How to Manage Older Workers - Essay Example

Introduction: With the changing trends in almost every aspect of the world, one of the other changing elements is the aging groups of people in the countries. The highest number of people across the world falls into the age groups of 16 – 64. This makes the majority of the population in the group which is slowly moving into the aged group of workers. This report aims at dealing with the issues that are found in the staff planning due to the higher number of middle aged people and older workers being a part of the different jobs (Fullerton, 1995). The report will deal with a brief overview of how people work at different ages and will also include a brief discussion whether the working ability reduces over time. This will be followed with a discussion of the advantages and disadvantages of older people working in a work place and the management of older workers. The paper will finally discuss the effects of older workers on the organization as a whole. Work at Different Ages: In a report by Todd J. Maurer, Francisco G. Barbeite, the author has dealt with the issue of relationship and job performance. The report has provided a deep and step by step focus on the relationship (Maurer, Barbeite, 2002). The report has clearly shown that there is no clear relationship between job performance and the age of the people. The article clearly shows that the most important aspect of any job is the performance of the person. However if a person does not perform well, the chances are low for the person to stay on in the same job for a longer time. It is also clear that there is no one way to judge the performance of older or younger people at a job to be compared or to be judged in terms of performance. It would be incorrect to judge an young and older employee based on the tasks that are given to them. There is a high possibility that with bias the older person would have been given a more difficult task than the younger or vice versa. The research also highlights that the relationship between performance and age is a linear one, i.e. with the increase in age, the performance of the individual increases or decreases consistently. The author also explains, ‘that job performance is almost always multidimensional, meaning the work requires more than one important type of behavior or skill for overall success. Thus if some workers focus their efforts on one part of a job and other workers focus their efforts on other parts of a job, their overall performance may be similar, even though they reached the performance level through allocating their efforts differently. If older workers' abilities or skills decline in one aspect of work, they may focus their efforts on another aspect to achieve the same overall level of success’ (Maurer, Barbeite, 2002). The most essential aspect to understand here is that the most essential for higher job performance is the involvement of people in higher learning activities and also in development of new skills. It can be noted that the learning, development are two major aspect and concerns for aging workers and the business as a whole. The author however has also explained that irrespective of the age of the person, the impact of not participating in newer learning and skill development can still lead the younger workers to also be equally affected and can have a direct impact on the motivation and skills and job performance of the person. There has been a minimal research that is available in terms of the level of performance and the age correlation. As Maurer right notes, ‘As rapid changes in technology and in business strategies demand new skills of workers at midlife and beyond in order to continue to perform their jobs, it is important that older workers (and younger ones) continue to be involved in learning and developing their skills at work’ (Maurer, 2002). In the case of a few organizations, they are bias to provide technical training and development to the older people. This also in a number of ways leads to a discrimination against the older people. There are numerous advantages and disadvantages of hiring and staffing older people in an organization. These will be discussed in the following sections. Advantages of Older Workers at Workplace: There are a number of benefits in hiring older workers at workplaces and the employers tend to receive a solid advantage in the recruitment of the older people. The first and most noted point is that the older workforce tends to be very reliable, dedicated, and is also very loyal to their jobs. The older generation has been noted to be very dedicated to what they do along with ensuring high quality of work. There is a sense of responsibility that is seen in the older workers which in turn makes them more dedicated to what they do. Also, compared to the younger generation, it has been noted that there is a sense of punctuality among the older workers and most of them are noted to arrive on time more than the younger workers. The older generation also tends to have strong levels of integrity and principles and a high devotion to truth. This makes them very honest with their working and ways of dealing. One of the other major differences among older employees is that they tend to be better listeners and tend to be trained more easily than the younger due to this characteristic. Also, the older employees are known to be more detail oriented and focused with a great attention to detail. In an article by Bastein, he says, ‘One business owner I know once told me that one of his older workers saved his company more than $50,000 on one large mailing job. The 75-year-old clerical worker recognized that all the ZIP codes were off by one digit. Neither the owner's mailing house nor his degreed and highly paid marketing manager had noticed it’ (Bastein, 2006). One of the many other things that is seen is that the older people tend to take a lot more pride in the job they do and work towards ensuring the work is well done, when compared to the younger generation who prefer to simply complete the work and leave. There is also noted to be more organizational skills among the older workers when compared to the younger and this means that the older workers tend to employee people more of their own age which in turn leads to million man hours lost each year due to the disorganization (Bastein, 2006). Other advantages include, the maturity levels, the efficiency and confidence, and also communication skills that the older people tend to have. Older people tend to be more aware that working for a company is more than simply taking a pay check from the organization and since the organization is a source of income to them, they tend to give in their best in terms of skills as well as values and thereby allow to cut the costs for the organization as well. Disadvantages of Older Workers at Workplace: After having understood the advantages of hiring older people in the company, it is essential to gain a clear perspective on the disadvantages that are present in the older people being a part of the workforce. In a research that was conducted by the Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM), 2006, post the interviews and surveys conducted with the various human resources professionals, the following were considered to be the disadvantages of hiring older people for the workforce in companies (SHRM, 2006). a) The older generations are seen to have a higher value for relationships rather than the career track. In the current world where every person is career driven the chances of clashes and higher conflicts among the employees as well as with the younger bosses is quite possible. This in turn will lead to productivity issues within the company. b) Another very obvious issue is that the older workers tend to have problems in manual labor positions for the simple reasons like limited physical abilities or arthritis problems (SHRM, 2006). This in turn can lead to difficulties in standing for long periods or even difficulties in repetitive lifting. c) Older people also tend to be short terms employees either due to their age which might be closing retirement or even due to inability to keep up with the technological developments within the company. This makes them leave the organization sooner. d) There is also a higher need for health and safety regulations when the company has a number of older people at work. The organizations might also face a lowered level of productivity and safety issues within the company. e) The research explains, ‘Older workers have more trouble with the physical demands of the job, and Older workers have less opportunity for longevity; closer to retirement’ (SHRM, 2006). f) Possible conflicts with the Medicare earning limitations along with chances of lower productive levels as well. Managing Older Workers: Based on the discussions above, it is evident that older workers are to be managed in a slightly different way than the norm. They have the experience in the field and demand respect from the management both for their experience and age. Incentives and increments do not motivate them as much as younger workers, as they will be retiring shortly. They require benefits such as extensive health covers and pension benefits, rather than bonus payments and incentives (Brill, 2010). The main motivating factor for older workers is the extent to which they are included in the projects and the level of importance given to them. The management has to consistently maintain communication with them regarding the value of their duties and projects. The management also has to communicate its willingness to support the older employees wherever necessary. The management has to understand the difficulties of older workers and not insinuate them for lesser efforts, as this will de motivate the employees. Instead, they have to be allowed to work at their own pace. All the employees, irrespective of their generation should adhere to the same work schedule, but the sensitivity of management towards employees meeting the deadlines should be generation dependent (Reh, 2010). This will ensure that the older employees are not discriminated and remove any conflicts that may arise. Experience and knowledge often raise conflicts within an establishment. When a younger management which focuses on innovative thinking and use of technology has some older employees working for them, it often leads to conflicts. The best thing to do in this case is to involve the older employees and train them in the use of new systems rather than ignoring them (Hernandez, 2010). These are some of the measures to be kept in mind when managing older employees in an organization. Older Workers and the Organization: Older workers tend to have a higher level of ethics and principles this in turn leads to a more effective and ethical workplace. One of the many important aspects of every business is to provide high levels of ethical behavior and also excellent customer service. An organization that employs older workers tends to be able to meet both these aspects. It is important to realize that the older workers tend to be much more loyal to the company. This is very beneficial to the employers as there is a surety that the employees will not leave and hence it is worth the investment. As explained by Syedain in her report, it is clear that the current trend is such that the older workers tend to ask for extension at their jobs. She explains, ‘According to KEF, the manufacturers' organization, which represents manufacturers, almost half the workers in member companies who reached retirement age in the 12 months to April 2009 asked to work on, and 84 per cent of them were accommodated by their employers’ (Syedain, 2010). Syedain has also brought out the fact that employers tend to accept the older workers to continue at their jobs for the simple reason that the employees are ethical, loyal, and pay a lot of attention to detail. As seen in the research that was conducted by SHRM (2006), most of the human resource managers have brought out the point that the older workers tend to be team players along with the high levels of wisdom, emotional intelligence and productive. Most of the managers and the organizations believe that the older workers are very dependable and are also very good in terms of their attendance and the timeliness. Despite all of the disadvantages and difficulties of having the older workers in an organization the staff planning tends to work better with the older employees working longer. One of the few reasons that employees tend to work longer is the recession that has hit the world economy. Syedain in her article has brought out an excellent point by Aimee Chapple, the UK head for talent and organization at Accenture, ‘Prerecession, more of those people might have taken early retirement. But the recession will encourage people to work on’ (Syedain, 2010). Considering the staff planning in any organization will be faced with a small problem as the expected employees will not want to exit the company. However the number of benefits of this is much higher than the issues that might be present in hiring newer employees and the huge amounts of investments that go into training the new recruits. Conclusions: The staff planning in every organization is an essential aspect for the success of the business. However in the current times, especially post the recession, it has been noted that the older employees tend to want to work on more than their actual term of work. This in a number of ways leads the staff planning team plans to be hindered due to the unsure nature of the employment, however, considering the level of benefits that are gained with the older employees staying in the jobs, this seems to be less of an issue. In conclusion it is safe to say that with the current age groups and the current breakup of the ages across the world, a majority of the people will be reaching their retirement age soon, and it is for the staff planning teams to consider this and to be prepared for the change in the workforce age groups. According to Kyre, of the Employers Forum of Age, ‘You will suddenly see more older people in the workplace and that will drive the cultural change,.. In 10 or 20 years, they could be in the majority’ (Syedain, 2010). Hence the issue of staff planning is relatively low when compared to the possible shift which is due to be present in the near future. Organizations should keep this in mind and plan their staffing accordingly to reduce the confusions and chaos of planning in the future. Bibliography Brill, Pat. Managing the Older Employee. 2010. 11 03 2010 . Fullerton, H. N. . (1995). Labor Force Projections to 2008: Steady Growth and Changing Composition. Monthly Labor Review . 118 (November ), 19–32. Hashi Syedain. (2010). A new Era for age. People Management. (5p), p18-22. Hernandez, Krystle. How to manage older workers? 2010. 12 03 2010 . Reh, F. John. How To Manage Older Workers. 2010. 11 03 2010 . SHRM. (2006). Older Workers. HR: Leading People, Leading Organisations. August (SHRM Online Weekly Online Survey). Stephen Bastien. (2006). 12 Benefits of Hiring Older Workers. Available: http://www.entrepreneur.com/humanresources/hiring/article167500.html. Last accessed 14 March 2010. Todd J. Maurer, Francisco G. Barbeite. (2002). Job Performance . Encyclopedia of Aging. Ed. David J. Ekerdt.. 2 (Macmillan Reference USA), p744-747. Read More