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Valuing Older Workers v2

About this resource

This guidance provides an overview of the key issues that nursing staff face as they work up to state pension age.

It provides a step by step plan that outlines how employers can continue to benefit from the skills and experience of older workers by putting systems and structures in place support them to have long and healthy careers.

The guidance is aimed at RCN representatives to support their discussions with employers and to identify opportunities to influence the older worker agenda in their workplace. 

 

Introduction

Illustration of an hourglass

There are clear benefits to employers of retaining older workers and keeping them engaged. An older worker’s ability does not suddenly diminish in the period leading up to and beyond state pension age (Department for Work and Pensions 2017).

Older workers have a wealth of experience and expertise in addition to very well developed key skills including highly developed communication skills, confidence in solving problems, the ability to handle difficult situations and working well in a team.

To create a good culture for older workers, an organisation needs to challenge and change the perceptions about working later in life. It is vital that organisations make a commitment to managing and supporting an older workforce.

Understanding the needs of the workforce should involve asking key questions, looking at the data available and having meaningful conversations that better understand the real lived experience of the workforce.

Employers must ensure they put systems and processes in place to support older workers to continue to learn and develop, have flexible working opportunities, prepare for retirement and to continue to work in a safe and healthy environment. 

 

  • An older worker is generally defined as someone who is 50 years or older.
  • The nursing profession has a significant number of nurses who are approaching this age with 25% aged between 45 and 54 (House of Commons Library 2024).
  • In April to June 2022, the number of people aged 65 years and over in employment - as estimated by the Labour Force Survey (LFS) - increased by a record 173,000 on the quarter to 1.468 million, which is also a record level (Office for National Statistics, 2022).
  • The adult social care sector and workforce in England has an average age of 45, with 29% of the workforce aged 55 plus (Skills for Care 2024).

Currently, the state pension age stands at 66, but will increase to 67 between May 2026 and March 2028. It is expected that from 2044 it will rise again to 68, but the report warned that longer term, the pressure will be on to increase it to 68 or 69 before that. 

The Centre for Ageing Better ‘State of Ageing Report’ contains a raft of data showing that both the current generations of retirees, and the generations heading towards retirement, are experiencing significant and growing financial difficulties.

State of Ageing 2023 highlights that, among UK adults, people aged 60-64 now have the highest rate of relative poverty (25%) (Centre for Ageing Better 2023). 

By 2030 the number of people in England aged over 65 will go up by 50% and the number of people aged over 85 will double. This challenge has led to the removal of the default retirement age or an increase in state pension age which will require all workers to work much later in life. 

Working to an increased State Pension Age will impact on both the lives of individuals and the organisations they work in. In health care, where service provision can be physically and mentally demanding, working into your late 60s in some roles may prove untenable.

 

Step 1: Discussion

It is helpful if, right from the outset all relevant stakeholders are involved in initial discussions around systems and support for staff preparing to work later in life.

There may already be a negotiating forum such as a Joint Negotiating Committee (union representatives and managers from the organisation) and there may be other committees e.g. health and safety committee and an education or training committee.

The important aspect is to include key stakeholders from unions and the organisation who are able to take any actions forward or influence those who can. Key people include workforce development leads, HR, corporate health and safety advisers and representatives from all unions.

Step 2: Temperature check

Illustration of a wall thermometerWhat is the current culture around older workers?

Every single member of staff, regardless of knowledge, skills or experience will get older and we all need to plan for working later in life. Every organisation will need to think about their workforce and plan their service around a future where people are working longer.

  • What are the current perceptions of working later in life in your organisation?
  • What is the cultural temperature?

There are a few organisations, and a few individuals, that are ahead of the game. We like to call them the prepared few!

There are some excellent examples in other industries where there is a culture of supporting staff to work later in life. There are also some forward thinking people that know exactly where they are headed and what they need to do now, to create the future they want.

There may be some acknowledgment of a looming crisis. Sickness absence in older workers, capability issues and ‘burn-out’ may be all on the rise. A quick glance at the current age of the workforce might clearly indicate that great waves of staff might be due to retire in the same time period.

While an organisation might see these issues looming and plan to tackle them, current pressures and solving urgent issues can leave the aging workforce low down on the agenda.

Changes to pension schemes, personal health, caring responsibilities and stress in the workplace might make someone consider, ‘Can I do this for much longer? Will I ever be able to retire?’ This may quickly be pushed to the back of their mind while they get through their day, but if there is no support or guidance from employers, they may continue to feel this way.

For most people and organisations, the subject of working later in life only comes into focus as the reality becomes nearer. It is the ultimate ‘tomorrow’ topic as current pressures, challenges and issues take centre stage. This means that at worst, this might not be on anybody’s radar.

Services and support might be totally focused around a younger workforce and individuals may just be oblivious, or have incorrect assumptions about what their future looks like.

Step 3: Commitment

A ‘Charter for Older Workers’ is a formal commitment, between an employer and unions to work together to support older workers and all staff to consider and prepare for working
later in life. There is information and a model agreement included in this resource which may be helpful in getting this moving.

Creating a working group with your key stakeholders (employer and unions) is a positive step towards working together to develop a strategy and set a clear timetable and action plan.

Download the Charter for Older Workers Template (Word doc)

Step 4: Communication

Once there is an agreed organisational commitment to moving the older worker agenda forward, it is important that staff are engaged.

Consideration should be given to how staff will be engaged and this could be detailed within an engagement or communications plan.  

Step 5: Data Capture

There is no off-the-shelf older worker strategy that can be just picked up and rolled out. There is work to be done to understand the needs of staff and there are many influencing factors that can determine what provision is needed.

Something as simple as geographic location can mean a very different staffing demographic. A large city based acute hospital may have a vast, diverse and relatively young workforce in comparison to a community service in some of the more rural parts of the country.

Employers and unions will already have a large amount of data both in terms of the organisation, and wider evidence about working later in life that can be used to determine what the learning needs of older workers might be. The discussions should also focus on the specific needs of older workers such as, access to occupational health services, flexible working arrangements, specific health and safety considerations and planning for retirement. 

Below are some examples of data that might already exist that could provide good building blocks for your work:

 

Details of the age, skills, roles and geographic placement of staff will provide a great baseline for determining who the organisation will be supporting.
If the organisation is an NHS employer, the NHS Staff Survey and organisations' responses can give a valuable insight into current levels of engagement and satisfaction. The larger independent sector employers may run some form of regular staff survey and if not, you may choose to work with your employer to create a one-off survey as part of this work. 
 
Understanding and analysing the current learning and development offer and how staff engage and respond can provide a good basis for identifying what is already in place and what works well. Unions can investigate their union provision and engagement in a similar way.
Employers and unions have access to data from sickness absence records, early retirement and cases relating to the health and wellbeing of staff that can provide an interesting insight, when looked at through the lens of working later in life.
The NHS Working Longer group published their initial findings in 2014 which includes a wealth of data that can be drawn on to understand the national picture and what your organisation might need. There is also useful information, including The State of Ageing report produced by the Centre for Ageing Better.

Step 6: Check back with staff

Illustration showing two people having an appraisal

Data and research provides a good foundation for considering what support older workers might need, but you'll need to check back in with staff to see if that matches their lived experience, hopes, fears and expectations.  

By demonstrating commitment through a Charter for Older Workers, you will set the ground for meaningful conversations.

It is important not to re-invent or add any cumbersome systems and processes to reach staff. One-to-ones, appraisals and staff meetings can be great places to ask some key questions. Trade union events and branch meetings can offer a space outside of management which can be useful for getting more candid responses to ideas and initiatives. 

Step 7: Analysing findings

A fun graphic showing different types of visual data like bar charts and graphs

It is necessary to consolidate and review all of the data gathered, both in terms of statistics or demographics, and lived experience.

At this point it should be clear what is needed and an older worker strategy should be emerging.

Step 8: The strategy

Your data capture exercise will give you clear indicators of your priorities which you can, in turn, translate into a purpose for your strategy.

Some key questions to consider:

  • What are we trying to achieve?
  • What does the future look like?
  • What can we do that will create that impact? 
  • How will we know that we have been successful?

Every organisation will have different needs and expectations from a strategy, but there are four key themes which might provide a useful starting point: 

Healthcare jobs can be physically and mentally demanding which can become challenging as we get older.

Initiatives like mid-life development reviews and coaching can help staff to consider what kind of roles they might like to be doing and what knowledge and skills they might need to get there. As an organisation, can you create pathways and learning opportunities that enable staff to continue to grow professionally later in life?

Download our Valuing older workers - Planning rewarding careers information pack to get you started.

There is no reason why we shouldn't carry on working in jobs we love as long as we want if we have the good health and energy to do so. Can you create a healthy workplace that supports staff to prioritise their health and wellbeing needs? 

Download our Valuing older workers - Keeping healthy information pack to get you started.

Flexible working arrangements can be key to continuing to thrive in the workplace later in life. Does your organisation have the systems and structures in place to make this possible?

Remember that older workers have invaluable knowledge and experience and can remain a vital part of your team, they might just want to be at work a bit less, or to work hours that support their other life goals.

Download our Valuing older workers - Flexible working information pack to get you started.

Retirement is a huge change and preparing financially, psychologically and practically can make a huge difference to the end of a career.

Providing support for staff to consider their options and plan well ahead will mean that they retire well. You'll be able to succession plan and make good use of their knowledge and organisational memory and they will retire on a career high. 

Download our Valuing Older Workers - Getting ready for retirement information pack to get you started.

Step 9: Measuring success

The success of an Older Worker Charter and strategy may only be realised far into the future but, to sustain energy and support, it is important to be able to see how your efforts are making a difference. It is helpful if you can think of short, medium and long term measures to capture.

A good example would be around financial planning for retirement:

  • Short term measure: The ‘distance travelled’ in learning terms.
    What was the learner’s awareness, anxiety level and understanding around pensions prior to, and directly after, the learning? (Pre and post course evaluation questions.)
  • Medium term measure - Affecting change.
    Did the learner make any changes or improvement to their financial planning for retirement as a result of undertaking the learning? (Evaluation after a set period of time, for example, one year.)
  • Long term measure: Impact.
    Was the learner financially prepared and able to retire when they had planned and be financially secure in retirement? (Evaluation at retirement age.)

A good evaluation framework helps you to review, refine and adapt your strategy. It helps you to demonstrate the value of your interventions and will keep the organisation, and staff, from falling into the ‘blind spot’ or ‘tomorrow’ zone as you will be continually receiving feedback.

Step 10: Deliver and promote

Illustration of a gold rosette

You should work in partnership to deliver learning and other initiatives. The support of unions and Union Learning Reps can dramatically improve the uptake of learning in an organisation.

As part of designing your strategy, you will have developed your impact measures which will be vital for keeping your learning fit for purpose. Be sure to ask everyone for feedback on the learning.

As an organisation, demonstrate that you are proud and support your learning strategy and its impact. Use any positive evaluations to promote your offer and encourage senior staff to recognise the effort and energy of staff and unions in taking positive steps to build better futures.

Let's get started!

An illustration of a clipboard with a checklistWe've covered a lot of information in this resource. It's often difficult to move from learning to action, so we have created this Valuing Older Workers - Health, Safety and Wellbeing Checklist. 

You'll find the key themes we have covered and some key questions that will start you thinking and get the discussions going. 

If you need any additional support, or would like to share your work, please do contact our Health, Safety and Wellbeing Team by emailing HSWTeam@rcn.org.uk.

 

References

General

Health warning for employers supporting older workers with health conditions
Centre for Better Ageing, April 2019
https://ageing-better.org.uk/sites/default/files/2018-04/Health-warning-for-employers.pdf

Understanding Older Workers - Analysis and recommendations to support longer and more fulfilling working lives
CIPD, March 2022
Understanding older workers: Analysis and recommendations to support longer and more fulfilling working lives (cipd.org)

Recruitment and retention of older workers
NHS Employers, 2022
https://www.nhsemployers.org/articles/recruitment-and-retention-older-workers

NHS Long Term Workforce Plan
NHS England, June 2023
https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/nhs-long-term-workforce-plan-2/#3-retainembedding-the-right-culture-and-improving-retention

NMC Register Leavers Survey
NMC, 2023
https://www.nmc.org.uk/globalassets/sitedocuments/data-reports/may-2023/annual-datareport-leavers-survey-2023.pdf

Over 55s being ‘locked out’ of workplace skills training, research suggests,
People Management, 1 May 2024
https://www.peoplemanagement.co.uk/article/1870986/55s-locked-out-workplace-skillstraining-research-suggests

Pensions

Check your state pension forecast
https://www.gov.uk/check-state-pension

NHS Pensions
https://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/nhs-pensions

Money and pension service
https://maps.org.uk/en/our-work/pensions

Pensions and retirement
https://www.moneyhelper.org.uk/en/pensions-and-retirement

Pension need-to-knows
https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/discount-pensions/


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