The Midlife MOT has been the centre of discussion for our editorials recently. It is the UK Government’s (potentially flawed?) scheme to increase the number of older people in the workforce. This is done through an assessment of their skills, health and wealth. But what are the advantages for businesses including older workers in their employee network? Outside of being “the right thing to do”, there are many other benefits to a business through including a wider range of generations.

One big reason for businesses to consider a multi-generational workforce is compliance and legislation. Age is one of the nine protected characteristics under the 2010 Equality Act and is the only one to affect all of us, we are all of an age. Discriminating against it would be breaking the law which could result in a costly dispute. Indeed, there have been several cases in recent years with huge international organisations such as Pizza Hut and Superdry. This leads to huge costs to the business through the funding of the processes and also for damages if the claimant is successful.

“more flexible and adaptable so can keep up with business changes”

As another consequence, there is the issue of reputational risk. If a firm is found to have breached the equality act, there can be a lot of damage to a firm’s reputation. This would further add to the financial cost to the firm as it could reduce sales and the profitability of the firm. With consumers moving to more conscious brands, a business that discriminates would not see the same amount of engagement with their customers as they have previously.

There are also other financial benefits. For example, the ROI of hiring older workers is high. They are relatively lower cost but have a lot more experience which means a business can get already developed workers who have skills that take years to build without it being too much of an expense. This increases the profitability of the business especially when considering the improvement in reputation that having a diverse workforce can have. To add to this, because older workers have experienced changes in their working worlds, it means they have flexible learning styles and shorter learning curves. They are more flexible and adaptable so can keep up with business changes.

Furthermore, it increases the sustainability of the workforce. Older generations can help pass their skills onto younger generations in a natural process. Younger generations are more likely to hold onto the things they learn from their older peers than in generic training courses. This means that the skills and experience get passed down in a more motivating way and can continue to be passed down through the life cycle of the business.

Older workers have also been found to be more motivated to work for reasons such as wanting to share knowledge, pad their retirement and also just wanting to stay in the game. This also means that they stay longer with their employers. This helps reduce the turnover rate and the cost of having to recruit and train new workers.

To summarise, the main benefits of having older generations in your workforce are financial, reputational and experience. When considering multi-generational workforces, the aspect of knowledge transfer between generations can help improve collaboration and communication. When combined, this increases the profitability and long-term sustainability of the business. Questions to ask yourself are: Do you have a mix of generations in your workforce? Where could you improve your company’s age diversity? Are you at risk of potentially being ageist without knowing?

 

 

Sonya Knight | ADF Comms Team

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