The older workforce; why are we ignoring their unrivalled experience?

The UK labour market has a long way to go to join the leading OECD countries in age equality. The conversation surrounding Generation Y and how to welcome and adapt to their arrival in the working world is getting louder and louder, and rightly so, but it could be drowning out efforts to cater to older workers.

We’re well aware that the UK has an ageing population, many of whom are fit for and willing to work. So why aren’t we drawing on this huge talent pool of unrivalled experience? It’s not for lack of valid reasons; we have a strong stick, and a stronger carrot. The stick is the current skills shortage. ‘The stark truth is that, unless a higher proportion of older people remain in the labour force, or there is a significant increase in the productivity of those in work, total employment growth in the UK will slow’, according to a CIPD report entitled Avoiding the demographic crunch; labour supply and the ageing workforce. It’s likely that this ‘significant increase’ was suggested with a touch of skepticism; it would have to be a significant increase indeed to compete with the productivity boost we could expect from employing the host of qualified and experienced elder workers.

 The carrot is the thought that, according to recent research from PwC, raising our levels of elder employment to match that of Sweden (who hold third place) could generate an extra £10 billion in the UK each year. Another reason is for the sake of equality and decency, but unfortunately, employing younger workers is proving too much cheaper for many companies to ignore.

 Thankfully though, we are starting to see a rise in the number of companies employing older workers. The UK currently stands in 19th place out of 34 OECD countries, but we could improve this dramatically by, for instance:

·          Ensuring that employers have inclusive retirement practices

·          Improving the capability of line managers

·          Investing in training and development

·          Supporting employee health and wellbeing

·          Moving towards more flexible working

 The focus for dealing with older, more experienced employees needs to be about creating a working environment which encourages their potential. The benefits of this are being increasingly recognised as a major competitive advantage for both business and overall national economic output. There may well be challenges from business to business in implementing this, but the economic and social benefits could be huge (for instance rising tax revenues and falling welfare payments).

 Of course, the Government has its part to play in tightening up regulations and discrimination laws, but in HR, we also could work harder to ensure that we’re embracing the potential across the age scale. It will require flexibility and innovation from our business leaders, but maybe half the battle is realizing that the job is not as hard as we think.

HR in 2020; a New Employment Landscape

Looking forward to 2020, it’s becoming more and more evident that the way businesses respond to technology will be key to their success. Already in 2015 there has been a huge focus on ‘big data’, and how it can be used to an organisation’s advantage.

IBM recently discovered that 90% of the data we currently use was created within the last two years. With data amassing at such a pace, the key for businesses is understanding how to reap the benefits of big data in terms of tracking employee turnover, retention, CV suitability and much more. However, many organisations are still failing to invest.

Technology does have its caveats; the emergence of our ‘always on’ culture is now making a work/life balance less and less easy to achieve, as we no longer need to be at work to be working. Instead, employees are using their personal devices to operate wherever and whenever they find most convenient. Whilst this undoubtedly has benefits, we must consider that if people can work at any time and in any location, where does work stop and personal time begin?

Technology is also being welcomed (with different degrees of enthusiasm) by the increasingly diverse workforce as more and more of Generation Y join the working world. A global study of over 10,000 people found that 33% believe that demographic shifts will have the biggest impact on HR over the next ten years. ‘Gen Y’ will account for nearly half of the world’s employees in the near future, however an increasing life expectancy and ageing population means that people are working beyond ‘normal retirement age’. This means that the generational diversity in the workplace continues to increase.

Our new ability to collaborate across different countries and time zones, thanks to technology, has contributed to the creation of what many are now calling a ‘global village’. This contributes to the leadership challenge of managing an increasingly remote and flexible workforce; a skill that many believe most managers do not possess. As workplace demographics shift, so too will how we come to view our jobs and workplace.

These issues and more are discussed in our latest white paper ‘HR in 2020; a New Employment Landscape’. With a foreword from Helen Norris (Head of HR, Group Operations at Nationwide Building Society), it also includes expert insight from some of the industry’s senior HR thought leaders.

DOWNLOAD HERE

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An interim president; could this be FIFA’s game changer?

Since Sepp Blatter announced his resignation from the top job at FIFA, customers and professionals alike has been speculating about who will follow his 17-year tenure as president. But with the ongoing investigations and the election for his replacement not due until December, should they be thinking outside the box? Who could they call on to guide the organisation through this difficult period?

The answer could be simple; hire an interim.

It’s certainly not for the faint-hearted. They will have to find the root cause of issues quickly, instigating a great deal of transformation in a very short time. The chosen candidate would be managing an international, complex change programme amidst all kinds of expectation and criticism, but on the other hand, anyone who puts themselves forward will have already proven themselves to be a bit of a powerhouse.

Any successful interim leader will know that delivering a strategic vision is not enough. They will be prepared to roll up their sleeves and get on with it, especially when their role is often to challenge the board on what they may consider the root problem(s) to be. Interims live by the sword and die by the sword; strong leaders who form relationships quickly and are bold in a way that gives confidence to others. They are innovators, with a range of experience that means they can learn new things and successfully apply them, almost simultaneously, a skill that would likely have its uses within FIFA.

Head of Contract Delivery at RSG, Will Boney believes that; “interims at this level are rarely without that elusive ‘edge’ which makes them such effective leaders; efficient cost cutting, restructuring and merger management, for instance. There is a great demand for very specific skill sets at the moment; where once there was a need for a more general tenancy, now we are seeing a rising demand for those highly skilled, but highly specialist candidates. This approach is a big risk, but so would the rewards be.”

Although for the role at FIFA there can only be a small number of suitable candidates, the benefits to the organisation could be significant if they can successfully mend such monumental reputational damage. Luckily, this is exactly the kind of high risk, high reward lifestyle which might attract interims. The list of potentials would certainly make for interesting reading, should such a search ever be started.

As Attorney General Michael Laubar said, "the world of football needs to be patient. By its nature, this investigation will take more than the legendary 90 minutes."

The Netherlands’ labour market; what’s their secret, and what can we learn?

Those of us with our fingers on the pulse of the labour market are getting used to hearing about how well the Netherlands are doing. They have reported strong growth for the past 18 months, now pay their temporary workers the same rate as equivalent permanent workers and consistently rank as one of the best places in the world to live.

It’s this kind of forward thinking and willingness to adapt to the changing values of workers in the 21^st Century that sets the Dutch labour market apart. Jürrien Koops, Director of ABU, observed that “the social partners have taken a new step in creating a good balance between flexibility and security.” Much of this may be down to the Dutch attitude to a work/life balance, which can be encompassed in one word:

Gezelligheid – time spent with loved ones, a warm feeling of togetherness

More than half of Dutch workers are part-time, allowing people to spend more time with friends and family. According to a study from Huffington Post, the average number of hours per week the Dutch devote to leisure and personal care is 16.06, 75% of mothers are employed and just 0.01% work ‘very long hours’. On top of this, exercise, which as we know produces ‘happiness-inducing’ endorphins, is enjoyed by the majority of the population at least four times a week, simply because they have the time to do it. Perhaps the Dutch are able to achieve these numbers not by balancing work and life, but by prioritising life a little more than work, just enough to fuel both a thriving labour market and the nation’s wellness.

Though it seems incredible, having comparatively few full-time workers is doing the labour market no harm; 18% more hours were worked by temporary workers between 26^th April and 23^rd May 2015, compared with the same time last year (according to the Dutch Federation of Employment Agencies). The largest growth was in the technical sectors, in which 28% more hours were worked and sales rose by 26%.

The UK could have a lot to learn from this approach. Just 6% of job advertisements in the UK mention flexible working options, despite 14.1 million UK workers wanting to work flexibly, a study by Timewise has found. This means that talent pools for some employers are significantly dwindling as they neglect 46% of UK workforce, despite the skills shortage we are facing. Karen Mattison (CEO of Timewise) said businesses were “missing out” by failing to realise how important flexibility is to job seekers; “this often results in the best talent having to trade down and take jobs way beneath their level of skill and ability.”

Lynn Rattigan (COO of EY, UK and Ireland) observed that “there is a growing pool of talent, not just parents, who are looking for flexible roles that allow them to balance their professional and personal ambitions. One of the major challenges facing most businesses across the country is attracting and retaining the right people. Yet many organisations are restricting their search by applying the traditional concept of a 9-5 working week.”

We hope to continue to see the Netherlands setting a shining example for workers, leaders and companies. It seems the key to a happy, engaged and productive workforce is giving workers room to wisely spend their most valuable asset; time.

Why do giraffes have long necks? Creating a questioning culture

I recently read a survey which said an average 5 year old will ask 65 questions a day - and a 45 year old may ask as few as five. As a parent of young children that doesn’t surprise me. My daughter greets me most early evenings with a long list of questions because she’s curious for knowledge. Her latest, “Daddy, why do giraffes have such long necks?” is a great example. Instead of just accepting that’s how it is, she wants to know why.

At that age our enquiring minds need answers, we ask questions because we are interested and we care. It was a good question that needed a good answer. “They need long necks to get to their favourite food on top of the trees,” I replied. Her approving nod told me that I’d succeeded, but it meant something more too. By listening to what mattered to her and answering, she continues to ask questions. With my HR hat on I might even say she’s engaged.

There are certainly similarities. One of the benefits of engaged employees in my experience is that they ask lots of questions. They want to know why things are done in a certain way, are curious and question the status quo; this leads to them having the desire to change things for the better.

This was very much the case at Virgin; in fact, we’d even try and assess levels of curiosity at interview by giving candidates a tour of the building to see what questions they’d ask. Google is another organisation that’s well known for encouraging questions. CEO Eric Schmidt says “we run the company by questions, not by answers”. Google welcomes questions to top executives each week which sets the tone that anyone can ask anything of anyone else.

Sadly, not every organisation acts the same way which is possibly why that survey showed such a drop off in questioning as we get older. Some organisations have a culture that stifles the freedom to ask questions, and the business suffers as a consequence. If employees don’t feel comfortable asking “why are we doing it this way?” then they won’t find it easy coming forward with good ideas. It might just be easier to keep quiet. Even worse, if they don’t feel their views are valued by the organisation it’s a slippery slope towards disengagement and exit.

However, when organisations embrace questions it encourages an engagement culture of ‘we’ rather than ‘management versus employees’. If employees are involved in asking questions that resolve problems they will feel more engaged in implementing that change, especially if they have been the catalyst in finding the solution themselves. How much more motivating is it to be praised for thinking about the business than being told “that’s not how we’ve done it here for the past 20 years”, or that dreadful innovation killer, “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”.

So, how do you encourage your organisation to develop a questioning culture?

If you are a leader, it has to start with you. If you ask more open and exploratory questions of the business (e.g. how could we do things differently, how could we turn a set-back into an opportunity, etc.), you’ll encourage others to think and contribute. You could even ask employees directly, “what do you think we should do?” You might be surprised at how this trickles down and where some of the best suggestions come from.

You should also support the outcome of good questions by creating a sense of shared responsibility for the solution. The worst outcome is when someone spots a problem and, as a reward for their question they are told to ‘go away and fix it’. This will only add to their workload and make them wonder, why bother? When responsibility is shared, solutions are shared and the cycle of questions leading to improvement is not broken.

A questioning culture is not easy to implement, it has to emerge through encouragement and being seen to act on outcomes. It has to be believable and not a series of slogans or posters. You are asking employees to question the business and the answer you’ll sometimes have to give might be “I don’t know”. It can be a risk, but it’s far better to encourage involvement and ownership than stifle engagement. You probably won’t be asked why giraffes have long necks, but you may be asked a question that could transform your business for the better.

- Richard Roberts, Employee Engagement & HR Consultant at en:Rich HR

London’s Square Mile workers are about to get squared

Two years after the recession officially ended and we’re still in the golden days of recovery. In Q1 2015, 73.5% of 16 – 64 year-olds in the UK were in work.

But it seems the most dramatic growth is yet to come; a recent report from Cityam.com has predicted that London’s employment levels, thanks mostly to the Finance and Technology sectors, are set to rise for another decade.

Most of this growth will be concentrated in the capital’s financial district. Otherwise known as ‘The Square Mile’, this area will accommodate an additional 39,000 workers in the next ten years. That’s just below 30% of the 145,000 new workers whom London is now expecting.

Unfortunately, London’s eyes may prove to have been a little bigger than its belly. This growth is creating problems for London’s workers and headaches for its economists. The jobs (and therefore the population) are growing at such a rate that the strain on infrastructure is becoming huge. One major problem, for instance, is the inevitable growth in demand for public transport, which is likely to increase by more than 50%. This saturation of workers and their families could prove to be too much, even for the City. Think of rush hour!

But there are also things standing in the way of this prediction which, although problematic, may delay the influx of people. The most obvious is unaffordable housing and a lack of skilled employees. Commenting on the skills shortage, Adzuna co-founder Andrew Hunter said "the recovery certainly has the capacity to progress further and faster, but at the moment there’s a disconnection between our abilities and our economic climate. It’s like standing outside your recently fixed up car, tuned up and ready to go, only to realise you’ve lost the keys.”

Not only do we lack skill sets at high levels, we are also now expecting to lose a lot of lower level jobs as automation continues to take over. Big data requires more and more technical capacity and has room for less and less human error. As machines can do jobs faster, with more accuracy and without taking holidays, this poses the question; what will happen to London’s lower-skilled workers? While the number of jobs is rising, many can only be filled by highly skilled workers (statisticians, financial professionals and big data analysts), leaving those without major qualifications treading water in the most expensive city in the UK.

According to London Enterprise Panel, 49% of workers will consider leaving London if housing costs continue to rise, but do they have to? Should they? If the technical skills shortage is successfully tackled, studies have also shown that 80% of London’s tech companies say they could grow quicker if this is addressed. This would offer more opportunities at a variety of levels, and take another baby step towards a future in which there’s something for everyone.

All The Wrong Reasons

I’ve probably been spending too much time surfing the internet, but it seems like every site has links to some kind of helpful list; in just the last hour I’ve taken in “6 Unique Design Ideas for Small Conservatories” (interesting use of the word “unique”), “12 Awesome Business Ideas” and “The 13 Most Popular Dogs” – (why stop at 10?). So, in the same spirit, here’s an indispensable – and short - list of reward “facts” that turned out to be myths.
   
The flight risk

We’ve all come across them – the employee that is on the cusp of moving to that new, better role that our company just can’t afford to lose. I can recall only having been in a reward role for about a month when I was presented with my first case. Mike, a systems engineer, was sitting on two job offers but wanted to give the company a chance to respond before he resigned. It took a particularly generous interpretation of Computer Economics pay data to generate the case for giving Mike a pay rise, but it saved the day, and Mike stayed. As he did the second and third times the offers rolled in. I noticed on LinkedIn a few months ago that Mike had recently retired. From a systems role in the same company where I first encountered him.

Job titles aren’t important

Another one you are probably familiar with. “Call me anything you want – doesn’t matter to me. It’s what you pay me that counts”. It’s a point of view I’ve heard a few times. Usually from Managing Directors or Chief Executives.

My experience has been pretty much the opposite, and I’ve always believed in being as generous as you can with something that costs nothing. Although there are limits – just ask the people who were appointed as “Retail Jedi’s”. I’ve never worked with a Chief Fun Officer - a different kind of CFO.

There must be market data for this job

I’ve had the privilege of working in a variety of industries amongst actuaries, engineers, accountants and geophysicists, where the uncertainties of everyday life can be diminished if not eradicated by gathering data. Unfortunately, because salaries are expressed as a number, this would often prompt managers in these professions to think that salary benchmarking was a science, rather than an art. And that my scepticism about our ability to price a senior thermonuclear plastics engineer in the ML62 post code was misplaced. And yet there are so many caveats to survey data that it’s hard to treat it as anything other than something of an estimate. Indeed, I once had a complaint from a delegate on a CIPD reward course about a session I did on reasons why market data might be less than wholly accurate. Proving President Garfield (remember him?) right when he said “The truth will set you free, but first it will make you miserable.”

Upper quartile pay for upper quartile performance

It’s one of those axioms that seem so inherently logical. The cream floats to the top etc. As someone who had designed and implemented bonus plans and pay for performance schemes, the high pay/performance mantra seemed plausible, even if it was hard to evidence in the businesses I worked for.

And yet as any West Ham United supporter can tell you, you can have a million pound paybill out on the pitch, and still get relegated. (Even with 42 points, as happened in 2003. I always wanted my club to set records and unfortunately this remains one). The plausibility of upper quartile pay delivering equivalent performance took an even bigger knock when I was given the opportunity to advise some charities on pay – meeting people earning less than half of the private sector peers, and with three or four times the drive, talent and enthusiasm. I’m with Dan Pink when he says “the best way to use money as a motivator is to take the issue of money off the table so people concentrate on the work”.
 

- Alan Measures, Director of Reward at Moog Inc.

Alan Measures is Global Director of Reward at Moog Inc, a worldwide designer, manufacturer, and integrator of precision control components and systems. He has over 20 years of reward experience from a variety of industries, and has worked for Boots The Chemists, Zurich Financial Services/Allied Dunbar, Bass Brewers, Hewitt Associates, Prudential and Marathon Oil.

Alan holds a B.Sc. degree in economics from the University of Wales. A member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel & Development (CIPD), he spent 8 years as a tutor on CIPD reward courses and is a member of the CIPD Reward Forum.

In his spare time Alan endures a life long affiliation to West Ham United, while his family and neighbours endure his passion for playing the guitar and the mistaken belief that volume is a substitute for talent.