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When Manpower asked Canada if it was ready to embrace the mature workforce, the answer was a resounding ‘No!’ It went like this: last year Manpower surveyed more than 1300 Canadian employers and found that 67 percent do not have any recruitment or retention strategies in place for their retiring employees. It was a real wake-up call.
“I think the attention has finally been given to that area of the population, that we need to really concentrate on the skills that we are possibly losing as people retire,” National Recruitment Manager Cheri Tredree says, “and maybe making things more retirement-friendly.”
And if anyone can help them get there, it’s Manpower. The organization has been providing potential jobseekers with employment opportunities and training, and companies with HR solutions that help them increase productivity, improve efficiency and manage the bottom line since 1956. In fact, it considers itself a world leader in the creation and delivery of services that enable its clients “to win in the changing world of work.” Part of the 21,000 names registered with the company includes the mature workforce.
“We need to really embrace this movement and really understand that yes, people are retiring a little bit later in life, but that doesn’t mean that they’re still not the ones holding the cards, so to speak,” says Tredree. “We really have to work with them and tap into this market which means a lot of times we have to change the way we position our jobs.”
All it takes, she explains, is a strong dose of reality and some flexibility. “It’s a 24/7 world and that’s all fine and good. But you’re not going to get that kind of dedication, I don’t think, from this segment of the population anymore. They’ve paid their dues.” So Tredree suggests companies find out what their older employees want in terms of a working arrangement and adapt to that because “we don’t want to lose those skills.”
Manpower’s survey results coincided with the publication of The New Agenda for an Older Workforce, a White Paper that offered companies recommendations on how employers can help their older employees extend their careers. In a statement released with the findings, Manpower’s Chairman and CEO Jeffrey A. Joerres said that “the best way to attract and retain older workers is to have jobs they want, and what they want is flexible, part-time jobs that interest them.”
To help their clients access the skills and knowledge that older workers bring to a job and keep them, Manpower is involved with skillsmatch.ca, a job board that directly targets the 40+ jobseeker, and with the Summit on the Mature Workforce, an annual conference that explores innovative solutions to attracting, motivating, retaining and engaging older employees. As well, Manpower is part of that smaller percentage of Canadian employers whose staff actually includes mature workers—retirees they’ve brought back on contract because, as Tredree says, “We really value that knowledge, that Manpower knowledge that is out there.”
Manpower is a company that practices what it preaches. With its older employees being just one part of its very diverse workplace population.
“You take a word down to its basics and you’re looking at the abilities of people. That’s first and foremost. I think the diversity that we are lucky to have within Manpower just helps us all understand better,” Tredree says. “If you’re not going to open your mind, your doors are going to stay closed as well.” |
