Australian organisations must ensure they have a clearly defined strategy for supporting the transition to retirement, because forward planning allows for a transfer of knowledge, maximised productivity and longer retention of mature-age employees.

Speaking to a forum of industry leaders in Canberra this week, The Hon Susan Ryan, Age Discrimination Commissioner, said that new visionary thinking is needed when it comes to mature age workers.

Attending the roundtable discussion which brought together senior leaders from some of Australia’s biggest organisations, including Telstra, National Australia Bank, QBE, Service First, PepsiCo, TabCorp and 2disccover, Ryan called on business leaders to create a more fluid working environment and encourage employees to engage in ongoing professional development throughout their career.

Additionally, Ryan called on organisations to better allow for workers to move in and out of the workforce, at any age, without penalty.

Proactively supporting mature-age workers has wide ranging positive outcomes for business, and according to SageCo, organisations benefit in three main ways, namely:

1. Forward planning allows for enough time to transfer knowledge. There is an opportunity to shape a mature employee’s role to support knowledge sharing activities.

2. The more support a mature employee has in making work and retirement decisions, the more likely they are to experience a positive and productive career.

3. By having a timely conversation about future working intentions, you may retain that mature employee for longer. They may work differently, but you can reduce recruitment and training costs and minimise knowledge risk.