01 Sep 2016

How an age diverse workforce can boost your business

It’s clear that people leaving the workforce early or stopping work completely on retirement is not a good idea. It represents a huge loss of vital skills and experience to businesses, just when many industries are facing skills shortages.

Research from AXA PPP healthcare carried out in 2014 and based upon age diversity in the workplace, shows that despite some negative perceptions around issues such as willingness to change and lack of ambition, employers do value what older workers can bring. It showed that:

64% of employers think older workers are excellent mentors to younger colleagues.
59% of employers consider older workers an integral part of their business.

Adding an extra dimension

Employers and employees agree that having multiple generations at work can make things better for everyone. Of the employers we surveyed:

54% said that they would benefit from knowledge sharing.
40% said having multiple generations adds a different perspective.
29% valued having people to seek advice from.
25% said it would boost problem solving.

Boosting the bottom line

There’s also a growing body of evidence that a multi-generation workforce can actually save your business money, while delivering better performance. It can bring:

1) Higher productivity

Research conducted by the CIPD in 2014 revealed that companies whose employees span multiple generations tend to have higher productivity than those with a less age diverse team.

2) Better customer service

Your customers are all ages, so why not your team? A wide age range among your employees will help you keep in tune with your customers’ needs and desires.

3) Lower recruitment costs

Given the chance, workers over 50 are more loyal. They also know more already, so don’t need as much training when hired.

4) Less sickness absence

Although overall health declines as we grow older, over 50s actually take less sickness absence than their younger colleagues. B&Q reported that absenteeism is 39% lower among their older workers.

5) Increased growth

It’s estimated that if every over 50 worked an extra three years, this would add a massive £55bn a year to our economy by 2033. That would mean higher economic growth and better living standards for everyone.

Making it work for your business

So how can you go from embracing the concept of a more age diverse workforce to making it work for your business?

AXA PPP Healthcare has produced a whitepaper on the subject.

This article was supplied by AXA PPP Healthcare.