Talent, Engagementand the Aging Workforce

Chris Hylton, MA

Conference Board of Canada

Calgary

April 29 2013, 1:45 pm

Agendacomplexities of dealing with an

aging workforcestrategies to address some

common challengesmentorship and successioninnovative approach to

mentorship and keeping retirees engaged with the organization after they have left

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This is your showDo you have any issues that you

wish to share regarding our topic today?

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Retirement has changedOrganizations will feel impact of

baby boom retirement wave, just not hit yet

This Wave is both a benefit and a problem

Employers need talent, skills, knowledge, experience

Boomers need engagement, income, flexibility and being valued

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Not your fathers retirement60 or 65 and outFull pension or early pensionWith a life expectancy of 2 – 5

years

WHYAnother 10, 20, 30 or 40 years of

lifeSwitch from DB to DC pensions

means less incomeJust another stage of life

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Boomer FearsUnpredictability of their financesDownturn was a wake up callFear outliving their moneyFear more lossesRSPs have replaced Defined

Benefit plans

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Older Workers Need to Work:Insufficient Savings

01020304050

1992-93 1996-97 2000 2007

Defined Contribution Defined Benefit

Perc

enta

ge o

f Wor

kers

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CG Hylton

What boomers wantTo be valued, engaged, part of

somethingTo work for an employer that

permits them to create a flex schedule

Renewed rejuvenatedActive growing and learningFree time, flex timeExtended time offConsulting work CG Hylton Inc. 8

Phyllis Diller

Whatever you may look like, marry a man your own age - as your beauty fades, so will his eyesight

I’m at an age when my back goes out more than I do

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What boomers offerAs productive or more productiveCost the sameSuperior communication skillsLess likely to leave the job after

short timeLower training costs

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Mature worker edgeCommunications: writing and

speaking in english, reading comprehension, foreign languages

Technical skills: computer, engineering, mechanical

Maths and science Social sciences: government,

economics, history, geography, arts, humanities

Source: SHRM/AARP 2012 Survey CG Hylton Inc. 11

Edge in Applied SkillsProfessionalism: Work ethic,

responsibility, social responsibility Thinking ability: critical thinking,

problem-solving, judgment, creativity/innovation, information technology application

Working in Teams: Teamwork, collaboration, leadership

Learning: commitment to lifelong learning, self direction

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Industries impacted by ageAgriculture 47.1 years oldTransportation 45.8Utilities 46.2Real Estate 46.5Education 44.5Healthcare 43Pub Admin 44.9Retail 38Leisure and Hospitality 31.2

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What are companies doing?Succession plans (38%) Processes to capture institutional

memory/organizational knowledge (17%)

Create new roles specifically designed to bridge knowledge gap (9%)

Adapt workplace to accommodate older workers (9%)

Source: SHRM/AARP 2012 Survey CG Hylton Inc. 14

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CG Hylton Inc. 16Source: Deloitte MassCareerCustomization_051310.pdf

Case Studies Career Lattice ProgramEes can dial up, down, across

career pathFlexibility in ways to workCustom when, where, how

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Best Companies for Multicultural Women, Working Mother, 2012

100 Best Companies to Work For, Fortune, 2010

Best Places to Work for LGBT Equality, Human Rights Campaign, 2010

Best Companies to Work for in Texas (Large), Best Companies Group, 2010

Employees’ Choice -50 Best Places to Work, Glassdoor, 2009

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AARP list of ‘Best Employer for Workers over 50

On-site medical center, wellness, fitness & recreation programs

On-site education program Paid sabbaticals to experienced

employees Comprehensive financial / ee

benefits Retirement planning tools CG Hylton Inc. 19

Source: SHRM/AARP 2012 Survey

A gradual retirement - Weyerhaeuser

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new delayed-retirement project, called Gray Matters, is grounded in research about the attitudes of its employees age 55 and over.

The vast majority say they want to work longer rather than completely retire.

But they want it all — a flexible schedule, health-care benefits and no negative financial impact

And they want the work to be meaningful.

A gradual retirement

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Gray Matters offers select ees opportunity to retire gradually, but they must average 25 hours of work a week in order to keep health benefits. The part-time work also shouldn't go on for too many years or it could negatively impact their pension.

they're expected to create a plan to transfer knowledge and mentor younger workers.

The company also is participating in a talent bank, to be run by an outside firm, that will offer retirees a chance to work on a temporary basis. "What we all want as employers is the best talent we can have," said Hass, retirement educator at Weyerhaeuser. "And what we ought to recognize is that the best talent can come at any age."

GenerationsIntergenerational issues—

Managers may resent working for younger or older bosses or have conflicts with differing value systems and work ethics in workers of different generations

Anyone experiencing this in their workplace?

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RecruitingEmployers need to reach out to

older workers and other nontraditional market segments as a means of meet their staffing needs

Anyone experiencing this in their workplace?

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Staff RetrainingAs technology in the workplace

changes, and as organizations must change to meet increased productivity and efficiency demands, employees of all ages will need retraining to remain competitive in today’s workplace

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Mentoring re TechnologyOlder employees may

need assistance in understanding technology, and may benefit from being paired with younger cohorts

Anyone experiencing this in their workplace?

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Overqualified Job SeekersSome candidates will have strong

backgrounds that may make them appear to be “overqualified,” but employers who toss these applicants aside without asking the right questions risk eliminating excellent candidates and/or an age discrimination suit.

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Retirement Planning - OptionsAs employees age, they need

information about their retirement options, including work options such as rehearsal or phased retirement.

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Staff RetentionAlways been a focus of

employersKeeping valuable employees will

become an even more important issue as employers deal with worker shortages and knowledge transfer gap

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Flex timeWorkers of all ages are looking

for ways to balance work and life obligations.  Many older workers are members of the “sandwich” generation and must provide care for parents and children, and even grandparents and grandchildren

Anyone experiencing this in their workplace?

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MentoringEmployers paying attention to how

to capture the boomers business wisdom

Mentoring is attracting attention In the past, the role of the mentor

has been informalNow however, companies are

formalizing the practice

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Mentoring to Offset Knowledge Loss

Older workers are formally assigned to younger workers who have potential in a specific area of expertise, with the goal of developing these individuals along career paths that make sense and leveraging the mentoring relationship to transfer business wisdom, which goes beyond know-how to know-why.  

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Mentoring becomes part of performance reviewSome employers are tasking their

older employees with specific mentoring and wisdom transfer goals that they are becoming part of the performance review

Others are implementing job sharing, where a junior person shares a job with someone senior

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The Retiree as ConsultantAnother approach is to bring

retirees back in consultancy role Allows individual to retire when

he or she chooses, yet extends the duration for transferring knowledge and wisdom to other staff

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More formality re mentoringWhether a company takes a

more or less aggressive approach, informal arrangements may not be enough and more formal knowledge capture plans may represent the only way a company can capture wisdom and keep it in the organization

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Compensation customization

Lends itself to tailoring as it can be determined on a selective basis

Making it a more attractive vehicle for addressing aging workforce issues than broad-based retirement or health and welfare plans whose changes have to be more universal

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Benefits pensions paradoxHow times changeAnyone remember freedom 55?Early retirement incentives

designed to attract boomers when they were young up and coming executives

Employers are revising their policies to remove the reverse incentives

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Solutions: study your situationcurrent demographics and how

the aging trend will impact your workforce

identify and track the number of people expected to retire in a given time period and where they are in the organization.

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Adapting the workplace

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Falls are the leading cause of hospitalization due to injury for Canadians 65+

one in three expected to experience this life altering moment this year alone

offices with flexi-floors, when those falls do occur, special new “bouncy floors” could reduce the risk of serious injury

Smart Canes

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Another invention called Smart Canes, will allow real-time feedback on proper gait and alert a worker’s colleagues by text if a fall occurs.

“It’s a floor that’s compliant enough to prevent injury in case of a fall, but hard enough that you can do normal activities on it,” noted Feldman.

Initial tests show that it could reduce hip fractures up to 80 per cent.

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The Work Environment

The spaces where we work affect how we age

We have control over how workplaces are designed

Work environment issues are aging issues◦ Physical demands of

work◦ Lighting and vision◦ Cognitive demands of

workWe can design age

friendly workplaces

ERGONOMIC PROBLEM-SOLVING STRATEGIES

Seated work with larger parts involves interacting with objects that may be too large to manipulate manually, associated with assembly & welding jobs.

Problems are typically related to posture, illumination, reach, and lifting

Use technology to lift & position thework for easy access that does not require bending, twisting & reaching.

Use supplemental lighting.Use adjustable chairs/work surfaces

Air bags

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Workers will also have the option of of wearing a belt with built-in

air bags that will deploy when the sensor detects a fall

Those with balance problems could wear them as part of their regular office wear

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Our Services

HR and Benefits ConsultingEmployee Assistance Plan Workshops, lunch and learns

800.449.5866 email info@hylton.ca

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Call for a complementary consultation

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800.449.5866

info@hylton.ca

You know you’re old if they have discontinued your blood type, your walker has an airbag and people compliment you on your alligator shoes

Only thing is you are barefoot

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