Capitalizing on the New Mature Workforce - Assignment Example

Evaluation of the Article – Capitalizing on the New Mature Workforce The article makes an analysis of the growing decrease in the number of young workers in contrast to the young boomers of the 20th century. The author points out that in the coming years the workforce will primarily constitute of aged baby boomers which will result in a shortage of workforce and a brain drain of skilled workers as many of them will enter into their retirement ages and despite this changing scenario organizations are still applying the same strategies which were used to incorporate the younger workforce. However, this would not be a viable option in the coming years and hence policy makers are coming up with newer strategies aimed at capitalizing the experience and skills of the mature workforce. This article focuses on such strategies which includes forecasting the workforce aging trends, improving the ability to recruit a mature workforce, provision of flexible retirement programs with suitable benefits and providing a congenial work culture for the older workforce. Only such a reworked workforce strategy will help the progress of any organization in the coming years. The youngest working class of the present generation falls under the age group of 40 years while the oldest are in their early 60’s. Studies also reveal that the 18-34 age group population is expected to brow only by 3% over the next decade. The population which is expected to show substantial growth will be those aged 55 years or above which would result in a shortage of several millions of workers. The human resource department in many organizations is already feeling the pinch as hiring the right candidates for a job has become increasingly difficult. But this study analysis that despite the difficulties faced by organization in hiring the right talent they continue to follow hiring strategies that target the younger generation of workers which is becoming increasingly scarce. Additionally, when the mature workforce leave the company after their service they carry along with them all their valuable contacts and expertise which the younger working class will definitely lack. Hence recruiting and retaining the mature workforce would be a more viable option in the given conditions. Thus the present study makes an analysis of suitable policy changes which are required to be undertaken by companies to utilize the potential of the mature workforce as long as they are physically and mentally active. The research methodology followed in the study is based on the trends adopted by organizations currently to rework the workforce strategies in order to accommodate the mature working generation as against the previous policies which were used for employing a younger generation. Given that these strategies are being increasingly adopted by various organizations the study results can be generalized to a larger population and hence the study seemed to have a good external validity. Additionally since the ageing workforce is a global problem the study results can be replicated in different settings to obtain concordant results as all organizations across the globe want to be successful. And when results are proving that retaining the mature workforce within an organization would only have beneficial effects, many organizations would definitely be willing to adopt the various strategies proposed. A major limitation in the study is that it has not specified its sample or its size which would have strengthened the validity of the study. The study is useful in many ways as it deals with the problems faced by the mature workforce who currently constitute a large proportion of workers in an organization and proposes ways to deal with the issues. The solutions offered focuses on reworking employee demographic patterns which would help the organization to have a better insight on their employee status, implement steps to recruit older workers and also introduce viable retirement programs and benefits to aid in the retention and motivation of the older employees, and finally providing a friendly working environment that encourages and values the experience and skills of the older generation. The study has several potential implications for both the mature working population and the organizations. The new strategies, if introduced, will enable the companies to capitalize on the experience and skills of the mature workforce thus giving them an advantage over companies which recruit a younger workforce and spend millions of dollars for their training. In addition, introducing flex retirement options for the talented mature workforce in keeping with the company policies and objectives would benefit both the employer as well as the worker. Introduction of the recent Pension Protection Act, which allows older employees to receive defined benefits for their continued after retirement, has generated considerable excitement among the older working class. The article provides a good insight to Human Resource Managers about the need to effectively retain mature employees in the coming years by implementing the right policy changes and strategies within the organization. The article can be linked to various aspects covered in the lecture that includes organizational development, experimental validity of the study, the employment act that forbids age discrimination, recruitment strategies, creating a pay-for-knowledge workforce, work quality management, and promoting effective teamwork within an organization. Organizational development focuses on bringing about the right changes within an organization that would create a positive work environment. The study stresses this by valuing and respecting the experience and age of mature workers and giving them the right recognition within the organization. This would only encourage them to perform better. The study has a strong external validity due to its potential application to many organizations worldwide as most of the organizations are facing stiff challenges in recruiting the right people. The article also protects the employment act against age discrimination in the workplace. The company should retain mature employees based on their work and performance record without any bias to their age. The lecture notes that organizations rehire people who have been consistent in their performance and have a low absentee record and these two recruitment strategies would apply in case of rehiring mature workforce. The article also supports the pay-for-knowledge pay system which is included in the notes. Mature employees would be willing to work with this pay system as they would be more accommodative to payroll changes compared to the younger generation of workers. Additionally mature workers would be more responsive to work quality management that includes employee behavior, involvement, and execution of work strategies. They would also be more willing to work as a team as teamwork will require an experienced leader to lead the team. The contributions of a mature employee to a team would enable the team to face tough situations as the experience of a mature member would come in handy to solve the problem. The article pertains to organizational psychology as it primarily deals with capitalizing the working potential of mature workers through psychological assessment of the current workplace strategies and by making the necessary changes which would enable an organization to retain the experience and skills of a mature generation of employees. The study encompasses the key elements of organizational development and providing equal working opportunities to talented individuals irrespective of their age, class or gender. It also focuses on retaining employees within an organization through innovative pay systems and critical management of employee skills as put forth in the text and lecture discussions. In addition to all the above the critical work-life balance which is expected by every employee in today’s world could be achieved by recruiting mature workers as due to their flexible working schedules, these employees would be able to provide a better work output. Hence a lot of points cited in the lecture notes have coincided with the article taken for the study. Reference 1. Dychtwald, Ken and David Baxter. “Capitalizing on the new Mature Workforce.” Public Personnel Management 36.4 (2007):325 Read More