BT connects with older workers: Pioneering policies help to attract and retain the over‐50s

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to describe BT's policies to help its older staff, which made it one of only ten employers worldwide to win last year's AARP International Innovative Employer award, which recognizes non‐US‐based employers who demonstrate practices to help employees aged 50 or over.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper details initiatives such as flexible‐working arrangements, the Workfit program, encouraging people of all ages to improve their mental and physical wellbeing, and the career‐life planning tool, which helps employees to develop their careers at every stage of their life.

Findings

The paper reveals that all BT's training programs are available to every employee, regardless of age, and that workers aged over 50 make up some 5 percent of BT's new recruits – including graduates in their 50s who are enrolled on the company's graduate scheme.

Practical implications

The paper demonstrates how the various “age neutral” policies help to ensure that the company always has a bank of intellectual capital on which to draw.

Originality/value

The paper puts forward ideas that other companies could adopt, faced with the so‐called “demographic time‐bomb” – the fact that there will be fewer young people in the workforce of the future.

Citation

(2009), "BT connects with older workers: Pioneering policies help to attract and retain the over‐50s", Human Resource Management International Digest, Vol. 17 No. 2, pp. 17-20. https://doi.org/10.1108/09670730910940230