This post originally appeared in Forbes Leadership blog section on December
9, 2019.
By Sheila Callaham
Organizational leaders are advised to position their companies for the future
of work by focusing on ways to engage and retain experienced workers,
according to a new report released today by Marsh & McLennan, in
collaboration with Mercer and Oliver Wyman. The report, The Twin Trends of
Aging And Automation: Leveraging a tech-empowered experienced workforce,
addresses the intersection of automation and workers above age 50
worldwide, and proposes that companies strategically reposition to become
age-ready.
“In terms of foresight and preparedness to cope with an aging society, some
European countries–Germany, the U.K. and the Netherlands, as well as
Singapore–are very proactive in developing progressive policies and
programs,” says Wolfram Hedrich, executive director, Marsh & McLennan, the
world’s leading professional services firm in the areas of risk, strategy and
people. “These countries have specialized government entities that are
working with the private sector and experts on accelerating experienced
workers’ participation in the labor market.”
Digital transformation, combined with the shifting population demographics,
creates an unprecedented urgency for workforce adaptation if businesses are
going to remain competitive. Workforce challenges include talent shortage,
loss of institutional knowledge, changing market realities and expected
regulatory changes in response to demands for social protection and welfare.
Debunking Myths
After examining and quantifying the risks of this global phenomenon across 15
major markets, the report highlights the first step companies must take is “to
seriously challenge the dominant narrative of older workers and seek to build
more age-inclusive organizations.” Many companies have underestimated
experienced workers’ capacity to contribute and overlooked potential
synergies between technology and an experienced workforce, the report
argues. By debunking myths and age-bias that currently dominate workforce
culture, companies can proactively design and leverage a tech-empowered,
experienced workforce, and lay a foundation for organizational resilience.
Companies should seek to objectively debunk myths around the experienced worker by
gathering and … [+]
MARSH & MCLENNAN
“Ageism is very ingrained, and we’ve only begun to address it,” says Hedrich.
“In some industries, it’s severe. In high-tech, employees in their mid-30s can
start to feel the impact of ageism. Based on our research, age-based
stereotypes are based on perceptions, not facts.”
If organizations recast older workers as experienced workers, the focus shifts
from age to value-add. Moreover, with the projected growth of the longevity
economy, especially in the U.S., E.U. and China, it would be advantageous for
companies to focus workforce strategies on experienced workers.
How to Get There
When business leaders consider growth and revenue strategies, they must
consider the full scope of environmental risks and trends. “If they look at
market realities, they have a responsibility to make changes because it makes
business sense,” says Hedrich. “It’s not just about changing HR policy, but a
step-change in organizational operations and strategy–how we do things and
how we envision ourselves as a company.”
The report outlines three foundational principles for redefining the workplace
strategy–job redesign, leveraging new talent management models (i.e., gig)
and applying technology to ensure health and continued productivity. Further,
it offers a new exploratory concept for using the gig model in a sustainable
manner that works for business and provides workers with ongoing
opportunity, development and benefits. Known as the Talent Pool
Consortium, the model proposes a group of companies allocate a portion of
their workforce as a group of on-demand talent.
Effectively harnessing the synergies between technology transformation and
an experienced worker base puts the value of the aging workforce front and
center. Leaders who make it an organizational imperative to challenge
conventions and devise an age-inclusive workforce strategy are best positioned
to navigate an increasingly dynamic and complex business environment.
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