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Forming an Advisory Committee

Global Report - United Kingdom

Activate your 45-plus workforce with a KAA-Boomer advisory group to kick start the strategic planning process from within.

"We need to start but there are so many things to do,
I'm not sure where to begin."

That's what I heard from HR delegates to the 2007 Summit on the Mature Workforce, over and over again. "We know there's a labour shortage crisis as boomers approach retirement. We also know that our 45-plus workforce is a terrific resource. We need to more actively engage and retain these employees, but our organization hasn't done anything about it yet!"

CEOs say the skilled labour shortage is one of their top five concerns. But there's still a disconnect in many workplaces between upper management and human resources when it comes to actually doing strategic workforce planning to change corporate policy and practices to better attract, retain and engage the 45-plus worker. One problem is that HR practice in this field is still its infancy. Many different engagement and retention strategies are being test-driven, but there is little yet in the way of hard data or formal evaluation to show their effect-especially on the corporation's business outcomes.

Take a look at that word KAA-Boom. The stick of dynamite in the middle represents the policies and practices that workplaces have in place now. The fuse is the emotional reaction of the boomers-or KAA-Boomers. And the spark that will ignite it? That's the contribution of employers and what they do now that will encourage or discourage KAA-Boomers to stay working. There's a lot you can do to make sure your mature workers are fully productive, to keep your most valuable staff working for you longer and to pass on their knowledge to those coming up behind them. Boomers have always been catalysts for change, so why not harness that energy and get them onside? Forming a KAA-Boomer advisory group could be the perfect first step for your company.

Here are a few suggestions to keep in mind:

Make the purpose of the group clear. The first thing to communicate is how your organization values KAA-Boomer skills and accomplishments and their contribution to the business goals of the company. Because KAA-Boomers are a valuable resource, you want to reach out and understand what needs to be done to better retain and engage them. The advisory group will be a forum to discuss issues that concern them, and provide an opportunity to inform and influence practices and policies that have a direct impact on the quality of their workplace.

Make participation voluntary - but attractive. Think of incentives to make KAA-Boomers want to come until the process and group become established and rewarding. Lattes, anyone?

Keep the group as inclusive and diverse as possible. For example, retirement and pension concerns ultimately affect everyone in the organization, from management to production. Different workers bring different skill sets to problem solving. Use them!

Keep meetings short and focused, especially at first. And keep meetings on-site or link in colleagues by telephone, to make it easy to participate. Start with simple goals and see what develops. Ask for suggestions on what it would take to make them stay with the company. Maybe employees want ergonomic adjustments to work stations, or access to more alternative health practitioners in your benefits plan. Or maybe they identify the desire for flexible work arrangements. Gathering this organization-specific information is crucial to helping management start to act.

Remember, changes that benefit this group often make the workplace better for all. Don't be afraid to have a "special-interest" group for the mature workforce when it's done all the time for other diverse interests.

Empower your KAA-Boomer workers; with their accumulated years of work/life experience, they have a lot to offer their organization.

Perhaps you already have a KAA-Boomer advisory group, committee or some other mechanism to get their input in your organization. Send me an e-mail, I'd love to hear about your experience and share it with our readers. [bjaworski@workplaceinstitute.org]

KAA-BOOM would like to know if your company is taking novel approaches to attracting and retaining older workers because you could be nominated for a 2009 Best Employers Award for 50 Plus Canadians. Applications are now being accepted. Winners will be announced at the 2009 Summit on the Mature Workforce on November 5, 2008 in Calgary. [Read more]

Introducing our new feature, GLOBAL REPORT!

Canadian employers, labour groups and governments are not alone in their struggle to adapt to the economic impact of the aging boomer workforce. In this issue KAA-BOOM begins a series of global reports on other jurisdictions and the measures being taken to deal with this critical workforce issue.

Global Report: United Kingdom

Overview

Aging as a looming social and economic issue has been on the British radar since at least 1999 and is high on the agenda of UK policy makers. Numerous reports have considered the economic implications of an aging workforce and emphasized reactivating older workers; as well, active labour market policies frequently target older workers.

Key government strategies include pension reforms, disincentives to early retirement, anti-age discrimination measures and employment equality age regulations, social marketing programs to raise awareness of benefits of age-positive workplace practices; retraining programs and financial support to unemployed older workers.

Labour scarcity and the need to attract and retain more workers in a competitive market are the primary motivation for UK companies to implement and expand age-positive policies and practices. The main impacts have been healthier and happier staff, greater staff retention and improvements in the image of older workers. Policies that address ageism result in benefits for all staff.

Lessons learned: The most successful older worker programs had senior management commitment and fulfilled a business need. In some instances, mixed messages result when older workers perceive certain initiatives as financially disadvantaging them. In the UK, implementing flexible programs for all employee is an equally challenging issue.

Read more next month in United Kingdom Part 2: What government is doing for the mature workforce and Sainsbury's approach to getting the multigenerational staffing they need.