Partner Article

Preparing for a 4 generation future

Claire McCartney, adviser for Resourcing and Talent Planning, at the CIPD, looks at the ageing UK labour market.

The UK labour market is changing. An ageing population, growth in the service industries, migration patterns, alternative education routes and the pensions’ crisis all mean that, more than ever before, organisations are made up of different generations with potentially different cultures, expectations and beliefs. Indeed, UKCES has predicted that there will be four generations working side-by-side in 2030, which puts the issue of how to manage an age diverse workforce firmly on the agenda of any forward-thinking company.

We recently published new research on the challenges of age diversity from both an employer and employee perspective. Encouragingly both groups identified the many benefits that age diverse teams can bring to business. In particular, employers highlighted knowledge sharing and the fresh perspectives this brings, while employees working at the coal face cited increased innovation, new ideas and problem solving as the key benefits.

However, our research also revealed that businesses are not being proactive – they are dealing with issues as they arise rather than having a strategy in place, while some employers don’t even think their organisation has considered the issue of age diversity. Most worrying of all, the research found that, despite well-publicised skills shortages and low productivity, employers were most likely to say that their organisation does nothing to ensure it has access to enough skilled and diverse people of all ages.

It is crucial that businesses start taking the initiative if they are to take full advantage of the opportunities. Three practical steps you can take to make the most of age diverse teams now and in the future include:

• Think about whether you are doing enough to bring in talent of different ages and whether there are currently any barriers in your recruitment processes that might put off certain age groups from applying to work for your organisation. Ensure that your recruitment strategy includes multiple recruitment channels rather than relying on only one (such as placing job adverts in a variety of places, commercial job boards, corporate website, social media etc).
• Provide where possible line manager training and support in getting the most out of teams of multiple ages. Our research found that nearly half of line managers are not trained in promoting team working in age diverse teams, despite one in five believing their line managers to be ineffective at this. Encourage line managers to overcome employee concerns around potential misunderstandings and a lack of shared interests by uniting teams around common organisational aims and values. Also encourage line managers to actively develop all of their team members regardless of age.
• Do as much as you can to support the extension of working life by developing a culture that values and encourages older workers. For example, provide opportunities for flexible working, formulate flexible retirement and introduce flexible job design policies.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by CIPD .