When Will You Retire?

As the global market volatility continues to cut into many superannuation balances, an increasing number of workers are planning to delay their retirement - whether they like it or not.

Across much of Canada, mandatory retirement has been given the pink slip.
On July 1, 2009, Nova Scotia became the latest province to enact legislation to amend its human rights code and end the practice. As of that date, workers in the province are no longer forced to quit when they turn 65. "Many want to continue working, as they still have a lot to contribute," says Graham Steele, who was at the time the acting minister responsible for the Human Rights Act.

That was certainly the thinking in other provinces — such as British Columbia, Newfoundland and Labrador, Saskatchewan, and Ontario — when they moved in the past few years to eliminate mandatory retirement.

As people remain in the workforce for longer - many out of necessity rather than want - HR managers will need to closely monitor changing employee attitudes and consider redefining some of their policies to fit.

It has been shown that those with the most education tend to enjoy their work and are reluctant to be turfed out. And many people want to keep working for a variety of other reasons, including because they enjoy the office camaraderie, sense of purpose or routine.

Sometimes it's a case of economic survival.

Statistics Canada says the numbers of retirement-aged Canadians in the workforce will continue to increase — in less than 10 years, one in five people in the workforce will be aged 55 to 64.

This shift in demographics is not new, but what's surprising is the extent of the delay in planned retirement, indicating that potentially, we could be in for an even more dramatic shift in the makeup of our labour force than first expected.

As older workers remain at organisations for longer, it will be important for employers to reconsider how they will retain the engagement of their older employees to ensure they are able to continue to propel their organiaation forward.

Some workers may feel forced to remain in their jobs when they'd rather not be there. Employers will have to consider how they can best approach this: If older workers feel compelled to continue working when they'd rather be doing something else, employers will need to work doubly hard to maintain their motivation and job satisfaction, both of which impact their productivity.

Organizations may have to be more creative and flexible in their workplace strategies to allow older workers to remain productive and engaged in their roles. They may need to consider adjusting some of their workplace practices to suit the increased flexibility older workers are looking for. This may extend beyond the more typical work-life balance policies to pay and leave practices, work-from-home arrangements, even to job and role redesign to get the greatest productivity from older workers.

Employers need to consider how best to assist older workers to stay focused on work. As an example, concern about money matters can be a great source of stress or distraction for employees, and the employer can be an important conduit to providing information to help alleviate these concerns and assist employees in preparing for their retirement. Providing access to financial education and advice could be of great value to older workers.

For those employees nearing retirement, the employer has an important role to play in helping to smooth the path to retirement. Their role can range from providing access to information or a professional adviser - who can help older workers recalibrate their financial plan or investment allocation to help them meet their financial goals and ensure they have the most appropriate strategy in place - through to working in partnership to find solutions such as phased retirement strategies that will benefit both employer and employee.