3 Years on from taking our Age Friendly Employer Pledge

Our commitment to being an Age-Friendly Employer

By Alan Inman-Ward, CEO, Age UK Gloucestershire

At Age UK Gloucestershire, our purpose is to help people age well, their way. To do that credibly, it is important that we live the same values inside our organisation as we promote in the community. In April 2023, we signed up to the Age Friendly Employer Pledge, a nationwide programme for employers who recognise the value of older workers.

Why This Matters

Older workers play an essential role in our organisation. Their experience, insight and commitment enhance the way we work and help us maintain a strong. diverse, and stable team. The pledge has provided a useful framework for reviewing our approach and continuing to improve how we attract, support and retain people in later working life.

What We Have Done

Over the past three years, we have focused on three key areas from the Age Friendly Employer pledge:

• Recruitment that welcomes all ages. We continue to present Age UK Gloucestershire as a place where people at different life stages feel encouraged to apply. Our workforce now includes colleagues across a broad span of ages, and around half of our team is over fifty.
• Development opportunities for everyone. We have strengthened our approach to continuing professional development and made sure that training and progression opportunities are openly available to colleagues regardless of age. I'm pleased to say that our older colleagues have made the most of this opportunity.
• Policies that support people well throughout their working life. This includes flexible working arrangements, occupational sick pay from day one and life assurance for all staff regardless of pension status. These policies ensure consistency, fairness and security for colleagues of every age

Together, these actions demonstrate our commitment to being an employer where age is never a barrier to feeling supported or valued.

What We Are Seeing

Through this work, we have built a more age inclusive culture and strengthened retention among colleagues in their fifties and sixties. We have also gained a clearer understanding of the diversity of ages within our team and the benefits that brings to our organisation and the people we support. Older workers continue to make a significant contribution to the success of Age UK Gloucestershire. Their knowledge, experience and perspective enrich our work and help us deliver our mission with confidence and care.

Looking Ahead

As I shared in our pledge submission:
Our experience of the pledge has reinforced just how much value older workers bring, with deep knowledge, stability, diverse experience and a strong sense of purpose. We are proud of the progress we have made and remain committed to building a workplace where people of all ages can thrive and feel recognised for the contribution they make. More importantly, we are excited about how we can continue to learn, create an even more inclusive working environment for all ages, and share with other organisations so that more older people can benefit.
We will continue to build on this foundation. There is more to learn and more to do, but we are moving forward with confidence, determination and a commitment to leading by example.

My ask of anyone reading this

Consider how your organisation could benefit from being an Age Friendly Employer. Feel free to reach out to me, or find out how to sign up with the Centre for Ageing Better: https://ageing-better.org.uk/employer-pledge