Assessing the capacity of the ageing workforce in SMEs in the Leeds City Region - Barnsley. Report by Business in the Community

Transcription

1 Assessing the capacity of the ageing workforce in SMEs in the Leeds City Region - Barnsley Report by Business in the Community 1

2 Introduction and summary..3 Methodology..4 Results.6 Conclusions 18 Recommendations.20 Section 2 appendices: Appendix 1.. Questionnaire for business owner/manager/hr director Appendix 2 Questionnaire for employees 2

3 Assessing the capacity of the ageing workforce in SMEs in the Leeds City Region Introduction and summary This report represents the finding of qualitative research undertaken by Business in the Community. It identifies the attitudes and understanding of managers within SMEs in the Leeds City Region to the particular issues raised by having an ageing workforce, and similarly the views of those SME employees aged 50 or over. According to the CIPD report Managing a Healthy Ageing Workforce A Business Imperative 1, it is predicted that over the next ten years employers will have to fill an estimated 13.5 million vacancies; with only 7 million young people leaving education and training and Government pledges to reduce net migration to tens of thousands per year, this gap will not be filled. The simultaneous raising of the retirement age and the intention of many employees to work beyond 65 for financial and social reasons means many of these vacancies will be filled by older workers. However, the CIPD is keen to point out that Failing to act in a coherent and strategic way to the challenges and opportunities presented by the increased ageing of the population and the workforce which will continue for decades, risks future economic success and threatens business performance. Issues around the ageing workforce can be particularly difficult to address in SMEs. Predominately in smaller and micro-businesses there is less likely to be a HR infrastructure and support to address these matters. In the CIPD s survey report Managing an age-diverse workforce 2, HR Managers were asked whether they had practices in place to ensure employees of all ages had the opportunity to develop and keep their skills up to date to meet business needs. 22% of HR managers overall said their organisation had no provision in place but this rose to 35% for SMEs. If you take into account that most micro and small businesses (0-49 employees), which make up 99.2% of the SME population nationally 3, do not have a distinct HR function it would be a fair assumption that this percentage may be higher still. The ageing population locally has been further outlined by the Skills Plan for the Leeds City Region , undertaken by the Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) in conjunction with the Leeds City Region Skills Network, which states that the biggest population growth in the 1 Managing a Healthy Ageing Workforce: A Business Imperative Chartered Institute for Personnel and Development (March 2012) 2 Managing an age-diverse workforce employer and employee views, CIPD (March 2014) 3 Business Population Estimates for the UK and Regions Department for Business Innovation and Skills (2013) 4 Skills Plan for the Leeds City Region (Spring 2013) 3

4 region will be in the 65+ age group, estimated by the Office for National Statistics to go up by 46% by 2030 compared with a projected rise of 7% for those aged between This survey and report s findings broadly agree with the research quoted, in that the employers generally understood there to be an issue but many were unsure where to access support to assist them with it. There was a consensus from the respondents that many older employees still had much drive and dynamism. A large number of businesses make no distinction by age, and feel that it would be discriminatory to do so. However, there was acknowledgement among other respondents that any physically demanding role could prove problematic as the employee gets older. There is evidence amongst some employers that more support, information and guidance around all aspects of dealing with an ageing workforce would be helpful, specifically in understanding what grants or funding may be available for training to deal with this issue generally. Methodology The research was undertaken by contacting SMEs across the Leeds City Region both by phone and in person at networking events, to complete one of two surveys. The first survey was aimed at either the owner/manager of small or micro businesses, or HR Manager of medium sized companies. The second survey was aimed at the 50+ employees themselves. Identifying SMEs The research was undertaken in 2 distinct localities Barnsley, and then the Rest of the Leeds City Region, comprising Leeds, Bradford, Kirklees, Calderdale, Wakefield, Selby, York, Harrogate and Craven. Companies from the following 12 occupational sectors were targeted in line with the Local Enterprise Partnerships skills priorities for growth across the region: Advanced Manufacturing Health Care Life Sciences and related industries Creative & Cultural Industries Logistics Digital Technology Low Carbon Industries 4

5 Education Manufacturing Financial and Business Services Retail Businesses in these sectors were identified using a number of methods. Company lists such as Hoovers were used to target SMEs within these specific sectors and geographical areas and s were sent and followed up with phone calls. We also had a stand at two separate Pure Networking events for Leeds, Bradford, York & North Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce and interviewed both business owners and employees over 50 face to face. Various networking and trade bodies were contacted and the surveys were also disseminated through newsletters and other communications from these organisations: Manufacturing Advisory Service, Inspired Business Growth (York & North Yorkshire LEP), Leeds, York and North Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce, Barnsley Development Agency, Enterprising Barnsley, Wakefield First, North Craven Networking, Green Business Network, Huddersfield Town Centre Partnership and Business Networking Bradford. Surveys Firstly the owners/manager or HR Managers of the businesses were contacted about their perception of the issues around an older and ageing workforce including: recruitment and retention talent management succession planning; and managing people at the end of their career maintaining engagement key skills health and wellbeing appropriate working hours how well placed do they feel they are to meet the needs of the ageing workforce what support would they need to better equip the business now and in the future The second part of the research was be interviewing the older workers themselves about: what training they feel they require for the duration of their working life how they would prefer this to be delivered and the format content and themes of their requirements the way in which they would like to approach their working hours 5

6 health support requirements they may need how they would feel about succession planning developing new talent within the business in readiness for the day they do retire, including what support they would need to enable them to do this See Appendices I and II for the survey questions. Results Business Owner/Manager/Director Survey Percentage of the businesses surveyed by sector: Advanced Manufacturing 3.1% Health 6.3% Care 3.1% Life Sciences and related industries 6.3% Creative & Cultural Industries 12.5% Logistics 0.0% Digital Technology 21.9% Low Carbon Industries 3.1% Education 6.3% Manufacturing 3.1% Financial and Business Services 21.9% Retail 12.5% 6

7 What percentage of your staff are over 50? Percentage of staff over 50 Number of Businesses 0-10% % % % % 3 Do you think your business has any issues with ageing employees and what are these? Of the 34 responses, 53% said they did not have any issues at all. Of the remaining 47% that said there were issues, there were a variety expressed, e.g. Yes manufacturing is physically demanding Need more time off for health-related issues age seems to creep up on different employees at different rates. 7

8 Training & skills Do you have personal development plans for your older employees? When it came to personal development plans, the trend seemed to be whether the company had these plans in place overall, rather than specifically for the age group in mind. 38.2% had plans in place for all employees, whereas the remainder did not. No organisation identified that they have specific PDPs for over 50+. Do you think your employees aged 50+ would need any further training in the next years to do their jobs? 8

9 64.7% of employers agreed their employees aged 50+ would need further training in the near future. The following areas were identified as being required for further training: In addition, some business fed back further requirements: Ours is a complex sector, all employees are highly experienced and trained in order to undertake their role All employees need training to keep up to date with technology continuously changing. We provide in-house training to meet our needs as a jeweller. Funding should be available. There was a wide consensus that training was needed across all age groups to keep up to date with technology, and not just for older workers. In order to undertake the training, suggestion for possible preferred delivery formats were given and chosen as follows: College course 4.5% One-to-one mentoring 31.8% E-learning 31.8% 9

10 One-day training course 68.2% On-the-job training 81.8% How would you prefer the activity to be assessed? Formal qualification 22.7% Non-accredited qualification 40.9% Review of activity in appraisal/line manager catch-up 72.7% Health and Wellbeing Does your company support older employees on any health issues they may have? 70.6% responded that they supported all employees, the remaining 29.4% did not support employees. There was no specific policy to support employees aged 50+. Of those that did support their employees, it was offered in the following ways: Flexible working hours 81.8% Time off for hospital appointments 86.4% Adjusted working hours 72.7% Businesses added comments such as: We are very flexible with health issues for all employees and We have a very good sick policy. Do you have policies in place to allow older employees to reduce or change their working hours or pattern in the next few years? 10

11 50% of employers do not have a policy in place to allow employees to reduce their working hours, however, of those that do, 11.8% have one for the over 50s only. The support to do this can take one of a number of forms: Reduced working hours 75% Flexible working 91.7% Time off for voluntary work 33.3% However, some smaller businesses do struggle with this element of HR policy: It is much more difficult in our work to offer reduced hours. Succession Planning 11

12 Have you talked to your older (50+) employees about passing their skills to other employees coming up through the business? 55.9% of respondents agreed with this statement. Key responses to this include: Our over 50 employee has a supervisory role so is passing on their knowledge and skills on a daily basis to the other staff. This is done as a matter of course as part of everyone s CPD. What have you suggested as ways for them to pass these skills on? CPD and mentoring. When employees approach retirement we bring in a junior 6-7 months before their departure so they can be trained up by the older more experienced employee and pass on their knowledge and skills. One to one sessions. It might be one to one coaching, short master class to the team, reviewing and supporting colleagues and through our quarterly reviews and appraisals. Overall, 41% mentioned mentoring or coaching, with a further 35% suggesting they used some sort of one to one support. Have you consulted with your employees on succession planning? 12

13 Yes 55.9% No 32.4% N/A 11.8% What have you discussed with your older employees on succession planning? What support do you think they would need to undertake any of these tasks? Training 42.1% Being mentored themselves 63.2% Our staff are very highly skilled. We consult with them about passing on their skills when they retire as and where required to do this in the organisation. Are there any other ways in which you look to keep your older employees engaged in the workplace? 52.9% said no. Of those who responded positively there were a variety of responses: Being flexible and trying to keep work varied and interesting. Taking a step back from the day to day running of the business and taking more of an ambassador role. 13

14 Social activities with colleagues. However, there were also a number of comments about the dynamism and drive of the older employees and that a large number of businesses make no distinction by age: Our Chief Executive is the oldest member of our team and by far the most dynamic and energetic. We feel no need to even consider yet how we may keep her engaged as she is the driving force in the workplace! Our older employees do the same work as other employees. Engagement is the same throughout the organisation. We work as a team our youngest employee is 20 and our oldest turns 74 today. Do you have any training/processes/schemes to engage the experience, skills and other benefits of older workers within the business? 70% of businesses did not have a formal process or scheme, however those that did had a variety of ways of keeping their 50+ employees engaged, including: We take on apprentices and graduates, and train them into our way of working by working closely with older members of staff. Our 50+ supervisor does assume the role of mentor in terms of the support and skills/knowledge/experience sharing with other staff. Is there any other support you think would be beneficial in the future to better equip your business with managing an ageing workforce? 70% did not require further support. Of those 30% who would like further support, this took a variety of forms: Job-sharing is a possibility as continuity is important for our business and this could potentially work for older workers in a physically demanding job. Funding direct to business to buy in appropriate training direct from manufacturer, e.g. Microsoft. Access to training around issues for the ageing workforce. More support, information and guidance around working with an ageing workforce. Potentially highlighting and helping gain access to grants and funding for the right type of training. Courses or seminars on succession planning more widely available. 14

15 It would be useful to train people around interviewing so that we are always bringing in the right person for the job, no matter what their age. Employee Survey Employee respondents by sector Age breakdown 70.6% of respondents were aged % were aged 60+. Training & skills Do you have a personal development plan for your role? 56.3% had a PDP for their role, the remaining 43.8% did not. Do you think you will need any training over the next years to do your role? 81.3% responded yes, 18.8% said no. 15

16 If so, what areas do you think you would need training in? What would be your preferred delivery format for this training? College course 15.4% One-to-one mentoring 30.8% E-learning 23.1% One-day training course 61.5% On-the-job training 30.8% How would you prefer the activity to be assessed? Formal qualification 30.8% Non-accredited qualification 61.5% Review of activity in appraisal/line manager catch-up 30.8% Health issues Do you feel you get support from your workplace on any health issues you have? 81.3% responded yes. If so, what form does this support take? 16

17 Flexible working Time off for hospital appointments Adjusted working hours When asked if they had planned to reduce their working hours at all over the next few years, 50% of respondents said no, 50% said yes. Has your employer offered support with this and what sort of support have they offered? Have discussed a phased reduction in working hours and a change of responsibilities in my role. As a director of the business I have had the opportunity to make the decision about adjusted working myself. I have plans to increase my volunteering over the next few years. I have spoken to the volunteer coordinator about this and they are very supportive and ready to discuss an increase as and when I am ready to do so. Succession Planning 81.8% 72.7% 27.3% Has your employer talked to you about passing your skills to other employees coming up through the business? 56.3% of respondents said yes, with the remaining 43.8% saying no. If so, what ways have they suggested for you to pass these skills on? Succession planning and sharing knowledge and expertise with the younger members of our team are part and parcel of everyday life within our business. It is important to help the younger members of our team to develop and grow in line with our plans for business growth and individual personal development. Work shadowing, coaching, mentoring I do share my knowledge and experience with new members of the volunteer staff through one to one meetings and work shadowing opportunities. On the job training for younger employees. 17

18 Has your employer consulted with you on succession planning, i.e. the way the business will look in the future and how you can contribute to this? What support do you think you would need to undertake any of these tasks? Training 58.3% Being mentored themselves 41.7% Other 16.7% 18

19 Conclusions Personal development Plans and training The perception of the SME employers surveyed is that a majority (64.7%) of 50+ employees will need further training in the near future. The majority of this was in technical fields such as IT/software, social media and new technology. This is broadly reflected in the responses of the employees, who in addition felt they require extra support in succession planning. As far as the type of training is concerned, 81.8% of employers prefer on-the-job training, which considering the time constraints in small businesses, is not surprising. Only 4.5% felt a college course would be appropriate and a majority of respondents felt a review of activity in catch-ups or appraisals would be sufficient assessment. There was a broad consensus that training was needed across all ages of employees to keep up with new technology, and not just older workers. The majority of over 50 employees surveyed (61.5%) actually said a one-day training course would be preferable to them, with the same percentage agreeing that a non-accredited qualification would suit them best. There appears to be a slight disconnect here with the employer/manager clearly having to take the business needs into consideration when planning training. Health & Wellbeing 70.6% of businesses said they supported all employees on health and wellbeing there was no distinction made for those employees who are 50+. However, from the employees perspective, 81.3% felt they had support from their workplace on health issues. The perception of employers and employees on the type of support offered was fairly consistent with there only being a big disparity between those employers who said they offered adjusted working hours (72.7%) and those employees who felt they were offered this (27.3%). 50% of employers do not have a policy to allow employees to reduce their working hours. Of the 50% that do offer this, 11.8% have one specifically for the over 50s. Of those employees that 19

20 wished to reduce their working hours it was felt that support was there to do so, and phased reduction in working hours or increased volunteering time had been offered by the employer in some cases. Some smaller employers did find it hard to offer reduced hours because of the nature of the work. Succession Planning Over half of the employers surveyed agreed that they had discussed with older employees passing their skills on to those coming up through the business. In most cases this was done as a matter of course through supervisory relationships, one to ones and mentoring/coaching sessions. Of the employee respondents 56.3% said their employer had discussed this issue with them and suggested broadly the same methods for knowledge transfer were being used. Employers generally had a more comprehensive view of the issues that would need to be covered in a succession planning relationship, with over 40% considering their employees would benefit from developing their own skills as a mentor or coach, whilst only 25% of employees felt this was a priority. Employees considered that new developments in the job or sector which would affect the business in the future was the most important element. Final summary By and large, there was a consensus that many older employees still had much drive and dynamism. A large number of businesses make no distinction by age, and feel that it would be discriminatory to do so. However, there was acknowledgement among other respondents that any physically demanding role could prove problematic as the employee gets older. There is evidence amongst some employers that more support, information and guidance around all aspects of dealing with an ageing workforce would be helpful, and specifically understanding what grants or funding may be available for training to deal with this issue generally. Recommendations Based on the information received, it would be fair to say that more information generally available to SMEs through the normal channels, e.g. Chambers of Commerce, Federation of Small Businesses, plus trade associations, would enable these employers to get the information they require about dealing with issues arising from an ageing workforce. More easily accessible information about funding available for training would also be welcome. 20

21 As far as developing specific training is concerned, the needs appear to be too diverse to be prescriptive about this. Although new technology, social media and so forth appear to be a trend in the surveys, the requirements for technology and social media vary from business to business and a one size fit all approach in the hugely diverse sectors that have been targeted would be too simplistic. A campaign to raise awareness of funding available for training, coupled with specific information around an ageing workforce and backed up with bespoke packages to enable SMEs to access training easily without adversely affecting the business. 21

22 Appendix I Questionnaire for Business Owner/Manager/HR Director Company Name Name Sector Date completed Training Needs 1. Do you think your business has any particular issues with ageing employees and what are these? 2. Do you have personal development plans for your older employees? 3. Do you think your employees aged 50+ would need any further training in the next years to do their jobs? 4. If so what areas do you think they would need training in? Updated IT/software skills New technology Social Media HR update training Coaching and mentoring Presentation skills Succession planning Other (please expand) 5. What do you think would be their preferred delivery format for this training? College course One-to-one mentoring E-learning One-day training course On-the-job training 1

23 6. How would you prefer the activity to be assessed? Additional Needs Formal qualification Non-accredited qualification Review of activity in appraisal/line manager catch-up 7. Does your company support older employees on any health issues they may have? 8. If so, what form does this support take? Flexible working Time off for hospital appointments Adjusted working hours Anything else? 9. Do you have policies in place to allow older employees to reduce or change their working hours or pattern in the next few years? 10. What support do you offer with this and in what form? Reduced working hours Flexible working Time off for voluntary work Other (Please expand) 11. Have you talked to your older employees about passing their skills to other employees coming up through the business? 12. If so, what have you suggested as a way for them to pass these skills on? 13. Have you consulted with your older employees on succession planning i.e. the way the business will look in the future and how they can contribute to this? Defining the tasks within their job roles Looking at what skills are required to complete these tasks and how they might coach colleagues in these skills 2

24 Any new developments in the sector/job which will affect the business in the future Developing their skills as a mentor/coach 14. What support do you think they would need to undertake any of these tasks? Training Being mentored themselves 15. Are there any other ways in which you look to keep your older employees engaged in the workplace? 16. Do you have any training/processes/schemes to engage the experience, skills and other benefits of older workers within the business? 17. Is there any other support you think would be beneficial in the future to better equip your business with managing an ageing workforce? Please expand. Thank you for completing this survey. 3

25 Appendix II Questionnaire for Employee Company Name Employee Name Age Group (please tick relevant age group) Sector Date completed Training Needs 1. Do you have a personal development plan for your role? 2. Do you think you would need any further training to do your role in the next years? 3. If so what areas do you think you would need training in? Updated IT/software skills New technology Social Media HR update training Coaching and mentoring Presentation skills Succession planning Other 4. What would be your preferred delivery format for this training? 4

26 College course One-to-one mentoring E-learning One-day training course On-the-job training 5. How would you prefer the activity to be assessed? Formal qualification Non-accredited qualification Review of activity in appraisal/line manager catch-up Additional Needs 6. Do you feel you get support from your workplace on any health issues you have? 7. If so, what form does this support take? Flexible working Time off for hospital appointments Adjusted working hours Anything else? 8. Do you have any plans to reduce or change your working hours or pattern in the next few years? 9. Has your employer offered support with this and what sort of support have they offered? 10. Has your employer talked to you about passing your skills to other employees coming up through the business? 11. If so, what have they suggested as a way for you to pass these skills on? 12. Has your employer consulted with you on succession planning i.e. the way the business will look in the future and how you can contribute to this? Defining the tasks within your job role Looking at what skills are required to complete these tasks and how you might coach colleagues in these skills 5

27 Any new developments in the sector/job which will affect the business in the future Developing your own skills as a mentor/coach 13. What support do you think you would need to undertake any of these tasks? Training Being mentored yourself Thank you for completing this survey. 6