A lack of consideration in human resource strategies and practices to attract and retain older workers is a major concern, delegates at a recent Tauranga forum heard.

The one day forum hosted in the Bay of Plenty by the Tauranga Chamber of Commerce, Age Concern and economic development agency Priority One examined the opportunities and issues of employing mature workers.

Preparing for the rush to retirement. Photo: Bruce Barnard.

They are looking ahead to an expected sudden loss of skills and experience as a significant number of employees begin retiring from 2018.

Over the coming years there will not only be a decreased labour supply, but a sudden loss in skills and experience as increasing numbers of people reach retirement age, says Annie Hill at Priority One.

'Retaining and employing mature workers will be an increasingly smart solution for businesses in the attraction of skills and talent,” says Annie. 'There are a number of practices that employers could introduce to ensure they become an age friendly employer of choice in future years when the talent pool will become increasingly depleted.”

New Zealand is ahead of most other OECD countries in recognising the value of older workers, coming second only to Iceland in terms of employing people aged 65 years and over.

But when it comes to recruitment, older workers are the least used option coming well behind recruiting more female or immigrant workers, a recent report from AUT University and the Equal Employment Opportunities (EEO) Trust shows.

'The impact of an ageing population on the workforce is one of the top three concerns of industry, but they haven't yet got their heads around the implications,” says Professor of Work and Organisation at the AUT Business School and keynote speaker Tim Bentley.

'Being age friendly will be a competitive advantage for organisations and being engaged in work will be good for older people.”

It is likely we will look back and see ‘retirement' as a 20th century anomaly, with the creation of a different vision of our later years developed in the near future, says Tim. With people living longer and sometimes experiencing 20-30 years of ‘retirement', this opens up a whole new space in which to engage in meaningful work and activity, either paid or voluntary.

'It's important employers are having these types of conversations with their mature employees,” says Tim. 'Graduated retirement provides opportunities to retain and transfer essential skills and organisational knowledge.”

Employees in their late 50s need to think about whether they want to continue working, what their options are in terms of transitioning to a less stressful or more flexible role, and how they can start the conversation with their employer. Employers need to understand what the intentions of their older workers are, what the implications are on the business if they leave, where they will get their next worker from, how much organisational knowledge will be lost.

A key message from the forum is people will continue to live longer, so it is important this stage of life and work is redefined, says Geoff Pearman, principal consultant for Partners in Change.

'We have not added decades to life expectancy by simply extending old age. We have opened up a new space partway through the life course – a second and different kind of adulthood that precedes old age. As a result, every stage of life is undergoing change,” says Geoff.

One of the most common ways of dealing with skills shortages is to encourage existing mature-age workers to stay on past retirement age. Although retirement-aged workers currently only make up five per cent of the workforce, they will comprise 13 per cent by 2036.

This means considering more flexible working arrangements, ensuring jobs are restructured and designed to suit older workers, developing leadership strategies and succession planning.

'We need to help people understand how transitions work. Change is not the issue with most people – it is the journey to change that they find difficult,” says Geoff. 'We need to talk to people about the next stage in their lives, what they have planned, what they would like to do.

Countries can add billions of dollars to their economy if they follow best practice in harnessing the potential of their older workers, according to a recent report from PwC economists on harnessing the power of older workers

The Workforce Ageing Survey 2014 finds workers aged 50 and over are seen as valuable and hardworking by employers, and are regarded as more productive and better in a crisis.