HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT INTRODUCTION.3 MAIN BODY.3 Benefits of employing older workforce and their implications

it is a report and the subject is Human Resources Management, nr of words is 2000 and the urgency is 10 days. the topic is employing older people and the requirements are:The language of the report must be kept simple needs to have a title page an executive summary and a table of contents and this pages does not count in the words total then the introduction about 100-150 words. The main body needs to be structured in two parts each of 600 words one with three good strategies taken from the case study provided from three different areas of work and the second part must comprehend three challenges of employing older people with examples taken from different source than the case study. At the end the conclusion around 100-150 words and after comes the part of recommendations and solutions to the challenges with references and around 600 words and finally the references list in Harvard style.

HUMAN RESOURCE
MANAGEMENT

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................3
Benefits of employing older people in workforce.......................................................................3
Challenges incurred with older workforce and their implications..............................................5
Recommendations.......................................................................................................................6
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................7
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................9

INTRODUCTION
Human resource management is a significant organisational function that deals with
maintaining a competent and skilled workforce in the organisation which helps in better
employee direction and understanding thus improving productivity of employees. This report
will identify the multiple benefits and challenges that arise in the organisation when they employ
older people in their workforce and this will be supported by the examples taken from different
companies throughout the report. Further the report will also make appropriate recommendations
for the companies based on the challenges identified so that solutions can be derived and implied
accordingly. Lastly, a conclusion will be presented in the report summarising the key findings.
MAIN BODY
Benefits of employing older people in workforce
When the organisation tends to indulge and incorporate older employees then there are
multiple benefits that they can effectively utilise. This can be further justified with a number of
examples that can be taken of organisations working in different industries altogether.
In the retail industry, example of Asda can be taken. This company has specifically
developed a scheme called ‘Seasonal Colleagues’ that specifically facilitates older employees as
well as the students. Under this, the company hires employees on a permanent basis but they
only work when the company is in its peak. This flexible strategy has helped the company in
developing a loyal and experienced workforce. This employee policy, although it being a bit
expensive for the company, provides them with strong and experienced work force which is
good at taking critical decisions and also stabilising the situation of crisis or pressure (Bryson
and et.al., 2019). This helps them in retaining their experienced workers who can provide better
insight and knowledge about the customer’s choice and also create a more vibrant employee
base. This ultimately results in increase in the revenue generation and goodwill of Asda and
since their employee retention increases, the cost training and recruiting new employees
repeatedly in every new season of peak reduces immensely. In addition with this, the flexible
working policies and the excellent employee culture that company has been able to establish
through its ‘We are Listening’ annual programme improves the face value of the company thus
qualifying as one out of top three reasons why anyone should prefer working at Asda. It is
evident that the returns that Asda is able to generate by employing older people on a permanent

basis is far more in both monetary and non- monetary context as compared to the investment that
they are doing.
Another significant example drawing major benefits that arise from hiring senior workers
is McDonald’s. The company identified that young or middle aged workers often have more
commitments towards personal and professional lives which makes it difficult for them to juggle
between two. The family and friends contract at McDonald’s enables such employees to makes
their friends/ family complete their shift. Due to the increased number of older staff integration
with younger staff, the business operations have also increased. It was identified that customer
satisfaction was 20% more at places with older employees due to their ability to emphasize and
connect better and they tend to put extra efforts towards making not just the visit but entire day
of the customer better (Taylor and Earl, 2016). Another programme, Hire the smile directly
targeted recruitment of older workers thus increasing their proportion and it’s the different
perspective that they have towards job which makes them better at it thus improving the
hospitality of the company.
British Gas, operating in the manufacturing industry further presents unique benefits of
hiring older workers. When they began taking older apprentices on role, their funding decreased
but the results were far more productive. With the correct blend of young and old, company was
able to optimise and significantly improve the performance and results of the entire group which
profited company immensely. Further their costs of recruiting and maintaining staff decreased
simultaneously and their policy of hiring employees without any age bias again improved
goodwill amongst people as employer of choice (Heisler and Bandow, 2018). The last benefit
that British Gas was able to draw was that employees became satisfied with their jobs where
older employees acted as life mentors for young ones sharing their experiences and knowledge
and younger ones in return made them more updated and technology friendly thus improving
each other simultaneously and ultimately made the company grow and evolve.
Therefore, in this manner, using different company examples, the multiple benefits of
hiring older employees and the immense contribution that they can give is presented helping the
company to grow in a positive manner.

Challenges incurred with older workforce and their implications
Although, there are several benefits that any company can integrate by the hiring and
recruitment of older employees in their workforce as it was identified earlier, there are a multiple
number of challenges also that arise simultaneously.
The first challenge is the increased wages that they take and the lack of adequate energy
and enthusiasm showed by the older workers. For instance, the Facebook CEO, Mark
Zuckerberg, clearly states that a younger person can easily complete the requirements of the job
in a considerable less time period and at lesser pay without any compromise in the energy levels.
This optimises their revenue generation and also keeps the culture of the organisation much
younger and healthy or energetic where they indulge in quick activities and brainstorming of
multiple ideas that helps them in removing any redundancy or backlogging (Sewdas and et.al.,
2017). Facebook therefore, is able to save their costs and ensure that the employees work in a
positive environment where their performance is excellent and they can adequately invest or
employ time in those business strategic areas that will yield more productively.
Another major challenge is that hiring older employee’s curbs creativity in the organisation
and their ability to integrate and utilise technological advancements as well. For instance, newer
generation of workforce is more aware about the different advancements and upgrades coming in
the technology that they are using and further they are not resistant towards the changes. NHS
for instance, is in dire need to upgrade the skills of its staff and the technologies that they are
using but having a huge pool of older employees makes it difficult because they are not
interested towards learning new things, attending workshops etc. this automatically reduces the
capabilities and skills of the employees which in turn affects the performance of the company as
well pushing it backwards rather than making it more competitive. Therefore, this is another
challenge that arise sin employing older workforce (Krajnáková and Vojtovic, 2017).
Additionally, the mind- set of the older employees inclines more towards completing their shifts
and going home rather than it focusing in achievement of organisational goals or targets and
checking how is company performing in the market in general. All these habits create a major
challenge before the companies in chartering their growth in the industry in whichever they are
operating.
The third major challenge that can be identified is the intergenerational conflict that exists
between older and newer generation employees where their thoughts, habits and attitude towards

life and job, nothing really matches with each creating major differences. The biggest example
here can be quoted of Tesco which employees both older and younger people in their workforce
based on their requirements. However, the management has clearly identified the rift that exists
between employees due to their age rifts. This is evident form the fact that younger employees
hesitate while working in shifts with older employees. The regular criticism that they get from
older workers and the tension that is created because of that ultimately affects the productivity
and return that employees can give (Noone and Bohle, 2017). This is one of the major reason
that Tesco tends to keep their elder workers in the positions like back office, operations etc. and
the younger staff works on floor dealing with customers etc. Further, the company also tends to
incline more towards hiring of young workers more because of their higher energy levels,
improved work performance and understanding and flexibility in learning and working along
with changing times.
These were therefore, some of the key challenges that arises for any organisation when
they employ both younger and older generation in their workforce and the disruptions that are
mainly presented by the older people.
Recommendations
Based on the analysis done above, it can be clearly identified that there are multiple number
of challenges that arises before organisations while including older employees as well in their
workforce and making them work productively towards the organisations. In order to address
these challenges and develop their solutions in a positive manner, it is essential that the proper
recommendations are developed.
 Companies can focus more on integration between older and younger employees by
conducting activities and workshops together where they understand the sentiment of
understanding for each other and are able to identify what is the perception that they each
other have towards doing different tasks (McLaughlin, 2019). This can help them
immensely in gaining the common ground that will help employees of all the age groups
in working together in a positive environment.
 Rather than favouring any one segment, the management of the company can focus more
on highlighting that what can be learnt by each other. For instance, the older generation
can share about their experiences and the decisions that they took which will present a
richer expanse of knowledge towards the young employees. The younger generation in

return should teach the older ones about the new trends in the market, the techniques to
use and indulge in different technological and digital tools etc. This will not only make
them more flexible but it will also collectively improve the knowledge of the entire
workforce as a whole.
 Another recommendation can be towards the fact that the form starting, companies
should adopt a culture of regular change and updates where regardless of the employee
age or tenure, they have to understand and adopt the changes that company is
implementing and further not just adopt them in practice but to understand that why and
how they will contribute in the growth of the entire organisation as a whole. This can
ultimately help in gaining the necessary equilibrium point and furhter making company
more competitive and productive.
 When the older employees are given the necessary titles and job roles which suit their
seniority at the workplace and their working requirements as well, then it automatically
increases the satisfaction quotient in such older employees at the workplace (Drake,
2017). This therefore, acts as a significant aspect in the management of older employees
without compromising on the work practices and culture being adopted by the younger
workers in the organisation.
 The last basic recommendation that can be given in order to bridge up the challenges that
are presented by the employment of older people is to dissipate the tendency of
discriminating or limiting the potential that older employees can give towards the growth
of the organisations. The recruiters, trainers, managers etc. everyone should focus on the
quality and skill level of an individual rather than the age factor because when company
will focus on this aspect then automatically this will lead to a better and more satisfied
work personnel.
Therefore, these are some of the basic recommendations and solution that companies can use
in order to employ and utilise the benefits of older workers in their companies effectively.
CONCLUSION
The research done in the report above helps in concluding that the older employees and their
contribution in the organisations success is indeed instrumental where they not only share the
necessary knowledge and insight but they also develop a positive attitude towards the better
situation handling. The report identified various challenges as well that can be encountered and

appropriate recommendations were given based on the challenges thus identified in the report. It
was concluded that adoption of these recommendations can address the, multiple number of
problems that organisations face while employing older workforce in their employee base.

REFERENCES
Books and journals
Bryson, A., and et.al., 2019. Does Employing Older Workers Affect Workplace Performance?.
Drake, C.M., 2017. Protecting and promoting the health and safety of older workers:
opportunities and challenges (Doctoral dissertation, Loughborough University).
Heisler, W. and Bandow, D., 2018. Retaining and engaging older workers: A solution to worker
shortages in the US. Business Horizons, 61(3), pp.421-430.
Krajnáková, E. and Vojtovic, S., 2017. Struggles of older workers at the labour
market. Economics & Sociology, 10(1), p.319.
McLaughlin, J.S., 2019. Age Discrimination Laws, Physical Challenges, and Work
Accommodations for Older Adults. Generations, 43(3), pp.59-62.
Noone, J. and Bohle, P., 2017. Enhancing the health and employment participation of older
workers. In Ageing in Australia (pp. 127-146). Springer, New York, NY.
Sewdas, R., and et.al., 2017. Why older workers work beyond the retirement age: a qualitative
study. BMC public health, 17(1), p.672.
Taylor, P. and Earl, C., 2016. Making the case for older workers. management revue, pp.14-28.