Dispelling the myths on older workers
IN THE past five years, there has been a great deal written about an ageing workforce and the requirements of employers to consider how the "grey army'' can be fully mobilised.
Research indicates that less than 60 per cent of the current workforce aged 55 to 65 wish to fully retire when they reach 65. Many older workers are keen to progress into a third-age career where they can work more flexibly, but still engage in meaningful activities which use their skills and knowledge.
While business has a responsibility to change work practices to support this desire, older workers also have a responsibility to best prepare themselves for their third-age career, says Danielle Jiranek, director of development at Locher Human Resources. Ms Jiranek says older workers may require support with jobsearch, interview skills and promotion of themselves as valuable and reliable employees.
She says there are a number of myths persisting about the value of older employees and older workers need to be armed with skill and confidence to debunk them.
One myth is a feeling that older workers are less reliable than younger workers. This is just not true, Ms Jiranek says. "There are now a number of valid case studies which indicate that older workers are not only more reliable they achieve significantly more positive outcomes in areas such as customer-service excellence and even profitability,'' she says.
Ms Jiranek quotes a recent British experiment where a hardware store was staffed only by older workers. The store out-performed many others in the chain in terms of staff attendance, customer satisfaction and profitability. Another myth is that older workers will not stay long in a job as they are planning to retire. Again, this is not based in fact. "One recent study shows older workers are four times more likely to remain in a job compared with Generation X and Y,'' Ms Jiranek says.
For older workers to be successful in their third-age career, they need to be able to promote their skills and to overtly focus on some preconceived ideas held by employers.
"Career coaching for older workers is vital,'' she says. "Older workers may not have been required to attend an interview or complete a resume for many years.
"Having the confidence to even apply for a role may be difficult if this has not been undertaken for some time. We encourage older workers to undertake some brief career coaching so that they are fully equipped for their third-age career and can confidently promote their skills to future employers.''
Ms Jiranek says that only by employers and employees coming together can the skill and ability of older workers be fully engaged for the benefit of the overall workforce. Older workers are too great a resource to ignore.
The Advertiser, March 11 2006
