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It all depends on how you look at things.
Many employees either want to, for social and well-being reasons or for economic reasons, have to continue working beyond age 65. There is clear evidence that the age at which we are retiring is increasing. However, it appears that employers do not have a positive view of this. In a recent survey Irwin Mitchell polled employers and 54% indicated that they wanted a return to a default retirement age. Call me cynical but my guess is that those who responded are not individuals nearing 65 and the result may have been different otherwise. However, the result is still disappointing and demonstrates that the business case for retaining the skills of the older workers is not fully understood.
The chances of a return to a default retirement age are very slim and the impact of demographics mean that employers will have to come to terms with dealing with the impact at some point. These changes do present challenges both for the individuals who are extending their working lives, their younger colleagues entering the workplace and employers. However with the right support and approach we can all adapt successfully and those that do will gain a competitive advantage.
Here are my thoughts about the challenges to come and the potential solutions.
The challenges
The demographics are startling: by 2025 and beyond the number of over 65’s will exceed the under 25’s. As the Baby Boomers start to retire in significant numbers there will be a loss of experience, talent and knowledge with insufficient numbers of younger workers to replace those retiring. This could lead to recruitment and retention difficulties and loss of vital skills and knowledge.
There is evidence that there are already retention difficulties with younger workers. The average length of employment in a job amongst Gen Y is only two years with unmet expectations of work being cited as the top cause of leaving. This is a huge cost to employers and could hinder the development of leaders for the future.
Inter generational differences have the potential to cause conflict in the workplace which can be costly and destructive to all. This may be a particular problem where older workers block opportunities for advancement by extending their working lives.
The Solutions
I would be really interested to hear what employers are already doing to manage these challenges and whether there are other challenges and solutions that can be added to this list.
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We had a fabulous evening at the CIPD in Wales awards on Friday! We wined, we dined and we danced the night away. It was fantastic… Read more »
3 new members of the Resolution at Work team have recently become certified in the fantastic Conflict Dynamics Profile model for conflict coaching, and we have… Read more »
It is not uncommon for conflict to arise between different teams. This can have considerable impact on both individuals and performance. A number of approaches can be used in this sort of scenario, including neutral assessment, team facilitation and group mediation.
Agreement could not be reached to enter into mediation in this situation and therefore coaching was an alternative support provided to one of the parties. The relationship between a majority shareholder and a shareholder/director was causing conflict. The relationship would be ok at times but disagreements would flare up from time to time and this was beginning to impact on the business.
Thanks Alison for raising this pertinent topic and providing proposed solutions which could result in many different benefits, not just in relation to the demographic challenge. From chatting to a number of employers recently, one of the challenges faced seems to come from employees who are ‘hanging on’ until they can draw on their final salary pension. This is particularly difficult where the employee is ‘coasting’ and has no interest in doing a great job anymore but cannot afford to leave work any sooner or drop to part time hours. In these circumstances it may appear there is no choice for the employee other than stick it out. But do they have a choice in how they react to the situation and is there a choice open to the employer in how to deal with it? It would be great to hear from any employers or employees who have made choices in these situations which had a mutually positive outcome.