Staged exit for older workers
Legislative requirements defining a compulsory retirement age have significant implications for Australian workers. Whilst increasing flexibility is becoming more common in the workplace, many professions focus on the engagement of aptly qualified, full time employees.
Relatively difficult to implement
- Form a retired nurse’s network to coordinate strategy development.
- Facebook/online group or forum to network and mentor.
- Post retirement work, short term placement, job sharing, policy development.
- Progressive retirement.
- Become an educator or mentor.
- GP’s work as salaried or contracted practitioners rather than Practice Principals or Associates.
- Implementing mental and lifestyle strategies.
- Ensure a good range of educational opportunities are available and easily accessible
Success factors
Human resources management strategies are central to efforts to retain older workers. Human resources systems must be able to cope with flexible working options, training and development programs, job re-design, recognition strategies as well as attractive compensation options targeting older workers. Knowledge management strategies offer potential to assist workplaces in retaining at least some of an older nurse's acquired expertise. Offer incentives for older nurses to help them to continue to engage in the workforce. E.g. cover flights and expenses, pay annual registration, provide suitable remuneration. Employers need to develop formal engagement packages provided to workers prior to transitioning into retirement.
Challenges
The anticipated exodus of older workers following legislative retirement age, and a parallel decline of younger age professionals with relevant qualifications, will have a significant impact on service provision in rural and regional areas. Older employees are often viewed as less valuable than those younger, and consequently recruitment and retention strategies tend to be overly focused on the young. The cost of lost knowledge is difficult to quantify, and many organizations face challenges in identifying where they are most vulnerable in terms of knowledge loss. Degree of remoteness and isolation from major educational institutions has led to a workforce that is largely recruited from outside. A staged exit is not always successful for people living in remote areas, as they may not be looking to ‘semi retire’ in these communities.
A socially accountable organization designs its services to meet the needs of the population it serves. This implies having systems in place to regularly assess the population needs or monitor changes on an on-going basis.
How can we be sure that our service model best meets the needs of our population, provides the most cost-effective solutions, and leverages advances in technology? The service model must best meet the needs of the population, and metrics are required to monitor the effectiveness of the service model. In addition to understanding the population’s
service needs, a strong body of evidence suggests that, especially in rural and remote environments, the most successful health-service models are explicitly tailored to the local environment.
Delivery of safe and effective healthcare in remote and rural areas requires a specific additional skill set including ongoing skills maintenance and continuing education. In addition to ensuring there are appropriately tailored education and training opportunities that are accessible to remote and rural practitioners, there is a need to ensure recruits are learning-focused and have the ability to develop the remote and rural skill set that is required. This Framework challenges this perception and encourages organizations to seriously consider the characteristics of the person you would like to hire. Management may find that the promotion and advertising materials used may be targeting the wrong person.
Supporting your professional teams to access professional development that is relevant to their rural and remote work environment can be a significant factor in enhancing the quality of services in your community and in retention of employees. A mixture of well designed “at distance or “technology enhanced” education programmes together with some “face-to-face” education and training should be offered.
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Voit K, Carson DB. Post-retirement intentions of nurses and midwives living and working in the Northern Territory of Australia. Rural and Remote Health(Internet) 2014; 14: 2399. Available: http://www.rrh.org.au/articles/subviewnew.asp?ArticleID=2399
Eisenman A. How do retired paramedics fit into remote, rural emergency departments? Rural and Remote Health(Internet) 2013; 13: 2057. Available: http://www.rrh.org.au/articles/subviewnew.asp?ArticleID=2057
Hansen V, Pit SW, Honeyman P, Barclay L. Prolonging a sustainable working life among older rural GPs: solutions from the horse’s mouth. Rural and Remote Health(Internet) 2013; 13: 2369. Available: http://www.rrh.org.au/articles/subviewnew.asp?ArticleID=2369