AN AGEING DEMOGRAPHIC 3 An older and wiser workforce


As the retirement age in the UK edges ever higher, Jo Faragher says companies will soon have to tailor their training programmes to suit many different generations


O


ur working population is getting older. According to latest labour market statistics, the number of people in employment


over the age of 65 is just over 900,000, almost double what it was when these records began in 1992 and a figure that seems set to rise. The abolition, last year, of the


default retirement age of 65 means employers can no longer simply “retire” an employee once they reach a certain age without justification. At the same time, the government is proposing to raise the state pension age to 66 for men and women by 2020. These changes could have big


implications for learning and development, but according to Dianah Worman, adviser on diversity at the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), many organisations still have a “sheep dip” approach to training, where everyone gets the same thing, regardless of age and experience. And all too often, it’s older employees who are left feeling dissatisfied. A survey carried out by the CIPD


and the Chartered Management Institute in 2010 found 91% of organisations offer the same kind of training regardless of age, with 48% admitting to shortfalls in their training for older workers. But more than a third complained


that older workers did not push themselves forward for training – something that comes as no surprise to Worman. She says that older workers may be reluctant to undertake training and development in case they feel awkward in front of younger staff. “Our data suggests that older people tend not to take part as much as younger people – they deselect themselves, thinking ‘what’s in it for me?’ Maybe they’ve had a bad experience with a course in the past, or they’re worried about showing themselves up among younger workers.” Technology can be another barrier.


While the growth of e-learning and other online solutions means learners can access training resources 24/7 – saving companies money on external trainers and employees’ time away from the workplace – older workers aren’t always as enthusiastic as their younger counterparts. Worman believes this is often down to miscommunications or assumptions about how comfortable workers are with technology. “Not everyone wants


A recent survey found 91% of organisations offer the same kind of training regardless of age Getty


a course delivered electronically,” she points out. But there is a lot L&D professionals


can do to help, says Boyd Glover, head of skills training at Dixons Retail, which operates Currys and PC World stores, where, rather than developing different content for different audiences or groups, the emphasis is on sharing knowledge and making it easy to access. Dixons Retail has worked with a


number of technology specialists, including training software provider AITalent and e-learning design company Fusion Universal, to create a learning management system known as The Edge, which acts as a learning library for everything from the


‘Organisations no longer think older people are not worth the investment’


company’s legal compliance training to videos on how to sell a laptop. The company is even trialling an “iPlayer”-style video platform, where users can upload their own videos or presentations for others to view. “We have not found [age] to be a barrier as our content is built with adult learning in mind,” says Glover. The key is to keep things simple,


says Tim Drewitt, e-learning specialist at the law firm Eversheds. He has been involved in creating about 400 e-learning modules for staff, including virtual classroom sessions, podcasts and videocasts, and modules partners can access via mobile phones and tablets. While the company’s demographic profile spans a wide age range, he believes his toughest customers have actually been the younger staff who are used to fancy apps and websites. He says: “The older generation’s expectations are lower, and they can be put off by all this whizzy stuff … at the same time, if something’s clunky internally, the younger lawyers will question it.”


In an ideal world, organisations


would have the time and the budget to tailor all of their L&D content to different audiences and learning styles – but for the most part, L&D professionals need to take a more pragmatic approach. Keeping lines of communication open, tracking participation and keeping technology simple can ensure L&D reflects the needs of a changing workforce, says Worman. “Perceptions of the value of older people in the workforce have changed massively over the past decade and organisations no longer think they’re not worth the investment in L&D. It’s up to line managers to encourage all members of their teams to participate, and let them know why the training is relevant.”


Tim Drewitt and Boyd Glover will be speaking at the World of Learning Conference on 2 October on a range of topics, including reducing costs while increasing performance and growth, and how people learn at work. www.learnevents.com


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