The ageing workforce

Since the abolition of the default retirement age in 2011, workforce demographics have changed greatly and most businesses now have a larger population of older workers than a decade ago. It should be obvious that an ageing workforce can provide us with experience, knowledge, and skills that perhaps are lacking in younger counterparts, but should we be making provisions for our older workers to ensure that performance is not affected by the natural ageing process? Leaders and managers could make simple changes that can make significant differences to the possible performance deficits we may expect when working with older colleagues. One simple change suggested by Dr. Vanessa Beck of the University of Bristol is providing access to fans and cold water for menopausal women. Research that she has undertaken shows that when adaptations are made older workers’ contributions to the workforce remain significant. Lots of these changes only need to make in the short term and will support valuable colleagues through life transitions.

You can read more on this from the Institute of Leadership and Management here:

Untapped Talent: Can the over 50s bridge the leadership skills gap? https://www.institutelm.com/resourceLibrary/UntappedTalent.html