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An employers guide to older workers: How to win them back and convince them to stay
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An employers guide to older workers:
How to win them back and convince them to stay

Barbara McIntosh, Ph.D.































The author wishes to thank Sara Schaeffner for her research and writing assistance and Margaret
Erickson, Erich Larisch, and Gale Gibson, U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training
Administration, for their editorial assistance.

The author can be contacted at the School of Business Administration, University of Vermont,
Burlington, VT 05405. mcintosh@bsad.uvm.edu





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An employers guide to older workers:
How to win them back and convince them to stay

Executive Summary

Older workers are a resource we can no longer afford to waste! Projected tight labor
markets require us to better use our experienced mature workers. This does not mean business as
usual, however. We must change our strategies and practices in the 3Rs,
Recruitment, Retention, and Retraining.

Visibility is key in recruitment. It is important to target this older worker market, and
network more effectively. Reach out. Americans over 50 years of age are the fastest growing
group of internet users, and there are an increasing number of websites aimed at employment
opportunities for older workers. One-Stop-Centers, required under the federal Workforce
Investment Act, are another source. To be successful in recruitment we must also change our
image. Ask yourself the question: Are we an older worker friendly organization?

Never let them go Employees will want to keep working if the work is 1) interesting
and challenging and 2) flexible. Reevaluating career objectives throughout the employees
tenure will reinforce their importance to the firm. All employees want to feel valued, and
communication and feedback are key. Respect throughout the company can be strengthened
through diversity training. The second major component of retention is flexibility. We can
achieve flexibility through reorganization of both hours-of-work and compensation packages.
We can accommodate the demand for a different work/leisure mix through flex-time, part-time,
contract, and phased retirement programs. We can also restructure the salary/benefit package
and pro-rate benefits.
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Training and retraining are directly linked to retaining older workers and productivity.
We must profile the adult learner and stay ahead in the market by requiring all our employees,
including older workers, to be actively learning new technologies and skills. Our investments
today will payoff in tomorrows labor market!









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An employers guide to older workers:
How to win them back and convince them to stay

Barbara McIntosh, Ph.D.




It is not news anymore. The baby boomers are getting older. In fact, nearly all employed
members of this mammoth generation, comprised of the 76 million persons born between 1946
and 1964 (Goldberg 2000), can be classified as older workers according to the U.S.
government, and are protected by federal regulations prohibiting age discrimination. What is
more, the generation following closely on their heels, affectionately referred to as the baby
busters, or Generation X, is diminutive by comparison, a mere 66 million.

The fact that the aging of this workforce has the potential to drastically affect the U.S.
economy is not a new discovery. What is relatively new, at least on a grand scale, is the level of
frustration being experienced by employers, many of whom, emerging from the cutbacks-equal-
savings-on-overhead mindset, are suddenly realizing that the labor market has changed.

According to leaders in the field of organizational behavior and psychology, the key
to a companys future success will be its adaptability its capacity to deploy resources quickly to
seize competitive opportunities and to draw from a labor pool that features a mix of multi-
skilled, full-time workers, and specifically-skilled, contingent employees who contribute on a
part-time or temporary basis (Hall and Mirvis, 1998). Easy, right? Maybe fifteen years ago.
But where are companies today supposed to find these quick-draw resources and this bounteous
labor pool? With the baby boomers turned off by the downsizing era and ready to collect what is
rightfully theirs in the form of Social Security benefits, and younger people today entering the
workforce under-equipped professionally, companies will be hard pressed to maintain the status
quo, let alone focus on becoming adaptable. This is the scenario unless firms heed the wakeup
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call and make changes that will convince older Americans to participate longer in the workforce.
With many older Americans still stinging from harsh business practices of the recent past
(Goldberg, 2000), it will require an overhaul in the way corporate America does business
starting with attitudes toward older workers.

The remainder of this summary will focus on why, contrary to what popular stereotypes
would have us believe, employers should court the aging segment of our population to fill their
ranks, and, more specifically, how they might go about this successfully. Further, it will address
the subsequent importance of and strategies for retaining these older workers.

THE TRUTH ABOUT OLDER WORKERS

The first truth about older workers is that they dont fit one unique profile (Fyock, 1993).
They differ from one another as much as persons from any other age group in abilities, desires,
and needs. This means that from a hiring perspective, carefully-chosen, older workers can fill a
range of company positions, from CEO to consultant to customer service representative
(Goldberg, 2000).

But do older adults make good employees? Firms who actually employ them say yes.
In a study conducted by the National Council on the Aging (NCOA) and the McDonalds
Corporation, a company renowned for its interest in older adults, 97% of employers surveyed
stated that older workers are thorough and reliable in completing their work (Additional
Resources, 1998). Indeed, despite myths circulated when companies were trying to justify
trimming older adults from their payrolls, employers affirmed that, in general, older workers:

had low turnover rates

were flexible and open to change

possessed up-to-date skills
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were interested in learning new tasks

did not experience transportation problems

were willing to take on challenging tasks

had low absentee rates

had few on-the-job accidents
Another study, conducted by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) in
conjunction with the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP), confirmed the majority
of these findings, and added a few of their own (SHRM, 1998). Of the nearly 400 human
resource professionals surveyed,

77% agreed that older workers have a higher level of commitment to
the organization than younger workers (only 5% disagreed)

68% concluded training older workers costs less or the same as
training their younger counterparts (6% disagreed)

57% reported that age does not affect the amount of time required to
train an employee (14% disagreed)

49% determined that older workers grasped new concepts as well as
younger workers (18% disagreed)

In fact, the only area about which HR professionals expressed concern when it came to
employing older adults was technology. Sixty-six percent of the respondents agreed that older
workers tend to be more fearful of technology than younger workers (SHRM, 1998). Yet, is
that a fair assessment, or the remnants of older worker mythology? Other studies report that
older workers are trainable in high technology skills and are comfortable learning them
(Hall and Mirvis, 1998). According to the American Society on Aging, 50+ Americans love
technology. They are the fastest growing group of Internet users and are well aware (75%
agree) that computer skills are necessary to work in the 21
st
century (A handbook to reaching
the 50+ market). If older workers are shying away from company technology, perhaps it is due
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to the lack of encouragement and opportunity. What message is sent to employees aged 55 or
older if they are afforded the fewest opportunities for training in this technology driven world
(Goldberg, 2000)? Mounting evidence actually shows that with proper training, older workers
are undaunted by technology (Hall a