Canadian HR Reporter

CANADIAN HR REPORTER April 4, 2016 8 NEWS 'Lost generation' of older workers looking for fulfillment on the job HR, over-50s not necessarily aligned when it comes to T&D, retirement planning: Report BY SARAH DOBSON AS people live and work lon- ger, a four-generation workforce — where staff in their 70s and 80s will work alongside those in their 20s — is becoming a reality. But, too often, the focus of HR and managers is on the younger generations — educating and de- veloping them to reach their full potential — while ignoring the other end of the spectrum, ac- cording to a report from Ashridge Executive Education in the United Kingdom. ere needs to be a focus on the "lost generation" of the over- 50s, said the authors of Don't Put Baby (Boomers) in the Corner, to keep them engaged, giving them fulfilling and sustainable employ- ment, and using their skills and experience for the benefit of the economy. When older workers were asked what work gives them — so what they would miss if they were not working — the top selection was "mental stimulation" (63 per cent), found Ashridge's survey of 1,834 people in the U.K., includ- ing 1,426 aged 50 and older and 408 HR staff. at was followed by fulfillment (59 per cent), a sense of purpose (49 per cent) and pride (46 per cent). Not surprisingly, "financial re- ward" (45 per cent) was in the top five, followed by working relation- ships (44 per cent), the develop- ment of others (40 per cent) and self-development (36 per cent). It's clear that for the majority of the over 50s, being at work is satisfying intrinsic needs, said the report, though within the HR community, there has been a strong focus on retirement plan- ning and managing physical and mental limitations as people age. People are retiring later, that's becoming accepted, but there's more an assumption the older workers have disappeared into a black hole somewhere, said Sue Honoré, associate research con- sultant at Ashridge Executive Ed- ucation of the Holt International Business School. "It's no good having disen- gaged, unmotivated people just sitting doing their time when the vast majority of them have the capability to be highly motivated. at's not to say everybody does, but… it's just a bit worrying that this whole population is being ignored." We live in a youth-oriented culture, said Suzanne Cook, To- ronto-based adjunct professor at the Faculty of Health at York Uni- versity and faculty fellow at the Trent Centre for Aging & Society at Trent University. "We are obviously very con- cerned about the next generation and their growth and develop- ment, and we forget that all ages and stages are growing and de- veloping, and there's still lots of power and potential in later life among older workers." Older people still want to devel- op, to change, to do new things and be stimulated, said Honoré, who is also co-author of the report. "ere's an assumption that… a certain age means a certain level in the organization and once you've achieved that level, then you're fine — as long as you're do- ing well, you're performing, who cares? And this is really what is frustrating people is that a lot of them would like to do a lot more development, a lot of them would like to do new things, but the focus is all 'Let's bring the young people on, how can we develop them, how can we make them grow quickly, how can we get them very capable?' and then just ignoring the older people," she said. "And (it's) also ignoring the fact that the older people have that knowledge and experience that would help the young people to grow quicker — but two and two are not being put together." It's important to educate peo- ple, said Cook. "Showing the benefits and the positive aspects of having older workers in the workplace is going to be important going forward…. It's not just about the paycheque, it's about the mental stimulation, the social stimulation, feeling pride in your accomplishments at work and having purposeful and meaningful work — that is important." As employees work past con- ventional retirement age, it's im- portant to keep their skills up to date. However, when it comes to training and development oppor- tunities, HR and older employees are not exactly aligned, found Ashridge. When asked to list the top T&D needs of people in the over-50s, both HR and baby boomers cited technology (25 per cent and 18 per cent, respectively) as number one. However, the second choice for HR was retirement planning (17 per cent) while baby boomers picked "coaching and mentoring" (14 per cent). at was third on the list for HR while "leadership and management" was third for baby boomers. e latter was fourth for HR compared to retirement planning for baby boomers, with change management fifth for HR, com- pared to career development for baby boomers. "It's the sort of attitude that 'Let's do something practical and something that we can measure,'" said Honoré. "Organizations are very much into 'Let's talk about retirement planning and finan- cial planning,' and the individuals are… not sure about how they're going to cope, worried that if they stay on at work and they mention the retirement word, that sud- denly they'll be locked in, they'll have to go on that date and people will start ignoring them in terms of any development or getting in- volved in work.'" Older workers were also asked about any skills or talents that were not being used fully by their employers, with developing oth- ers (33 per cent) coming out on top, followed closely by strategic skills (32 per cent). Facilitation or bridging skills (19 per cent) and business skills (11 per cent) bot- tomed out the list. When it comes to strategic thinking, it's about areas such as REVIEW > pg. 9 "Organizations are very much into 'Let's talk about retirement planning and financial planning' and the individuals are not so sure about how to cope." Credit: Jorge Silva (Reuters) Sunisa Hongaroon, a 67-year-old accountant at a transportation company in Bangkok in February. Older workers face challenges when it comes to training and development opportunities, finds a U.K. report.

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