A Guide to Managing an Ageing Workforce - Public Sector ...

2. Meeting the Challenge
The challenge is to create a work environment that will attract and retain mature employees to work beyond
retirement age. It is crucial to build awareness of the impacts of changing workforce demographics and to
equip leaders across the sector with the skills to manage an ageing workforce.
This guide provides practical advice and techniques for agencies to:
• attract mature employees
• retain current mature employees in the sector for longer
• retain and improve the use of mature employees’ knowledge and skills
• transfer knowledge and skills from mature to newer employees
• build a diverse and inclusive workforce
Retirement factors
The top factors rated by WA public sector employees as being the most influential in their decision to retire x are:
• Opportunities exist to develop
best practice models to support
a longer work life, phased
retirement and knowledge
management
• The public sector with its ageing
workforce profile and employment
size has a unique leadership role
to play in response to changes in
the labour market environment
• financial security (97%)
• job satisfaction (93%)
• work/life balance (91%)
• more time to pursue leisure activities (84%)
• job stress/pressure (84%)
Although mature employees may remain in, or return to work for economic reasons, many do so because
they want to be active xi . Many mature employees want to continue to work - the key is to make work practices
more attractive to them by addressing the factors above.
To retain mature employees for longer, it is critical to understand why they leave. Information on how to
design, implement and evaluate exit surveys can be found in the Public Sector Commission publication,
Learning from Leaving
www.publicsector.wa.gov.au A Guide to Managing an Ageing Workforce 7