Wanted: mature candidates
CASE STUDIES Companies find value in hiring older workers
The advertisement inviting applicants to an open house at a new call centre in Brisbane, Australia was unusual.
“ We all get older — but at Westpac, that’s not a barrier to getting a job,” it said. “ You’ve got the life experience — we’ve got the customers who want to talk to people like you.”
Three years ago, the Australian bank committed itself to recruiting 900 employees over the age of 45 by the end of 2005. Its aim was to prepare for expected labour shortages as the working- age population in Australia starts to decline. People over 45 now account for the main growth in the labour supply, the reverse of 20 years ago.
By last month, Westpac had exceeded its target, hiring 951 “mature age” candidates to its branches and call centres. “ We have recruited many people who had planned to retire but then found it financially challenging,” says Ross Miller, business unit consultant at the bank, one of Australia’s largest employers.
Skills gaps, customer demand and the need to retain knowledge are three factors driving employers to take older workers seriously. Some sectors are already topheavy with employees nearing retirement. In the United States, aerospace, defence, education, health care, financial services and utilities face skills shortages.
“It will be an issue for particular companies,” says Kevin Wesbroom of Hewitt Associates, the international human resources consulting firm. “It might not be the totality of their workforce, but in some skilled areas where they can’t rely on past practice of armies of youngsters coming in.”
For businesses yet to feel the squeeze, the pioneers are accumulating useful lessons in how to recruit and retain older workers, as the following case studies show: Westpac The bank took action when it found its age profile was out of line with that of its customers. Nearly half its customers but only one in five of its frontline staff were older than 45. “Research has shown people like to be served by someone of the same age,” Mr. Miller says.
With its recruitment agency, it developed new approaches to hiring. Older people who have been made redundant or taken early retirement may be “passive job seekers” who do not look at vacancies, so the bank publicized the open day for the Brisbane call centre in the media. Westpac is now taking part in a governmentfunded pilot project to help older people overcome barriers to employment through information technology, job application and other skills training.
Legislation in Australia makes it illegal to hire from only one age group. “ Our recruitment advertising targets and encourages candidates of all ages to apply,” Mr. Miller says. “We have also ensured that our recruitment providers use a range of channels for potential recruits to respond other than just the Internet.”
Early on, the bank recognized the potential conflict between younger managers and older recruits who might have moved from senior positions to jobs with less authority and autonomy. Management training examines age-related stereotypes and explains the benefits of mature workers in terms of customer satisfaction and cost savings.
Mr Miller says that “age balance” can only be achieved by taking an integrated approach, not by focusing on a single challenge or solution. “This journey is complex and without precedent.” The Hartford, U.S. financial services company Based in Connecticut, the company faces a brain drain in 10 years. More than 40% of its 30,000 employees will be 50 or older, making them eligible for early retirement.
The obvious answer might be to hire more young people, but that offers a much smaller pool than the Baby Boom generation. In addition, 44% of the group’s operating income is earned from products aimed at “ mature Americans,” and it wants staff who match its customer profile.
The company is taking urgent measures to meet the challenge by recruiting workers 50 and older, offering gradual retirement, finding ways to keep mature staff motivated ( its oldest full- time employee is 77) and capturing the knowledge of those who leave.
In 34 years with the company, Paul Salvatore built up a network of contacts and expertise in evaluating insurance agents and market opportunities. Keen to retire on his 55th birthday in December, he quit his senior management job in the small business insurance division to spend his last year sharing his knowledge with colleagues. He is also using his experience to find ways to cross- sell products to existing customers.
Bob Nadeau has also broken ground by taking a pre-MBA in his fifties. Mr Nadeau wanted broader business exposure after 26 years on the technical side of insurance claims. At the company’s expense, he completed the program last year through the University of Connecticut.
He has since been promoted. His research project, focusing on the ageing Baby Boomers, helped the business during last year’s devastating hurricanes in Florida: At his suggestion, the company brought in retired employees to help deal with the flood of claims.
“Challenging Bob is the best thing we can do to keep him engaged and satisfied,” says Ramani Ayer, the 58-year-old chief executive officer. Mr Nadeau, 51, is now challenging the company back, saying it should institutionalize gradual retirement. Now, about 200 employees older than 50 work a reduced week. His proposal would enable more people to taste what life will be like after work while retaining their skills.
But whether all of them would want to work fewer hours is not clear. The downturn in equity markets has hit pension plans, obliging some Baby Boomers to work longer for financial reasons — and making it easier for companies to recruit and retain them. BT, U.K. telecommunications group Engineers willing to work past retirement age or return from retirement are proving to be a flexible resource for BT Group.
BT, which downsized heavily in the past 20 years, faced a shortage of engineers to meet demand for broadband connections. It has just completed a pilot project with an “ agile group” of nine engineers older than 60 on rolling contracts, working 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. in exchanges in the east Midlands. The aim is to deal with unpredictable peaks.
Andy Campbell, strategic sourcing manager for the wholesale division, says it also helps BT prepare for age discrimination legislation next year that will give employees choice about when they retire.
Financial Times