Culture toolkit — policies, processes and HR tools

The first weeks of someone’s employment are a crucial time to make your culture clear. Ensure that your induction process makes everyone feel welcome and that the content is relevant to workers of all ages. As part of the induction it should be clear that older workers are welcome and ageism will not be tolerated.

Make sure templates and guidance related to review meetings are age inclusive. Do not include questions which could be felt to exclude older staff. For example, rather than asking “where do you want to be in 5 years?” ask “what would you like to do more of?”

A strong and empathetic bereavement policy will enhance staff loyalty and allow individuals time when they need it.

Many older workers are also carers, so a strong policy that allows flexibility for those with caring responsibilities is important.

Do you have one? Offering support to female employees during this time can be a huge benefit and improve employee engagement and retention.

Do you offer mid-life reviews as an employee benefit? This can be an opportunity for employees to review their future plans and finances and, again, is often regarded as a huge benefit. Offering them to all workers of a certain age removes any stigma. We have a guide that tells you how to do this.

Do you offer workers approaching retirement support to think about what it means and how they might want to prepare?

Ensure that your staff survey captures data related to age, so that you can use this to cut the data and see how experiences differ. You can also include direct questions about whether employees have experienced or witnessed ageism at work. There is some guidance here.