Diversity Dimensions - Age

This is an area where legislation is changing and competition for talent has enabled many organisations to start to take a more proactive and ‘positive’ stance on age.

We help organisations to identify ways in which assumptions about age may be built into their culture and processes. This often means challenging accepted practice around recruitment, talent management and redundancy. We help organisations have employment policies that meet the needs of people of different ages and enable those individuals to feel engaged, valued and fully able to contribute.

Age is often integral to our broader work on diversity with clients.

For instance, one major Utility client was setting up a new call centre and we were asked to work closely with the recruiting team. Not only was there a determination to ensure that the staff reflected the ethnic diversity of the region, also to attract older applicants (the existing profile was young.) The strategy was highly effective and led to a much wider age profile than in their other call centres.

In reviewing the talent management processes in a number of our clients, we have helped them identify ways in which assumptions about age have become built into their processes. For instance, in a client which was keen to increase the representation of women at senior levels, there were in effect “age gateways” which determined who could be considered for the list of “high potentials”.

A Retail client wanted to get ahead of the 2006 age legislation and asked us to provide detailed guidance for a policy review to enable them to comply with likely requirements and to move towards best practice.

Case studies relating to Age

• Department for Work & Pensions (DWP) - Championing Change at a Government Department

Resources relating to Age