Fifty-year-old Wong Wah Yong Daisy may not be the average career woman whose sole aim is to scale the career path vertically. She has always put the needs of others before herself and has found tremendous joy in serving others.
Family and motherhood commitments occupied her initial attention. But once her only son turned 14, she decided to join the workforce. For the last 10 years, she has been working at the Centrepoint 7-11 store, and loves meeting and delivering good service to her customers.
Through the years, she has undergone numerous training programs and receives commendation and incentives for her excellent service. Wong is one of the many ageing Singaporean workers who does her job well. Unfortunately, increased job pressure and fast paced work levels, have led many to believe that age affects performance and consequently, a form of age discrimination has crept into the recruitment processes of many employers across the world.
Many employers have begun to believe that recruiting young and fresh employees is the perfect way to counter the increasing pressures of today's working life. If you are one of them, you are mistaken. Older workers are not only competent in matching their skills to their younger counterparts, they are also capable of learning and adapting to new ways of working. There are many shining examples - notably, in the food industries and supermarkets, where some employers have gone the extra mile to recruit older workers.
In Singapore, authorities have become aware of the demographic trends and their consequences, and realise that new strategies need to be developed to deal with the 'ageist attitude' within the workforce. Employers too need to counter the pressing challenges of engaging the older workforce with innovative HR practices and policies.
Research conducted all across the globe shows that older workers are less likely to be granted or seek access to vocational training. Most employers think that employees reaching their older years do not need further development or that their responses to training programs are slower than younger recruits. But this is not true for all employers. In fact, leading retailer, Cold Storage Group (CSG), in partnership with the Singapore Workforce Development Agency (WDA), launched a year-long community project in April this year. The key objectives of the 'Live to Learn, Back to Work' project were to help the CSG workforce stay agile and competitive through skills development. In addition, CSG aimed to promote the retail industry as an attractive career choice and to enhance the public's view of older workers as valuable employees.
"At Cold Storage Group, we have always advocated continuous learning and we make this possible by developing a comprehensive training plan for each business within the group, from Giant Supermarket to Guardian Health and Beauty chain.
Programs conducted are aimed at upgrading our team members and especially the older workers so that they stay in touch with new developments in retail and the company," says Cynthia Lee, group human resources manager from Cold Storage Group. She adds: "Ad-hoc briefings are also conducted to equip our team members with the latest knowledge on new products and processes. These inevitably ensure that older workers are kept abreast of events related to their workplace. Also, they attend refresher courses and customer service programs."
The project marks strong support for WDA's Continuing Education and Training (CET) framework for the retail sector, which was piloted in the retail sector last year. "A key focus of the WDA will be to work with retailers to redesign jobs and offer more employment opportunities to mature Singaporeans, but also to leverage on the skills of mature workers as a comparative advantage for retailers in Singapore," says Hawazi Daipi, senior parliamentary secretary for manpower and education.
In another progressive bid, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) set up a Tripartite Committee in March 2005 to holistically examine and forge a tripartite consensus on how the employability and cost competitiveness of mature workers can be enhanced. The Tripartite Committee recognises that generally, older workers are considered to be those aged 50 and above. In 2004, Singapore's workforce aged 50 and above comprised 22% of labour force, and this is projected to increase to 29% by 2015.
Undeniably, the Singapore labour force is growing older. Moreover, companies that believe mature workers can adapt and fit into their organisations have cited that these employees have the relevant skills and work experience are more mature and reliable, and are less likely to job-hop. In addition, they are able to impart necessary knowledge and mentor younger staff. The Tripartite Committee aims to help older workers stay employed for longer. The existing measures in place include raising their skill levels, redesigning jobs to make them more suitable, and lowering employers' CPF contribution rates for workers aged 50 and above so as to encourage employers to retain these workers and make it easier for them to find jobs.
"The real key, especially for organisations, is to start early on before workers reach an age where they get backed into a corner, where they don't have the skills that are necessary for the changed environment. So if organisations recognise that lifelong learning can keep these workers agile enough, so that they will continue to play a valuable role on an ongoing basis. Then we would not be asking ourselves, where would they fit? They would fit everywhere. If someone has knowledge and experience in one industry, and as they age and they continue to learn and adapt and change to what is happening in that industry, they will continue to be valuable in that industry," says Bob Goodman, chairman and chief executive officer, Asia-Pacific, Hudson Highland Group.
In terms of social activities, the interests of an older workforce are also there in the minds of organisations. Lee elaborates: "We believe in striking a balance in the employment of older workers in our workforce. Being retailers, we have to constantly keep up with the demands of customers in being efficient and in providing good service as well as remaining profitable. Our primary aim is to get a good fit for the jobs available so older workers must be able to adapt to our working environment, which can be physically demanding, and require some level of literacy and numeric skills, along with an ability to provide good service and work in shifts. In general, as long as these older workers are physically fit and mentally strong, or have special skills such as butchery and fish cutting; we are confident they can fit in well with the retail work environment." Lee adds: "We also have a performance based reward system that encourages greater productivity of our older workforce. Rewards are accorded to workers, which motivates them to increase their productivity and remain competitive and relevant to the organisation."
Among job opportunities that are currently open for older workers in Singapore, there are a variety of job vacancies such as cashiers, sales assistants, storekeepers and supervisors, among others. Similarly, in SMRT, where 50% of the workforce comprises of mature workers, no policies that positively discriminate in terms of age can be found, says Yeo Meng Hin, executive vice president, corporate services. He adds that mature taxi drivers are given incentives for staying on road every six months and adds that regular health checkups, like eyesight tests and tests of hearing are done for the mature workforce. To cut a long story short, older workers are an integral part of the workforce. They have shown that they are patient and willing to learn and make good coaches for younger staff. In terms of customer service, they take the time and have the patience to serve their customers well. They are also very good with details - a quality important in any worker. In addition, most older workers are reliable and dedicated to their work. And as Goodman puts it: "You can't have 15 years of knowledge and experience if you have only been in a workplace for five or 10 years, no matter how smart you are." So, let's keep the old lamp burning. After all, old is gold! HRM