Expanding your candidate pool
Looking for reliable and highly-skilled candidates to fill positions? An increasing number of companies are finding such employees are more likely to be people aged over 45. SEEK reports on the increasing trend for employers to invest in older workers as well as those with disabilities.
Australian employers are only just beginning to realise the value of recruiting older workers and disabled employees. Companies in the US and the UK have been doing it for some time and their experience all says the same thing — people with disabilities are more productive, more dependable and are safer in the workplace. The same goes for workers aged over 45. Companies find they have a better work ethic, are more flexible in their working hours, take less sick days and stay longer at their jobs.
Major UK stationery and book retailer WH Smith, for example, recently
went on a recruitment drive of older workers in the belief that its shoppers
preferred to be served by staff their own age. Not only did the move pay off
with more customers coming into its stores, but WH Smith also found its older
workers had a turnover rate four times lower than employees in their 20s.
The company reportedly saved the equivalent of $A2.2m.
Research carried out by the Pizza Hut fast food chain in the US found employees
who had a disability had a 72 per cent higher annual retention rate than their
non-disabled counterparts. Pizza Hut also found that because one in 10 of its
customers had a family member with a disability, employing more disabled workers
improved sales and customer loyalty.
However despite this evidence, Australian companies have been relatively slow to recruit older and disabled workers. The nation's ageing workforce means employers will need to develop strategies to attract and retain older workers, else they risk losing valuable skills in the workplace. It is estimated by 2005, about 35 per cent of Australia's workforce will be aged over 45. As well, ABS studies show over one million Australians of working age have a disability, which can range from an intellectual to a physical impairment.
Selling points for recruiters
The time has come for recruiters to start looking at selling the benefits of this untapped market of reliable employees. Qantas, Telstra, McDonalds, IBM, Australia Post, Westpac and the National Australia Bank are some of the companies that have begun to actively recruit people with disabilities in Australia. Jill Sears, senior EEO consultant, Telstra, says it recruits large numbers of people with disabilities in differing positions and always finds it a very positive experience. "We basically find they are very, very good employees who are very committed," she says.
Telstra has relied on its disabled workforce to help cater to its diverse
customer base. For example, it recently sought advice from staff with visual
disabilities about its new billing procedures for the visually impaired. In a
similar move, Qantas uses disabled staff members to help train flight attendants
to deal effectively with people with disabilities in emergency situations as
well as in general customer relations.
"People with a disability can assist with staff training and in identifying
new markets, products and services," says Jock Noble, executive officer at
Diversity@work — a not-for-profit organisation that
connects employers and recruitment consultants to the 100 specialist
disability employment agencies in Victoria.
"Customers come from every walk of life, so it makes sense that your staff
should too," Jock Noble says. He says US research shows disabled workers
consistently out-perform other staff when it comes to workplace safety,
job performance, attendance and retention rates.
Ian Walker, communications coordinator at Diversity@work, says because the rate of unemployment is so high amongst disabled people, once they get a job, they're more likely to stay. "We also find that the larger companies especially like the image it presents to the community. As well, a person with a disability in the workplace often also boosts staff morale," he says.
There's a similar compelling case for recruiting older workers. UK home hardware
retailers B&Q staffed an entire store with people over 50 under the slogan: we're
looking for older staff to make us a wiser store. It was a huge success. The company
saw a 39 per cent reduction in absenteeism, theft decreased, profitability rose and
employee turnover was six times lower than the average of five other stores.
Skill shortages in industries such as retail and IT will require employers to
look towards older workers for employment, says Belinda Richardson, a consultant
with JobsEast. She says unlike younger workers, older employees are not looking for
quick career progression and are more likely to be attracted to the security of
long-term employment. "There is a perception among some employers that IT
professionals have to be young but that is not necessarily the case," she says.
Marilyn McLaren, 53, says she was retrenched "on the wrong side of 45" and went through a frustrating time finding work as a personal assistant. Eventually Kelly Services helped her find temporary work that developed into permanent employment. Marilyn McLaren is convinced "people of her generation" look at work differently. "We grew up in a totally different era and we were taught work ethics as well as things like grammar and spelling that I find younger people today aren't using. And as much as I'd like to take a sick day now and then, I just can't do it," she says.
Marilyn McLaren says her age also helps balance out an otherwise young workplace and she feels younger staff members rely on her "life experience". "I'm not looking to change jobs and because of my age I certainly won't be taking maternity leave either," she says.
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