ISSUE 21 DIGITAL EDITION APRIL 2011
Opinion
28 29
Simon North discusses the importance of the removal of the Default Retirement Age (DRA) in the UK…
Finding a sense of career direction
Valuing older workers Just at a time when a recession arrives, we get older workers staying on in organisations because they can and because they need to for economic reasons.
The impact of this has yet to be fully felt but with the DRA in the UK being removed, it’ll become an increasingly challenging issue for managements across all organisations of all sizes. An additional consequence of this situation is going to be the impact on the labour market in general and youth labour in particular. Youth employment has already, in recent times, risen to frightening heights. The legislation will, of course, also impact upon those individuals nearing the end of their working life. For the older worker, the recognition that
every facet of your everyday life starts to get slower indicates to you that you may need to take more care - take it easier. It’s really useful to assess what would make your working life better for you. And when you start that analysis, such things as less travelling, more flexible working (such as working from home), working less hours and increasingly working in areas that you’re best at, should come to the fore. It may be you fear that anybody would be interested, or indeed listen to you, but it is cathartic to go through that process and to make a plan; seeking one day to implement it. As time moves on, how flexible older workers will be about their contribution into organisations will become more heightened and at some stage your plan could well become reality.
One significant impact the removal of the DRA will have on older workers is that these individuals will stay on past what was previously the normal retirement date (which was either your organisation’s chosen retirement date or the default age of 65 years). The DRA has been a way of regulating the working population. There was a natural order, which started with workers coming on stream after they had finished their full time education and then rolling out of the labour market at 65 years old, or earlier if stipulated by their employer. This RORO (roll on/roll off) metaphor has been the primary organisational philosophy since organisations first arrived in their current state. The removal of this regulation is driven by a number of issues and a principle one is demographic. In 2011, the first of the baby boomer generation (born between 1946 and 1964) will be reaching their natural retirement age. Of course many of them-principally those who have accumulated wealth and those on final salary pension schemes for most of their career--will have finished work already. This baby boomer generation will live longer than their predecessors and the government is taking the view that by allowing workers to stay as economic contributors in the economy for longer, they will affect many facets of society - including
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ISSUE 21 DIGITAL EDITION APRIL 2011
Opinion
30 31
Valuing older workers
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“The wisdom that older workers carry is incredibly valuable and probably not well understood by the teams and organisations they work within.”
the organisation they stay with and the wider range of services that they will require later in life, such as the NHS and other public agencies. Whilst immigration can plug the gap left by retiring baby boomers, this government seems attuned to the wider concerns of the population regarding the immigration issue. It was an emotional debating area in the last General Election. The wisdom that older workers carry is incredibly valuable and probably not well understood by the teams and organisations they work within. Leaders come in many forms. Quiet leaders who have seen it all before can be particularly effective. Arguably the two most celebrated leaders in the history of the UK and the US are Winston Churchill and Abraham Lincoln; both people who took many different routes in their lives and experienced much failure before emerging as key, wise leaders of their countries. Interestingly for both of them they were at difficult times in history, but also when they were at an age when many people were either retiring or deceased. The wisdom that they had accumulated in their lifetimes allowed them to be supremely effective at critical times
in their respective countries’ history. The real value of the older worker lies in the alignment between what it is that they can do, probably brilliantly based on their experience, and what it is that their organisation and their team needs them to do. It is this juxtaposition which organisations will seek to achieve in coming years. There is a fundamental shift happening also. Organisations that have been in command and control mode will not be effective in harnessing this talent and wisdom. A new and different approach is required. So what impact will the removal of the DRA have on organisations? The first point is that there’s an opportunity for employees to be retained for longer and for organisations to recognise their value. Taking a long term view of the skills and experience that the older worker has will help some organisations, particularly those sectors involved with engineering and science, to hold onto people who are difficult to replace with the same level of professional expertise. The need for organisations to be flexible as employers is paramount, as these employees - whilst willing to work for longer - will want/need to change the basis on which they
Written by Simon North, co-founder of Position Ignition for Organisations, helping HR to manage their senior, experienced and most valued professionals effectively through to retirement. Position Ignition for Organisations is the B2B arm of Position Ignition Ltd, and is dedicated to getting the best out of an organisation’s employees. Visit: www.positionignitionorg.com (for organisations) or email services@positionignition.com to find out more. If you are an individual looking for help with your career, visit: www. positionignition.com or www.positionignition.com/blog for a host of career articles.
work as they age. Historically organisations have taken sole responsibility for finding solutions to these types of work and organisational challenges and it’s definitely worth organisations asking their employees just what would work best for them. Much of the impact of the DRA removal can be sorted out by better planning. Whenever you have a major challenge, putting together a plan, putting together a programme, putting together a project can always dilute the magnitude of the challenge. The challenge with the new DRA legislation is that it removes an end date but that date will need to be put back into place by discussion between the individual and the organisation. The only shift that’s happened as a result of the DRA removal is that the employee now has choice, but the impact of that is that the organisation loses some control over the employee and when the end of that individual’s employment is reached. The individual can take the opportunity to think and plan what it is they would like to do through the final working years of their life. This is a new and real opportunity because it can be the first time they have chance to reflect on just what they would like to do through these coming years and how they would like their relationship with their employer to be. The opportunity to innovate is huge. For example, there’s the chance for each employee to recognise the very distinct value they have, that their employer and the organisation will want to retain, but within the context of the other life that the individual wants as they glide towards the end of their working life. Think of this process as a glide path rather than the precipice of the retirement age!
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The key is in taking responsibility; a responsibility that typically the individual worker won’t be used to taking and indeed will have expected the organisation to take for them. As a famous Hollywood actress said recently, “60 years old is the start of stage 3 of life”. Taking that attitude, individuals and organisations can ensure valuing the older worker and taking advantage of the removal of the DRA. The benefits to individuals are huge. Be the architect of a different life than was thought possible for most of us only a short time ago. Take the opportunity of reflecting on what you can give best to your employer, what fits best for your last years of work, in the context of your priorities for your family and for your health. The benefits to organisations are also large. Allow individuals to have a say in their futures. Put behind the command and control philosophy that has been so domineering for so long. Seek innovation from wise employees who still have so much to give. Allow teams to integrate young workers and utilise the talents of older workers in the growth of these youngsters. Change the order of the old RORO model to a new order where organisations give more input to their older employees. The benefits for all are enormous. Without a new approach there is a risk that organisations will fall foul of inadequate systems and inadequate managers who are out their depth when it comes to sensitive management processes. The options are stark. The choice is easy. Valuing your older worker is critical to organisations of the next generation.
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