Why older workers will improve your company

You, like many other employers around Australia, may value your older worker less. You think they are tired, that they have lost focused and can’t keep up with technology. Perhaps you see them more as a burden to your company than a benefit?

Well think again.

Research by the Australian Human Rights Commission has proved that not including, and letting go of, older workers have several costly implications for your company

• Loss of knowledge and highly experienced and skilled staff
• High costs of recruitment and training
• Loss of productivity in workplaces
• Levels of job satisfaction
• Limiting diversity and its associated benefits in the workplace

If you instead retain your older workers, your company would be benefiting from a larger talent pool, increased productivity, improved job satisfaction and customer engagement, higher rates of retention of talent and avoiding costs associated with complaints of discrimination.

But despite these proven benefits, employers often discriminate older workers in ways of refused employment, giving them less favourable terms or conditions of employment, denied opportunities for promotion, transfer, training or other benefits, dismissed or subjected to any other detriment on the basis of the person’s age.

In today’s society we live longer and healthier lives, and many workers that hit the age of 65 don’t feel ready to retire. They have more to give, more to learn .

It’s time that you, me and everyone in Australia’s modern society stop discriminating older people and start valuing them for the skills, experience and knowledge they have. We need to include them in the workforce, stop stereotyping and realise the values they bring to the company.

Perhaps you are already one step ahead of many other employers? Perhaps you have already realised the importance of your older workers, but implementing strategies and undertaking changes has proved difficult and you are struggling to keep your older workers?

There is much to learn from experts on how to make any workplace an age friendly company to gain successful results and improve productivity. If you you want to learn more on how your company can implement successful strategies to retain older workers, attend Akolade’s National Ageing Workforce Forum on the30th of August to the 1st of September to gain strategic advantage through you older workers. You will hear from industry professionals and be able to attend valued workshops, which will provide you with the tools to benefit from your ageing workforce. 

Mimmie grew up in Sweden and first came to Australia as a backpacker after high school. After travelling around the country for two years she returned to Europe and pursued a Bachelor’s degree in Journalism in London. But the longing for Australia and the sun became too strong. After having worked for some time in the media industry, Mimmie decided to make a change and swap the news for conferences. She now gets to do what she loves the most, meeting new people and keep learning about cultures and issues while producing conferences on current topics.