An ode to the golden generation

Rest rooms littered with Werther's Originals and copies of Saga brochures will be all the rage in UK factories. One in three manufacturers is asking grandpa or grandma to graft beyond retirement age because they can't afford to lose skills sets, WM's People & Productivity report shows (see p21). Manufacturing is not alone – Britons aged over 65 now outnumber those under 16. Employers who have the necessary foresight can harvest this rich crop. By putting pen to paper on succession plans, projected retirement rates and identifying the associated loss of key skills, there is a real opportunity to maximise the value of baby boomers to the business. But that means taking a step back and thinking tactically. Asking your 65-year-old to stay on and work the same 12-hour shifts is akin to putting on your silk pyjamas to roll around in the muck. Ageing workers have incredible value as part-time mentors and trainers. Take a stroll around most factory floors and you'll find an older employee idolised by many younger colleagues. Banter might be the way this manifests publicly, but behind closed doors youngsters will express respect – even awe – for an experienced hand. Employers have to develop a more effective forum for bringing the two generations together. The value add doesn't have to end in the training department. Energy efficiency programmes, continuous improvement bids, public relations work... all are fertile ground for those who know the business inside out. That doesn't mean sacrificing the day job entirely, however – there are plenty of older workers, fitter and healthier than their predecessors, who are raring to work on the production line. Pragmatism is critical to realising pensioner power. But any employee, no matter how flexible their terms, must eventually hang up the hi-vis jacket for the last time. And that's the salient point from our People & Productivity research findings. Let's go on extending careers wherever possible but the work must complement, not conflict with the ultimate goal of enticing the grandparents of 50 years hence into our factories now.