Supervisory Leadership

What can we do to attract and retain older workers?

If you want to attract or retain older workers as part of your workforce management strategy, there are several things you have to consider. Here are some of them.

Understand why they want to keep working. Some folks need to keep working for the money. But others may want the camaraderie of a workplace, or to make a contribution. That may mean different employment plans and different recruiting strategies.

Make sure your agreement works with their pension, Social Security benefits, and health insurance. There's a tangle of policies and regulations that affect the income a person can earn while drawing benefits from any form of retirement program. There's a comparable tangle on health benefits.

You may need union approval of a scheme to retain or hire or hire back older workers. If you've got a union shop, you'll certainly need union support.

You will need to consider different kinds of flexibility. Some older workers may want time off for things like playing golf or caring for grandchildren and need a flexible schedule that allows them to do that. Others may want longer blocks of time off for trips, or to live in another location for part of the year.

Older workers usually take less sick days in the normal course of business and are more punctual than their younger colleagues. But they are more likely to need long periods off for significant health events like bypass or other surgery.

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