Design Innovation for Employability of Mature Workers: An Opportunity for Cross Boundary Exchange

contributed by Gracie Xiang, >60 Design Centre Corporate Services

Introduction

Singapore’s workforce is ageing rapidly. According to the Tripartite Committee Interim Report (2007), about a third of the employed by 2015 will be aged 50 years and above.[1] Based on projections by the US Census Bureau, 57.4% of the Singapore population will be aged 50 and above by 2050.[2] This fundamental change in Singapore’s demographics has far reaching consequences for the economy and companies operating in Singapore. With the shortage of young workers, it would become increasingly important for companies to engage a more mature workforce and leverage on their experience and expertise in order to maintain its competitiveness in the industry. With the increased life expectancy, mature workers will also be required to work longer to ensure retirement adequacy. Policy makers are also stepping up measures to keep up with the socio-economic transformation and adapt to the coming surge of the ageing workforce.

>60 Design Centre’s Design Innovation Model

Today, we recognise the economic opportunities this burgeoning class of new aged presents. We want to see more of them stay employed for longer years; we want more employers to employ more of the older group of workers. The Singapore Government takes the view that the growth of the ageing population creates an industry of its own, which has strong economic potential for Singapore. The starting point must address how to meet this market’s special needs, particularly with the changing profiles of the ageing individual.

Since the 1980s, Singapore’s Government has been working to address the ageing issues and the implications of how demographic shift would affect the overall society and economy. Singapore’s response to these challenges identifies a need for a centre of design research and development that specifically addresses the needs of the ageing sector. In January 2008, Singapore opened its first and only National Design Centre for Ageing, called the >60 Design Centre (>60 is pronounced as “Greater Than Sixty”)”.

In >60, we design products and services that will directly respond to the requirements of the ageing population segment. Our design approach is founded on universal design methodology – creating age friendly design solutions with the greater than 60s in mind, but which have the potential to transcend all age boundaries and having lasting relevance and appeal.

One of the Centre’s objectives is to look into the needs of the growing silver workforce. In particular, the Centre provides consultation to develop products and solutions for the international silver workforce. We redesign the workplace environment and reengineer work tools to create safe and productive environment that takes into account the characteristics that come with ageing.

Design Solutions for Ageing Workforce

Growing old is a normal process that will see inevitable deterioration of muscular strength, vision, hearing and mental agility. In the workplace, the primary design concerns will be focused on the changes that occur to the physical, physiological and psychosocial capacities of ageing employees. It is now widely known that very few capacity changes are directly related to decline due to chronological age alone. As Harper & Marcus further explain in Age Horizons, “The majority of the so-called age related decline is in fact closely linked to environment and behaviour…considerable adaptations can be made to the workplace to compensate for any decline in capacity.” [3] Accommodations for mature workers are important in the inevitably changing workforce.

Ergonomics is the science of designing the workplace and work tasks to improve productivity and safety.[4] The goal of ergonomics is to design tasks, jobs, activities, work areas and environment to remove known risk factors and obstacles that impede optimum performance in order to prevent injuries, errors, confusion and to improve overall employee wellness and overall business performance. Ergonomics hence presents a design solution that accommodates and compensates the decline in the physical capacities of mature workers. In response to the rapid ageing workforce, it is essential for companies to also identify the physical, physiological and psychological demands of the job, the capacities of the worker and mismatches between the demand and the capability.

There are two ways which ergonomic programmes are used: (1) Administrative solutions and (2) Engineering solutions.[5] Administrative solutions refer to actions taken by management or staff to limit the potentially harmful effects of a stressful job on workers by rescheduling work duties, job rotation, job re assignments, education and training. Engineering solutions are more focused on the job and work environment. The aim is to redesign the job, tools, equipment and environment to achieve control over the risk factors associated with poor performance, lower productivity and injuries. Engineering solutions comparatively are seen as better than administrative solutions as they tend to be more permanent and sustainable. Administrative solutions are usually explored when it is found that engineering solutions are not available or are too costly for implementation.

Administrative Solutions: In Singapore, companies are urged to retain, retrain and reemploy mature workers beyond the age of 65 when Singapore’s reemployment legislation comes into effect in 2012. Based on the report from National Trade Union Congress (NTUC) press release, about 433 out of the 1000 unionised companies have committed, at varying levels, with a total of 3910 mature workers having been re-employed.[6] Of the 433 companies, about 15% have started employing administrative solutions in their reemployment HR policy. Administrative solutions like retraining, re-scheduling, granting flexi-work arrangements, re-deployment, retention and reward systems have been implemented.

Engineering Solutions: In >60, we specialise in providing consultancy in the area of engineering solutions. The Centre employs research and design methodologies in redesigning the workplace environment and reengineering work tools and equipment to facilitate work processes and enhance work performances. We review: (1) Task design, (2) Workstation design, (3) Environmental design, (4) Tools design and (5) Equipment design. By applying such design solutions, the workplace can be designed and redesigned so that mature workers have the ability and desire to adapt. When re engineering programs are implemented to modify the environment, processes and procedures, it will help older employees to perform their jobs more productively and safely by reducing the ‘performance gap’.

Changing Mindsets for the Ageing Workforce

Design solutions may create a working environment more conducive for mature workers. However, design solutions are but just tools and alone, will not be instrumental in encouraging mature workers to continue working. It is essential for changing mindsets of the mature workers, employers and society.

Mature Workers to Continue Working: In the recent speech on 10 September 2009, Minister for Prime Minister’s Office, Mr Lim Boon Heng said among workers aged 55 to 64, only 57 percent are still working, still far off from the government’s target of 65 percent of them employed by 2012.[7] Given that skills obsolescence is likely to set in the longer one is out of work, it is important for mature workers to change their perceptions of retirement and continuous learning to enhance their employability in the industry. According to recent statistics in 2007, only 13% of job seekers aged 15 to 64 had participated in training over the 12-month period ending in June that year.[8]

Dr Shigeaki Hinohara became a bestselling author in his native Japan when he was 90 years old.  This accomplishment was achieved in 2001 when he published the book Ikikata Jozu (How to Live Well), on how to be happy and healthy as you grow old.  The book has since sold more than 1.2 million copies and established Hinohara as a popular lifestyle advisor to elderly Japanese.[9]  He also reaches tens of millions through regular TV appearances and print columns.  His message is simple: “We don’t stop working because we are old; we grow old because we stop working.” Hinohara’s advice to “keep working” advice means staying engaged in productive activities, which also means maintaining one’s income-earning ability.  These earnings, in turn, help the elderly maintain their financial independence and support their lifestyle.

Employers to Recognise Mature Workers’ Importance: Employers need to understand that mature workers are increasingly valuable assets, as companies can capitalize on their experience, divergent problem solving skills and mentorship skills to their advantage. With a shrinking younger population and a growing older one, employers will have no alternative but to change. By 2020, 19 percent of the labour force will be 55 years or older – more than 8.3 per cent a decade ago.[10]

Based on Ministry of Manpower’s report on Age Positive Human Resource Practices in 2007, about 93% of senior residents in Singapore aged 55 and above expected to face difficulties when seeking employment. The main obstacle they cited was their age (88.1%).[11] Across all organization sizes, the predominant obstacle towards employment of workers aged 60 & above is their inability to meet physical demands of the job (Table 1 below)[12]. The industries which have higher concentration of physically demanding jobs like manufacturing (51%) and construction (48%) cited inability to meet physical job demands as the main reason workers aged 60 and above do not fit into their organisations. Flexibility and adaptations to changes in the hotels and restaurant industry stood out (42.7%) as another reason for workers not fitting in.

Table 1: Reasons Workers Aged 60 & Above Do Not Fit Into Organisation by Industry, June 2006

Society to Change Perceptions of Mature Workers: Contrary to ageist assumptions, mature workers are more safety cautious, practical and communicative. They also possess other skills such as cooperation, endurance, mental and physical stress, creativity, thinking, attention and learning ability remain unchanged through working life. They are less likely to job hop, take unscheduled absence leave and more likely to complete training. As society is ageing, there is an inevitable need to utilize all the skills sets and experience of the entire workforce, both young and old, to run the economy. Age discrimination in workplace should be eradicated because it harms the self esteem of workers, the industry and the entire economy.

On a macro level, societies can come together in collaboration and partnership. Together, we can create more platforms for ideas exchanges; for fresh advocates of ageing design as well as experts in the area of design for ageing workforce to meet, engage and bring the ageing conversation to the next level. This will facilitate greater understanding of creating age friendly working environments for ageing workforce.

>60 & Cross Boundary Collaboration and Partnership

The Centre is a firm believer in forging strong partnerships with industry to achieve maximum impact on society. >60 believe there is strength in numbers. With like-minded partners, the Centre can push a very gigantic door open more effectively than if each of us tried to address similar issues on our own. It can harness the different strengths and perspectives into a powerful effort that can make a significant impact on the lives of the ageing population. The Ageing population is a global issue and addressing it will be a challenge for developing and developed nations alike. By establishing partnerships and collaborations, the Centre hopes to tackle such issues and problems via a multi-perspective approach that can result in global solutions and impact the world in a significant manner.

>60’s work identifies the tremendous potential that can be harnessed, and provides the means to realise those potentials. The scope for international collaboration is tremendous, not least because it can only galvanise the collective effort to catalyse the better good. Indeed the focus on ageing issues has given rise to some of the world’s most eminent research centres. The UK has the Helen Hamlyn Research Centre in the Royal College of Art and the Oxford Institute of Ageing at Oxford University. In the USA is the Centre for the Ageing and Aged in Indiana University and the International Council on Active Ageing.

The growth of ageing populations has galvanized nations across the world to tap new resources, find new solutions and capitalize on new intellectual capital to bring about a new way of living. The Centre can be more effective by pooling resources, and by transcending barriers that impede the flow of knowledge and expertise. The task is a shared responsibility among governments, industries and individuals to bring about positive change for generations to come.

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) on a global level can take on the role of fostering the exchange mechanisms, implementing mandatory standards and providing international practices in the management of intellectual property. It will be a welcome initiative which will leapfrog the efforts of everyone involved in work to provide for the ageing populations. By its own volition, the industry will find new dimensions for further CSR initiatives in this field.

>60 recognises the prowess of cross border collaboration in the field of designing for the ageing community. The Centre wants to establish an international consolidated effort in partnership with various research and development centres in the world. More so, the Centre hopes that the social responsibility efforts will realise a new generation of design talent who are socially engaged and involved. It has plans to create >60 International – global satellite design centres managed by purpose driven designers who desires to impact the growing ageing community.   

Conclusion

One of the greatest transformations for Asia with the advent of the 21^st century is the shift in its demographic profile. Asia is growing old and it is growing old fast. 54% or 363 million of the world’s old live in Asia. Asia’s workforce is also ageing. While growing old is a natural process that will see inevitable deterioration of the muscular strength, vision, hearing and mental agility, we have argued here that design solutions are available to compensate for the decline of such capacities. >60 recommends design solutions for ageing workforce in the forms of administrative solutions and engineering solutions.

Design solutions will only be effective when the mature workers see the need to continue working; companies recognise mature workers’ importance in the workforce and their changing roles in their fields; society appreciates the ageing workforce as value assets. The global ageing phenomenon has provided a platform for the burgeoning of cross disciplinary and cross boundary collaborations amongst nations across the globe. Design education and innovation will see new growth as nations come together to tap on new resources, find new solutions and capitalize on new intellectual capital to bring about a better world.   

 REFERENCES:

This paper above was presented by Mr Moses Wong (Director of >60 Design Centre) at the International Symposium on Ageing and Workability held at Universitas Indonesia, Jakarta on 19 October 2009. This symposium brought together representatives from Japan,  United States and South East Asia to exchange experiences in coping with the issue of ageing and workability.