Supporting Age Inclusive Recruitment and Retention - Business in the Community

Supporting Age Inclusive Recruitment and Retention

By using inclusive recruitment and retention practices, employers can fill vacancies and skills gaps from overlooked 50+ talent.

The cost-of-living crisis significantly impacts older workers who had already been badly affected by the pandemic during which they were furloughed and laid off.  By supporting age inclusive recruitment and retention practices, employers can fill vacancies and skills gaps from overlooked 50+ talent and help the over 50s return to and stay in work.

The cost-of-living crisis is having an effect on older workers. For those who were laid off due to the pandemic, or who decided to leave the workforce early, remaining out of work is no longer an option.

This briefing paper examines the following:

  • The impact of the cost-of-living crisis on older workers
  • Why age is important for employers
  • Action for employers

Build Age Inclusion into Your Recruitment Processes

Jayne Haines, SVP Talent, Learning and Organisational Development at GSK, a BITC member, offers the following insights for building age inclusion into your recruitment processes.

  1. This is about your leadership shadow as CEO, ensuring people understand your commitment to inclusion and diversity.
  2. Educate your team. This means your leadership team, the HR team and all hiring managers.
  3. Monitor your organisation’s age profile and set multigenerational aspirations – ‘what gets measured gets done’.
  4. Building diversity in recruitment will need a budget so be prepared to invest for future benefit.
  5. Check that your recruitment processes have age inclusion locked in all the way through, from the job description to selection.
  6. Set expectations of age inclusion with your search companies.
  7. Work with other organisations that support older workers.
  8. Challenge your suppliers to be age-inclusive employers and share your approach with your value chain.
  9. Share your good news stories, showcasing your actions to build age diversity.
  10. Make age-inclusive recruitment a priority, and embed it throughout your business.

Make age inclusive
recruitment a priority