Forties People

By 2005, 36 per cent of the UK workforce will be aged 45 or over so take the opportunity during Age Positive week to make sure that you are observing good practice when employing staff

With Age Positive Week underway aiming to encourage UK employers to look at their age diversity policies and stamp out ageism, the subject is one of increasing importance to small business. With skills shortages rife and employee loyalty often expensive the upper end of the workforce offers a wealth of experience and ability to SMEs.

Research shows that age discrimination is common in the workplace, however change is coming in the shape of an EU directive that aims to give workers new rights. In October 2006 Britain will implement the final stage of the Employment Directive on Equal Treatment outlawing discrimination in employment and vocational training on the grounds of age.

According to a recent government leak ministers propose to enforce the European Union employment directive by raising the retirement age to 70 or abolishing it altogether. Consequently businesses must look ahead and ensure that their employment policies do not discriminate.

The Department for Work and Pensions is hoping employers won't wait until 2006 to ensure they have a diverse workforce, hence the campaign to educate business about the implications of the new rules and the benefits of tackling discrimination in all its forms.

The benefits of positive age policies include improved rates for keeping staff; higher staff morale; fewer short-term staff absences; higher productivity; a better public image; access to a wider customer base; and a wider range of skills and experience

Small business has historically made the most of its more experienced workers, often by necessity: “It has long been part of the 'small business ethos' to make the best use of experienced workers,” says Kieron Hayes of the Forum of Private Business (FPB). “In many ways big business is following a long-established small business strategy of using the inherent experience of their older workers to add value to the business.”

He suggests that the likes of B&Q and Safeway have recently become aware that older workers are more reliable, knowledgeable and loyal than some of their younger counterparts and also have the added benefit of being able to assist in the training of younger colleagues, many of whom, as has been extensively quoted in the press, leave school without many of the basic numeracy and literacy skills that employers need.

Malcolm Wicks, minister for pensions, who spearheads the Age Positive campaign, commented that the week is an important way to reach individuals and employers in the fight against workplace age discrimination.

"The aim of any sensible employment strategy is to find the right employee for the job – regardless of one's age. Ultimately, you can't put an age on true talent and businesses need to tackle age discrimination now to reap the rewards in the future," he said.

Selecting new employees can take time, and may include a number of different stages, for example, sifting, interviewing and testing. Allowing age discrimination to creep in at any stage can restrict your access to good candidates by as much as a quarter, if not more.

The aim of any sensible employment strategy is to find the right employee for the job – regardless of one's age. Ultimately, you can't put an age on true talent and businesses need to tackle age discrimination now to reap the rewards in the future

Age Positive guidelines for employers Using age as a recruitment condition shows potential employees that you are an employer who discriminates unfairly. Make it clear that you recruit people on the basis of their skills and ability, not their age.

Advertising jobs:

• avoid giving age limits or age ranges;
• avoid age restrictions, such as 'young graduates', 'mature person' or ‘according to age and experience’; and
• where possible, ask for relevant experience, skills and ability rather than insisting on particular qualifications. For example, a phrase like ‘Only people with GCSE English need apply’ will exclude all those who left school before GCSEs were introduced. A better phrase might be ‘Good communication skills required’.
• younger people might be more likely to use careers advice services, Jobcentre Plus and newspapers while older people might rely on community and business networks.
• do you make sure that application forms only ask for job-related information?
• if you use recruitment consultants, do you make sure that they know you are positive about age?

  Job interviews Your interviewers should:

   

• know that age should not affect who they select;
• only ask job-related questions;
• have a good knowledge of your equal opportunities policies;
• plan the interviews to make sure standards and techniques are fair and consistent;
• record assessments of candidates against agreed selection conditions; and
• where possible, represent a good mix of ages.

  Promotion process

  Many of the principles of effective promotion are the same as those of effective recruitment and selection. Do you:

   

• make sure that promotion opportunities are made available to all staff;
• focus on the skills, abilities and potential of candidates when sifting through applications;
• make sure that interviewers are aware of the need to ask only job-related questions;
• use, where possible, an interview panel made up of people of different ages;
• make sure interviewers avoid basing decisions on prejudices and stereotypes; and
• promote people because of their ability, rather than their age?

  Training and development

  Do you:

   

• make training available to all employees no matter how old they are;
• use employees who have successfully completed training as role models to encourage less willing employees;
• take account of the different ways individuals learn (someone who is not used to formal learning may need help on a classroom-based course, and a person who has just left full-time education may not be used to informal workplace learning);
• carry out regular skills audits to find out who has what skills;
• regularly review the training needs of all employees; and
• evaluate training and development to make sure that employees benefit as much as possible?

  Source: New Business Online/CIPD