Employing Older Workers in Contemporary Organisations

This article explores the challenges and practices of employing older workers in contemporary organisations. It discusses the biases against older workers and highlights good practices employed in different sectors such as phased retirement, flexible working hours, and skills transfer. The article also addresses the factors contributing to bias and the challenges of cost and training. Recommendations are provided for creating a more inclusive and supportive work environment for older workers.

Employing Older Workers in
Contemporary Organisations

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................1
REFRENCES...................................................................................................................................6

INTRODUCTION
We live in a dynamic world. A world where humans control the demand and supply of
resources. The challenge to this is posed by nature or more specifically the phases of life. Ageing
is a natural phenomenon that is a big challenge to humans and this extends to organisations
managed by humans. Staffing and recruitment are not the only facets one needs to dedicate HR
practices too (Axelrad, 2020). Basically, this is designed with aim for enhancement for
maximisation of performance of employees is rendering them with adequate direction along with
guidance for attainment of strategic objectives. This is also utilised for employing older
employees that will aid within minimisation of turnover rate and this will also lead to enhance
overall performance. Therefore, it is crucial for management of organisation to emphasise on
managing employees within working activities that will aid within development of affirmative
performance in the working premises. There are growing issues like change in demographics
which require peculiar interest from HR managers. Here, we look at a few challenges and some
practices employed in different fields. The idea is to understand the reality and practical
application of HR management to demographic changes.
MAIN BODY
Older workers in the workforce have always been looked at with bias in comparison to the
young and dynamic workforce. This division assumes a some sort of incapability in the working
style based on growing age. Today’s reality though, has challenged these biases and we see
corporates like Diamler employing leading the change by exhibiting the difference in age and
temperament. 1
Similar trends have been noticed all across Europe. In England, as we study , it is of key
importance to highlight the good practices undertaken in different sectors. Phased Retirement has
been one of the most important practice employed across all sectors but this one factor is very
crucial for the Construction sector.
Construction sector has its own peculiar structure and demands. It entails a lot of physical
work and demands absolute precision at all times. The expertise levels both with hand – eye
coordination and care are paramount. Employment demands in such a heavy sector feature young
professionals but this industry can cause heavy redundancy leaving a lot of potentially ageing
workers astray.
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Employment based on flexible working hours, pay based in outcomes achieved and crucially
using phased retirement is one key aspect that this industry has employed (Ciutiene and Railaite,
2014). Not only does this save time but allows for a healthy interaction between the young and
the old leading to smooth transition. Contractual benefits like medical cover are another policy
that has been employed under the phased retirement schemes.
Another and quite an important development in the field of Hospitality was made by
McDonald’s. This practice that is taking central stage slowly is known as Friends and Family
Contract. These contracts are designed in a way to employ people with flexibility and diversity.
The flexibility of working hours allows for refreshing conduct and allows even people from older
age to align their actions with duties at their own comfort. Alteration of work hours at short
notice and offering quality in return balance the corporate demands (Kroon and et. al, 2016).
McDonald’s has reported that this has led to positive reviews from the customers and more
crucially a healthy growth in the older workforce under its belt which is dynamic as well as
successful.
Moving on with the best practices , one shall not really skip the key sector of manufacturing
that drives economy of several nations. This sector is particularly at peril because of the risk of
ageing workforce and the high costs of training and recruitment that one can easily notice. Thus,
we see schemes like Skills transfer being employed. Corporates at all levels of operation: be it
small, medium or large are emphasising on timely recruitment to enable the possibilities of skills
transfer. Occupational hazards in manufacturing sector are dominant and it not only entails high
costs of reimbursement but also puts lives at peril.
A skills transfer approach not only eases the pressure of this peril on the young workforce
but also caters to the requirement of adaptability by on-the-job training practices. This way the
challenges of quality and perils of hazard are defended by HR practices at manufacturing
corporations. Phases return to work after an injury in the older age is also another key technique
that is being used.
These three sectors of hospitality, manufacturing and construction not only are the major
sectors one generally believes to be centred around young workforce but also thought of
employing dynamic and innovative solutions in their operational practices. One shall definitely
bring to note that HR practices are also getting modified innovatively in line with the social and
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cultural changes (Mulders, Henkens and van Dalen, 2020).
As highlighted above, it is apparent that in the Corporate arena and globalised world one
sees the industries like hospitality, construction and manufacturing as crucial sectors and
employers of major workforce. There seems to be an inherent bias in this worldview against an
older workforce. The requirement of workforce in these sectors is ever increasing and the
possible bias only hinders the chances of growth and even sustenance at small or medium levels.
Failure to do away with this inherent challenge in the structure of sectoral employment would be
destructive for the economy.
It is important to highlight the factors that are thought to be the basis of this bias. First
and foremost is the dynamic nature due to continuous innovation and thereby higher possibilities
of redundancy. The second reason that is prominent focuses on the kind of work in terms of
physical labour and efficiency issues.
These two form the breeding ground for the aspects of bias between the managers and the
employees. Even in education sector, dismay has been recorded by way of surveys.
The second and probably a growing challenge , in light of the pandemic, is absenteeism
or health hazards. The case study at hand suggests the employers have had an easier time at work
keeping a tab on the attendance due to healthy and sustained presence from older staff
(Nicholson and Sharp, 2016). This is bound to be a concern in the near future especially in
industries like care and hospitality where we see social exclusion practices due to the pandemic
have created a possible cognitive bias against older work force.
Absenteeism though has not been much in vogue as a concern , quite opposite to the general
perception. Health hazards and occupational issues are perceived to be better understood and
handled by older and well experienced employees rather than the newbies. Adaptability is
function of time and individual brilliance and thus younger workforce presents a suitable
challenge to the older workforce with added possibilities of increased gains through increased
efficiency.
This brings the third inherent challenge of Cost and Training in question. The very basis of
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these issues, as highlighted above, are rooted in the understanding of innovation. Innovation in
operations is thought to be well structured and taught at vocational or educational institutions.
The same though true, doesn’t really counter the vast experience that is gained over the years.
Even if it can be agreed that the young workforce is well suited to the innovative demands of the
industry it cannot be disregarded that the possibility of understanding and achieving optimum
performance are limited due to lack of practical exposure.
It is here, where we see the dynamics of Human Resource management practices become
crucial. It is through this medium of instruction and supervision from the senior workforce that
this optimum utilisation can be preferred (Taylor and Earl, 2016). For this, one can take an
example from the Construction industry giants in Clugston Group. It is highlighted by their
operational practices that age does not tend to have major impact on the cost of training with
innovation in solutions like structured training schemes. These employees can rather be used in
alternative process involving less of physical and more of mental activity like supervision,
training and most crucially designing relevant schemes with sufficient say in the management.
Trade unions have been in constant touch and interaction with mid level managers as a
practice which is the bond to be further used as a medium to seek these changes and opinion
sharing. Flexibility not just in working hours but in work roles adds up to the diversity and
benefits overall experience. Skill development based on specialisation of certain equipment can
still be retained by way of training for supervision.
Older workforce instils the spirit of commitment in the young workforce who generally don’t
bother about the future commitments and policies that are in place for older workforce in their
organisation at the mesolevel (Weyman, Meadows and Buckingham, 2013). Skills transfer
reduce training costs , increases interaction and better possibilities of growth are secured to due
ease in transition.
It is identified that both young as well as old generation have distinct perspectives so that
they look into distinct matters. It is recommended that management must make all anticipations
related with working styles of people. It is necessary that firm must plan adequate training and
development activities for older generation so that they will be able to deliver their operations as
per desired organisational standards. It is suggested that different age ranges must be formulated
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and accordingly training must be provided, the reason behind this is that it will enable them
within making sure that the opportunities are provided on the basis of their learning capabilities
as well as the knowledge they already have. This will lead firm to have overall affirmative
impact on the performance of organisation on the whole. The firm must render latest
technologies as well as tools for carrying out training processes. This will enable aged people to
have opportunities for acknowledgment of clear and precise understanding.
It is recommended that organisation must provide their employees with relevant work
from home setup so that they can deliver their services from home as the pandemic situations
that prevails can have pessimistic impact on older employees. Furthermore, if this aspect is not
possible then they must ensure that relevant measures are taken within working premises so that
the disease do not spread like it must be sanitised continuously so that employees health can be
on the top priority for the firm. By making assumption what person anticipate from the employer
will yield firm with positive impact as their needs will be addressed in an appropriate manner.
This will further enable them to emphasise on their services and a sense of belongingness will be
generated among them (Yaldiz, Fraccaroli and Truxillo, 2017). It will enable to develop
understanding among employees and illegal practices like harassment, bullying, etc. will also be
prevented. This will also lead to decline within the problem of absenteeism. The reason behind
this aspect is that employees are not satisfied within the working premises while delivering their
functionalities this can be due to extra work pressure, lack of knowledge related with
equipments, etc. When healthy working environment is created then the overall impact will be
affirmative.
It is observed that having older people or employees within the working premises enables
organisation to have an experience, for an instance if at any instance of moment any problem
occurs then by having knowledge from them and making use of their guidance that aspect might
be resolved. This is recommended that within formulation of decisions point of view of
employees must be considered as this might provide firm with unique vision or thought through
which it will become easy for them to deliver their functionalities.
Having highlighted the possible challenges and discussed some of the chosen practices from
the case study of different sectors at hand it is now imperative to look into possible remedies.
These remedies or recommendations are to be directed to the first two challenges listed above as
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they are in direct correlation to the cost function. Bias and the possibility of health issues leading
to absenteeism are thus at focus in the next section.
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REFERENCES
Books & Journals
Axelrad, H., 2020. Perception versus Official Data: Employers’ Knowledge about the Aging
Workforce. Journal of Aging & Social Policy, pp.1-23.
Ciutiene, R. and Railaite, R., 2014. Challenges of managing an ageing workforce. Procedia-
Social and Behavioral Sciences, 156(4), pp.69-73.
Kroon, A.C. and et. al, 2016. Dealing with an aging workforce: Locating threats and
opportunities in corporate media. Educational Gerontology, 42(12), pp.818-834.
Mulders, J.O., Henkens, K. and van Dalen, H.P., 2020. How Do Employers Respond to an Aging
Workforce? Evidence from Surveys Among Employers, 2009–2017. In Current and
Emerging Trends in Aging and Work (pp. 281-296). Springer, Cham.
Nicholson, P.J. and Sharp, C., 2016. Addressing the challenge of an ageing workforce.
Taylor, P. and Earl, C., 2016. Making the case for older workers. management revue, pp.14-28.
Weyman, A., Meadows, P. and Buckingham, A., 2013. Extending working life audit of research
relating to impacts on NHS employees. NHS Working Longer Review. London: NHS
Employers.
Yaldiz, L.M., Fraccaroli, F. and Truxillo, D.M., 2017. Aging workforce issues from a multilevel
approach. In Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Psychology.
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