(
Expert opinion
|
Indeed, this may be the case for some with 71% of women and 61% of men saying they are ‘not confident their super will provide enough to live on in retirement’ (FINSIA ‘Changing Tides’ August ’09).
However, it seems that this may have given organisations a false sense of security.
New data on the multiple factors relevant to retirement decisions
The 2010 SageCo survey of 675 mature workers (aged 50+) informed us that 43% still intend to retire by the end of 2012, with only 28% changing their plans and opting to work longer due to the GFC.
The primary finding is that mature workers take into account far more than just finances in their decision-making.
61% of those surveyed told us that health and wellbeing had a significant impact on planning, which should give employers a robust business case for investing in healthy ageing initiatives in the workplace. Boomers are certainly living longer than previous generations, but are not necessarily healthier and they need to take proactive steps to address the four pillars of Good Health - nutrition, exercise, sleep and stress. Without doing so, many will have no choice but to prematurely exit the workforce.
Where does flexibility fit in?
What came as no surprise in the survey however, was that a third of respondents (34%) stated that career and flexible work options play a major role in determining when and if to retire, with one mature worker telling us “I may delay retirement if my work options improve dramatically, including the option to work part-time or from home. I loathe the daily commute and the hassle involved”.
In fact, only 47% stated that at this time they wanted full-time work.
What’s the impact?
So where does this leave employers? Clearly the heat of an ageing workforce is still on. The Australian Prime Minister highlighted this in his first address of the new year yesterday, stating that ‘big changes’ are required to ensure sustainability and avoid budget deficits.
Don’t be overwhelmed. SageCo recommends a few simple steps to address the risk to organisations of impending retirements in the next few years:
- Find out where you are now: Analyse your workforce data by organisation and division. How many staff are in the 45+ and 55+ bracket? Where to they sit in the organisation?
- Find out where you are heading: Do you understand their retirement intentions? Conduct a risk profile to identify potential company ‘sages’ – those individuals with the know-how and critical expertise that could walk out of the door if programs and processes are not put in place to capture it.
- Provide active support: Support mature staff to plan for their future work/life/retirement. What are their ‘late career’ options? Would they stay on in the workforce longer if they could work differently?
- Create flexibility: Offer a wide range of flexible work options and consider how to support those with care-giving responsibilities. The GFC has taught us to be creative with flexibility (eg by offering longer vacations), you can put all that good work to good use with mature age workers.
Alison Monroe is the director of SageCo. To find out more about SageCo’s ‘Impact of the GFC on retirement intentions’ visit www.sageco.com.au