According to Ministry of Manpower estimates, 19% of Singapore's labour force will be aged 55 or above by the year 2020. That compares with just 8% in 1998. By extending the retirement age and creating new initiatives to re-employ ageing workers and provide for their recruitment and training, the Singapore Government has made it easier for older workers to remain active in the workforce over the past decade. Better education and changing perceptions have also helped to keep older workers employed.
Liak Teng Lit, CEO, Alexandra Hospital, explains that cultural expectations of ageing people are different now. "There was a time when an elderly person was supposed to be inactive, quiet and done with his years of work, he says. "Nowadays, most people in their fifties and sixties are physically healthy.
The significant increase in the numbers of ageing workers indicates a shift in the workforce which employers cannot ignore. And nor should they. There are many advantages to having older workers in an organisation and retaining them could well be in the company's best interests.
Older workers enrich the workplace in ways which employers often dismiss in preference to quantifiable skills and updated certificates. Liak says the wealth of knowledge that older workers can provide through experience is more difficult to replace or replicate than the modern abilities of younger workers. Although he does not downplay the importance of having Generation Y workers in an organisation, he emphasises the need to value the contributions of ageing workers similarly. "In your twenties, your assets are the new things you've learned which keep the workforce updated, like technology skills. In your forties and up, your asset is your wisdom.
Ageing employees also tend to be more loyal to their organisation. "Younger workers are more mobile so they are more likely to take their updated skills and use them elsewhere, whereas older people have a deeper sense of commitment, says Peter Cappelli, director, Centre for Human Resources, University of Pennsylvania. He says there is a need then for HR to continue harnessing the abilities of older workers so they continue to feel that their contributions are valued.
Alexander Melchers, General Manager of C. Melchers Singapore, believes companies should examine their policies to ensure their older workers' presence is felt in the workplace. It is important to continue training opportunities so they can upgrade skills and contribute on the same levels as younger workers with fresh knowledge. "We need to ask ourselves - how do we ensure leadership among these workers? How are we keeping ageing workers updated? How do we deal with evaluations of elder workers?
However, Melchers cautions employers to take specific skills and roles into account when looking into upgrading skills. In some jobs, there is room for improvement but in others, there are only so many skills to accumulate, so a worker's skill level might not change with his years of experience. For example, after twenty years, a bus driver is just as skilled as he was after five or ten years behind the wheel. In this sort of situation, upgrading is not relevant. The alternative is to make the most of older employees' experience. Employers might find it helpful to consult older workers on what they have experienced and seen in the industry.
Employers should also ensure that their company environment is conducive to the ageing worker. The workplace must be accommodating so older workers don't feel marginalised, particularly if they are surrounded by younger employees. Melchers recommends comfortable chairs and the installation of wider computer screens as some small measures that may be helpful. But take heed not to cater so much to ageing workers that you inadvertently create a prejudice against the younger ones. Melchers warns that flexibility is important but an imbalanced approach can be more disruptive to the working environment.
Attitude, not aptitude
Cappelli says older people are just as good as anybody in typical work tasks, and the research proves him right. Results in numerous studies testing the abilities of older workers show high levels of competence in everything except solving 'novel' problems in timed exercises. "So unless your older workers plan on taking the SAT tests, you're not going to have any trouble, he jokes. He says the challenge is not in worker capabilities, but in changing the perceptions of employers who put dates of birth before the talents of their workers.
Melchers agrees that common paradigms and perceptions of the ageing population must change. "We need to realise we can't look at traditional age milestones to determine the abilities and worth of employees anymore, he says. Rather, companies which embrace this open-minded concept have a greater chance of maximising the potential of their ageing workers. Liak shares the same opinion, but also reminds employers not to pigeon-hole workers. He says a good attitude supersedes age in any type of job. For this reason, he believes employers should be 'age-blind' when it comes to appraising and hiring older workers.
Employers should not only examine their own perceptions of ageing workers but also address those of other workers in the organisation. Common prejudices which are seen as harmless outside the workplace can cause more tension within the office environment. Cappelli discusses the tendency for younger supervisors to discriminate against older workers, mostly out of fear of their seniority. "Younger workers hold on to their biases because they either feel intimidated by their contrasting lack of experience or they're unsure how to engage older people in a working context, he explains.
Liak proposes training and interventions as solutions to increase awareness and resolutions of such conflicts. He also recognises that the threat of punitive actions, including lawsuits, typically deters young people from discriminating against the elderly in the workplace. However, employers should avoid relying on this possibility, as it can reinforce negative thinking in the workplace.
So how can employers promote understanding between two key demographics in the workplace? Liak suggests mentoring programmes. If the older workers mentor younger employees, they not only utilise their unique wisdom and experience but they create a positive, non-threatening relationship which adds to an accepting overall working environment.
Employers should also recognise that cultural issues can keep older people from working. In Singapore, some ageing employees have to reconcile the traditional concept that people should not work into their golden years. There is concern for the conclusions that others might draw - will people assume these workers are forced to remain employed because they don't have enough money saved? Similar cultural notions indirectly affect older workers' children as well, who might pressure their parents to stop working as a result. The perception is that children who allow their parents to keep working are not providing financial support to enable their retirement.
Finances should not be the only motivating factor and companies must make their ageing workers aware of this. Employees must tune into their appetite for job satisfaction and maximisation of their skills. These are the core factors which compel people to stay working at a later age - they feel that work is integral to their personality and self-worth. If there is an increased encouragement of self-interest within the workplace, older employees will feel supported in their decision to keep working, lessening the pressures of outside perceptions.