Employee motivation: Older employees' needs must be addressed

Date: 14/06/2012

The number of employees who continue to work beyond the state age for collecting a pension has doubled since 1993.

This information, which has been released by the Office for National Statistics, shows the changing demographic of the UK's workforce.

In response to this it is important that managers tailor their employee motivation initiatives to suit an older audience.

There are now around 1.4 million workers continuing to toil into their later years and this can lead to a diverse age mix within a company.

This can have many benefits as the older employees will have more experience and the younger ones fresh ideas.

What motivates them however, can be entirely different, due to their lifestyles and priorities, so what boosts morale in one camp will not necessarily do the same for others.

A flexible incentives and recognition program is therefore needed where staff can pick and choose the benefits which suit them best.

Tom McPhail, head of pensions research at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: "This trend will accelerate over the next few years; it presents a significant challenge to individuals and employers who will need to find ways to accommodate more flexible working patterns and later retirement ages."

Motivating employees is incredibly important in order to get the best out of them and engage them in the company ethos and everyday tasks that they perform.

Despite many employees deciding to work later due to finances and the inability to afford retirement, they can bring a lot to the workplace.

Just because the motivations of the young and the old are different does not mean that they cannot work in harmony and present a skills-rich team.

Working with people of different ages can be beneficial for all of those involved and a mutual respect should be nurtured by those in charge.

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