colleagues are not moving on.”

This reiteration of the “lump of labour” theory that asserts that there are only so many jobs to go round and therefore by continuing to work older people are displacing younger people is wearisome and wrong.  As Tony Watts points out in his comment on the article, plenty of research has been done to show that this is simply not the case.

However what this new ‘survey’ does underline is that employers need to become more imaginative about restructuring the nature of work, introducing a range of flexible options which people can take at various points throughout their career.

As plenty of studies have shown – including my own – many older people would welcome the opportunity to work differently as they age. All that is stopping them is a lack of employer-provided opportunities which would enable them to step out of full-time, full-on, highly pressurised jobs which are perhaps those to which their younger colleagues aspire.

Unfortunately, in respect of recruitment, age discrimination is still rife which means that, to return to the quote above, there are few openings for older people to ‘move on’ to. This being the case older people currently face a stark choice in respect of work: either continue in the job you have or retire and lose all expectation of ever working again.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/jobs/9722365/Business-Bring-back-the-retirement-age.html#disqus_thread

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!

No one ever expected the Spanish Inquisition, either

New research from Age UK Enterprises shows that apparently (surprise!) the majority of over 60s (74%) have made exciting plans for their retirement,from extended overseas holidays (26%), to home refurbishments (20%). However that optimism is countered by a lack of confidence in how far their money will stretch – with over a quarter of respondents (29%) feeling uncertain or negative about their current financial situation.

They state: “With tumbling annuity rates and poor returns on savings, securing a comfortable retirement has become an ever more challenging task. More than a quarter (27%) of those who feel uncertain or negative about their current financial situation feel that the financial crisis has heavily impacted on their financial plans for retirement, while more than one in four (29%) stated they didn’t earn enough money throughout their career to save for later life. However, the majority (81%) of those who are pessimistic about their finances believe that they didn’t spend enough time planning for retirement.”

The research findings in themselves hardly tell us anything new. In the current economic climate retirement planning is a bit like writing your Christmas list when you’re a child; you know what you’d love to have but you also realise that you’re unlikely to get it – certainly not everything, anyway.

However, the findings also highlight a glaring dilemma in mentioning “tumbling annuity rates and poor returns on savings”. This being the case, even those who have ‘planned’ and put more money into pensions and savings will hardly be dancing with delight.

Overall, this news item only adds fuel to the argument that says we need to stop thinking of retirement savings purely in terms of pensions and current accounts and start thinking more creatively. Also older people need the option of continuing to work longer on a part-time basis rather than expecting a period of full-time retirement that currently may last several decades.

…What was that saying about not being able to solve a problem using the same thinking that created it?

Age UK calls for an automatic right to work flexibly

Every worker should be able to do their job flexibly unless a business can justify otherwise, according to a new Age UK report, A Means to Many Ends.

Flexible working practices include working from home, doing flexitime or different working hours, or simply being able to swap shifts.

Age UK believes that an important way to unleash the full potential of Britain’s older workers, many of whom are unable to work conventional hours because of caring responsibilities and the need to balance other personal issues with work, is to change the UK’s traditional and more rigid approach to work

These changes, the charity says, would enable older people to use their years of experience to contribute to the economy and extend their working lives. This would also de-stigmatise flexible working and encourage employers to examine how the practice could benefit their organisation.

Age UK’s Charity Director General, Michelle Mitchell said, ‘With their skills and knowledge, older workers are an invaluable asset to the UK economy. Yet, far too many people aged 50 and over are locked out of the job market because they are unable to work conventional hours, often because they have to care for a relative or have health issues.’

‘In these tough economic times when the UK needs to make the most of its resources, it is just common sense for the Government and employers to embrace flexible working.’

According to Age UK’s report, there are currently nearly 900,000 people in the UK working past the age of 64 and nearly 8 million people aged 50-64 who are economically active. But a further 735,000 people aged 50 and over want to work but are economically inactive. Factors including the UK’s ageing population, rising State Pension age and poor private pension return, mean in the future this number is likely to get even bigger.

The report’s recommendations seem sensible, yet overlook the practicalities of how difficult it can be for smaller employers to accommodate flexible working. Also, it fails to place sufficient emphasis on the fact that a desire to work flexibly in later life is by no means solely related to need. Many older people simply want to work flexibly rather than continuing the full-time grind, and could be tempted to remain economically active or to return to the workplace if more flexible working options were available in jobs other than retail and similar industries.

The report is available at: http://www.ageuk.org.uk/latest-news/age-uk-calls-for-automatic-right-to-work-flexibly/

Talking Point: Do you really know how to get the best out of your older workers?

As published on HRzone

Posted by Dianne Bown-Wilson, chief executive of in my prime in Managing people, Business lifestyle on Tue, 27/03/2012 – 15:43

Of all the things that we aspire to during our career, being an ‘older worker’ probably isn’t one of them.

Yet, as we age, this identity is thrust upon us and, with it, a range of stereotypes based on other people’s perceptions.

As a 56-year old manager recently pointed out: “Suddenly all that people seem to see is your grey hair, and their attitudes toward you start to change.”

But as studies have confirmed, individuals don’t primarily identify with being ‘older workers’ themselves, but rather as still being the person that they feel they have always been. No wonder that this situation can generate conflicting feelings about one’s position as an older person in today’s workplace.  

Herminia Ibarra, INSEAD professor of organizational behaviour and author of ‘Working Identity’ maintains that our identity at work is an amalgam of how we see ourselves in our professional role, what we convey about ourselves to others and, ultimately, how we live our working lives.

But for older workers facing change at a number of levels, this scenario may generate a variety of problems. For example, after many years in a given role, older employees may have an entrenched view of their work-related identity.  

They may also become defensive as they realise that their career has plateaued and become increasingly withdrawn as they perceive a future where working life is likely to just involve ‘more of the same’. But many identity issues for older workers also emanate from changes to the nature of their work.

Negative stereotypes

In his book ‘The Start-up of You’, LinkedIn co-founder, Reid Hoffman, says: “There used to be a long-term pact between employee and employer that guaranteed lifetime employment in exchange for lifetime loyalty; this pact has been replaced by a performance-based, short-term contract that’s perpetually up for renewal by both sides.”  

For many older people who started work in a time of jobs-for-life, dealing with today’s lack of security and uncertainty in career progression terms can be traumatic and challenging. At worst, they may feel short-changed; at best, uncertain of how to negotiate this unfamiliar terrain in order to continue to being successful.

The situation has only been made worse by phenomena such as globalisation and technology, which have fuelled demand for new skills, increased levels of flexibility and continuous learning.

As a result of all of this, older people can fear losing their status and expertise and start questioning their purpose and relevance, while wondering whether and for how long they can keep up the pace. These pressures can also lead to generally unspoken fears along the lines of ‘who am I these days?’ and ‘what do others expect from me?’

One of the issues is that stereotypes about older workers tend to be based on a range of either conscious or unconscious assumptions. These include the belief that they are resistant to change; are slower and less flexible; are reluctant to participate in training or re-training and resent younger managers or colleagues.

The majority of older workers can overcome these perceptions by virtue of their own continuing high performance, adaptability and resilience levels, however. But some do inevitably struggle with change and this scenario can lead to behaviours and attitudes that serve to reinforce negative stereotypes.

For example, older people may be fearful of losing their jobs and of being unable to find another one due to their age. They may also feel threatened by younger colleagues and afraid that they are starting to underperform.

Such fear and defensiveness can lead to individuals feeling resentful and aggrieved, but such feelings not only serve to entrench ageist perceptions but can also damage their own position.

Differing requirements

As a result, HR professionals and line managers who recognise this situation and appreciate the validity of such concerns should take steps to deal with them straight away in order to prevent them from becoming entrenched.

But dealing with older workers’ attitudes and behaviours effectively does entail understanding something of each individual’s personal circumstances. For instance, for many people, as both their children and parents age and grandchildren start to arrive, it is a time of great personal change and potential role conflict.

But the practical implications of supporting younger and older generations at the same time may generate new financial and emotional pressures. Retirement starts to loom, but it may be viewed more as a concern than something to be welcomed.

As for continuing to work, older employees have a range of different aspirations – some will want to continue progressing, for example, while others may want to slow down and put in fewer hours or take on less responsibility.

Some may want to change roles, careers, or even become self-employed but they may also lack the confidence to do so. Others might feel frustrated and marginalised on realising that they are perceived as ‘older’ and on feeling that they are being overlooked in terms of further development.

Still others may be bored and lack an interesting challenge, however, or they may be stressed, facing burn-out and lacking any kind of work/life balance.

Awareness of these and other concerns should ideally come naturally through ongoing informal communication at line manager level, where issues can be dealt with sensitively and appropriately.

Appropriate support

Pertinent responses might include discussing various options such as flexible working, particularly for those with caring responsibilities, or re-training/upskilling for those who need to be reassured of their continuing value.

Appraisals and performance management processes are likewise fundamental as a means of providing focused feedback and they should be used as a forum to set goals and future direction.

However, much can also be done on an informal basis. Mixed age teams, ‘buddying’ schemes and the involvement of older people in project work can both benefit the organisation and help older workers increase their comfort levels around change.

Mentoring and coaching programmes can likewise reinforce older people’s sense of value and assist them in exploring their changing identity.

Alongside such support, however, training around financial, life planning and work-life balance should be also provided for workers of all ages rather than just the usual ‘too little, too late’ pre-retirement programmes.

Health and wellness initiatives are likewise vital and should involve all generations in order to reinforce the message that older workers must be included and valued rather than simply maginalised.

Ultimately, supporting older workers effectively comes down to recognising that, although some are having to work longer purely for financial reasons, many find personal meaning in their employment and are committed to it.

“I am an engineer and a good one,” a 67-year old told me recently. “This is who I am and as long as I can deliver what they need, why does it matter how old I am?”

Dianne Bown-Wilson is chief executive of workplace age management and diversity consultancy, in my prime.

 

To see the article as published on HRzone click below – you will have to be registered and logged in.

http://www.hrzone.co.uk/topic/managing-people/talking-point-do-you-really-know-how-get-best-out-your-older-workers/119012

A little part-time job

It’s commonplace for older people say they’d like a little part-time job when they retire. But just how small can that job be?

A press release issued this week by MGM Advantage reveals how today’s retired workforce spends over 300 million hours a year in part-time work. In terms of the total retirement population this equates to 9%, which is over 1 million people. Of this group, 832,000 are aged 65 and over and 278,000 are between 55 and 64.

All well and good and interesting. However, looking at how that work is broken down reveals the findings to be, frankly, somewhat bizarre.

Number of hours a week retired people spend in part-time work	Number of retired people doing this
1 – 2 hours	402,379
3 – 5 hours	393,021
6 – 10 hours	177,795
10 – 15 hours	56,146
16 – 20 hours	46,788
Over 20 hours	28,072

Over 400,000 retired people only doing 1-2 hours paid work a week? What sort of jobs do they do – and how much do they get paid to make doing any work at all at this level worthwhile?

Unfortunately, MGM Advantage themselves were unable to shed light on this, merely confirming that this was paid work as opposed to “charity work, voluntary work, caring for parents and grandchildren etc.”

The fact that nearly 800,000 older people are working less than 5 hours a week and yet still being considered as part-time workers surely calls into question the role and nature of work past retirement. And, of course, that’s without examining the issue of how many would like to work more – or less.

Any views from anyone on what’s going on here?

 

 

The yin and yang of work and retirement

Traditionally society has viewed work and retirement as different, exclusive states. Either you worked or you were retired. Now, as the range of different work to non-work transitions widens we need to alter our fundamental approach.

Thinking about this, the concept of yin and yang sprang to mind – which is surprising as it never has done so before! But, if you think that yin and yang represents an amalgamation of two opposing states then it really makes sense. According to the website Absolutely Feng Shui, Yin is soft while Yang is hard. Yin is stillness while Yang is movement. Female is Yin while Man is Yang. Intuitive is Yin while Logical is Yang. Winter is Yin while Summer is Yang, and so on….

Where’s this leading? Well, at the moment we seem to have a situation where, in general, we consider work is bad, retirement is good. Unless of course you’re an expert in well-being, or a government official in which case it’s work is good, retirement as non-productive leisure is bad.

In the future our society will face a situation where nearly everyone will have to work for a considerably extended period – albeit, ideally in some flexible fashion. So starting to think of work and retirement in yin/yang terms as an amalgamation of the best of each state could be very helpful in changing people’s attitudes. 

Work is challenging, retirement is fun; work is constraint while retirement is freedom; work is innovation, retirement is routine…. or should that be the other way round?  Anyone like to contribute any more?

 

 

Age Diversity in the hospitality sector

It’s good to see that the Institute of Hospitality is actively promoting age diversity in the workplace. It’s a sector which for a number of reasons, not least the flexibility of hours and jobs on offer, has much to offer older workers.

The organisation has published a 50-page document – The case for recruiting and retaining older workers: a business imperative for the Hospitality sector – produced by Capita Consulting on behalf of the Department for Work and Pensions.

The knowledge pack is designed for hospitality sector stakeholders to understand and explain the benefits of older (50+) worker recruitment and retention. The document presents the business rationale for continuing to promote and support ongoing activity on the older worker agenda.

Further details are available at:

 http://www.instituteofhospitality.org/news/January-2012/Recruiting-and-retaining-older-workers

How witty is WEARY?

Well, not very if you fall into the group to which it refers. This latest acronym is the brain-child of the Future Foundation who, in a recent research report for Friends Life, coined it to refer to “Working, Entrepreneurial and Active Retirees”.

This phrase in itself actually sounds quite inspiring (despite the oxymoron about working and being retired) – working, active and entrepreneurial, the essence of what we know today’s older people to be. But weary? Not a bit of it!

No doubt whoever came up with this didn’t actually think through the damage that such witticisms inflict on older people struggling to overturn ageist stereotypes in the workplace and society in general. It isn’t helpful at all to have this broadcast in the mass media associated with a story which, in many ways, is actually quite positive.

Yes, many older people are going to work longer. But as Max Davidson explains in the Telegraph this can be a benefit. As he says, “work, however humdrum, is what makes leisure palatable. It is the contrast between the two – the labouring in the vineyard followed by the glass of wine at the end of the day – that gives shape and meaning to our lives.”

So are older workers weary? The active and entrepreneurial, no. We’re not weary – just really, really irritated.

For the Telegraph article see http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/pensions/9002593/Give-me-a-Weary-old-age-over-a-stultifying-sun-lounger-any-day.html

6.1 million over 50s set to work past retirement age

According to retirement specialist LV=’s newly released Working Late Index, 28% of working over-50’s are planning on average to work past state retirement age for an extra six years, which based on today’s retirement age would see them retiring at age 71 for men and 66 for women. One in five over-50s (19%) said they expect to work for at least a decade past the current state retirement age.

Two thirds of those ‘working later’ apparently will do so because they can’t afford to retire.

The report goes on to state that one in five over-50s – equivalent to 4.3 million people – who had retired have since gone back into work. Of those who have gone back into work: 

• 11% returned in a part-time capacity, 6% into voluntary (unpaid) work and 3% back full-time
• 37% went back to work because they felt they were too young to retire
• 32% missed being part of the working environment
• For 30% it was financially-related: 20% said it was a necessity as their personal and/or state pension wasn’t enough to support them in their retirement, and one in ten (10%) needed to go back to work to help continue financially supporting their family

However, going back into employment after retirement has given some over-50s an opportunity to fulfil other ambitions. A fifth (19%) made a complete career change and 12% set up their own business. Many have chosen to go back to work in a role that requires fewer hours than before (27%), and 18% are doing a job that is less stressful than their previous job.

In terms of these findings this is an interesting study. However LV’s use of the phrase “state retirement age” isn’t helpful in a society in which we have now abolished mandatory retirement. Obviously they mean state pension age as they say “as the state retirement age increases to age 65 years for women in 2018, and to 66 for men and women in 2020”.

This wouldn’t matter except that it seems clear that the sooner we decouple the concept of retirement from that of drawing a pension the more helpful this will be for people in terms of understanding the options open to them in later life.