Recently 3 significant reports have been released that provide timely insights into what is happening in NZ workplaces as a consequence of the ageing of the population.
On Tuesday Statistics NZ released the 2013 Census. The EEO Trust in collaboration with AUT and the Auckland Chamber of Commerce released their first Quarterly Diversity Survey of 1468 NZ companies. Then the Business NZ, Southern Cross, Gallagher Bassett Wellness in the Workplace Survey was released on Wednesday.

Highlights

• The number of people aged 65 years and over has continued to increase, no surprises.
• What was significant from a labour market perspective is that the number of people aged 50–69  had increased by 21.5 percent since 2006. People in this age range now make up 23.3 percent of the population, compared with 20.2 percent in 2006. This is the segment likely to be considering retirement, many of whom will be in your workforce.
• There are huge regional variations with some regions ageing much faster.
• The percentage of people 65 years and over who are employed has nearly doubled since 2001. In 2013, 22.1 percent of those aged 65 years and over were employed compared with 11.4 percent in 2001. By 2031 it is estimated that 31 percent of people over 65 will still be in the workforce and will make up 12 per cent of the labour market.
• In the EEO survey managing an ageing workforce emerged as the leading issue for New Zealand’s larger companies while wellbeing and flexibility were the top concerns for the country’s small and medium organisations. “Despite ageing being identified as the top issue among larger companies, over 60% of organisations have neither a policy or programme in place to manage or support an aging workforce” the report concluded
• From the Wellness in the Workplace survey, only a small proportion (12.6%) of enterprises have any policies or arrangements in place for older workers.

My conclusions

• New Zealands population is ageing rapidly. There are regional variations, no one is immune from the shifts that are happening.
• Your older workers are staying on at work through choice and necessity. This will only increase.
• Companies are now starting to recognise this as a challenge.  My perception is that the level of awareness has changed markedly over the past 12 months
• Very few organisations have policies or practices in place or know how to approach the challenge.

I have now been working with organisations in NZ and Australia on the challenges of ageing workforces for over 3 years. Over the past year I have worked with over 20 large and small businesses in New Zealand and Australia, run workshops, spoken at various business events and presented at an international conference.

What I am learning

• The ageing of the workforce is primarily a business issue, not an HR or diversity issue. It must be approached a such.
• A strategic approach that is linked to real business imperatives is required.
• Companies if they are going to address the challenges and opportunities must first understand the risks they face and then develop strategies that address their unique situation.
• While policies such as flexibility are important, what is more important is the day to day practices in a company.
• The focus needs to be on achieving a culture change if you are going to manage the risks and realise the opportunities.
• This is not just about older workers, it is about engaging with employees across all life stages. How a company works with its older workers does provide a lenses into how it works with people across all life stages.

To bring a very human perspective to the challenge. I met a wonderful woman from New York at the International Federation on Ageing conference. This was her perspective, “What do I want when I grow old? I want to be myself and that may well involve work”
How we can assist
Every organisation is different yet there are some common themes. We recommend that companies before rushing into running still more workshops or developing new policies undertake a stocktake. Our methodology can assist you to identify your business risks and develop an evidence informed strategy. This in our experience  provides a sound basis for developing policies and programmes and frankly can save you a lot of time (and money) down the track. The approach we use also engages the key stakeholders and starts the culture change process. We have also developed a cluster approach for small businesses and are seeing some very innovative strategies emerge when a group of 4 non-competing SME’s work together on understanding their workforces and developing practical strategies.

I would be happy to talk further about the development of a Mature Aged Workers Strategy (MAWS) for your organisation or if you are an SME how we might start a cluster in your area. Also happy to talk about speaking engagements. Email me at geoff@partnersinchange.co.nz