Challenges For a Maturing Workforce

We are an aging nation; like all other mature industrial societies/economies in the world. And we in the UK have got to learn how to deal with the impact of this demographic reality.  Positive working environments can be built that enable us to understand and manage these changes. Position Ignition has focused its attention on solutions in this arena. So how do we deal with it?

Unemployment is at a high level and rising and so is the level of despair and despondency, not just from the unemployed. There is a feeling of uncertainty throughout many areas of the economy. We also have age discrimination on our statute book. If you speak to members of the working population over a certain age, say 50, they will tell you of the latent ageism that they feel as they seek employment. This is difficult to measure and prove but where you have such widespread feeling, the intuition is probably right.

But here’s the thing. The statistics on short-term absenteeism show that older workers take less time off than younger employees do. There is also evidence to show that more mature individuals have better customer related skills than younger workers do. And in addition to that, we have a situation where a lot of older people—including those who are not working - are bored, under-utilised and wondering what to do about it. And we, whether working as an individual in a team, as individual organisations, as well as on a countrywide basis, are under-utilising the wisdom that comes from the experience of the elder worker.

So what does a positive working environment look like? Well it takes a long-term view of people planning and it attempts not to control people. In a coaching context, it lets people commit to their own outcomes and their own objectives, driving greater performances. It is a proper, effective mix of experience and youth. It’s about being innovative regarding the role of young people mixing with older, wiser individuals and being innovative about their hours of work and the flexibility of their contracts.

Position Ignition understands the way organisations work but starts with the unique capabilities of every individual. We utilise multiple variables in seeking to understand the capabilities of any individual worker and that “platform” can help them, as well as their employer, to understand just what is possible. John Harvey-Jones, when he was chairman of ICI in the 1980s, used to worry about how little the very large firm (probably the largest UK business of its time) knew about the individuals that worked within the company; about the person standing on the lathe machine who was leading a football club or a scout troop.

Organisational myopia can lead to significant short-term performance, but to have a sustaining, effective and high-performing organisation based on a positive work environment that challenges the mature worker requires a different approach.

By Simon North, co-founder of Position Ignition and expert in mid and late life career transitions

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