Life-stage-aware HR policy that truly fits

Life-stage-aware HR policy or age-aware HR policy?

First of all: watch out for stereotyping. Before you know it, well-intentioned attention can feel like age discrimination. Every person is unique, and so is every employee. There are people over fifty who lead wilder lives than a school leaver who actually thrives on structure. Some start a family in their twenties, others not until they are forty. That is why we prefer to speak of life-stage-aware HR policy rather than age-aware HR policy.

If you want to get started with life-stage-aware HR policy, it is too simplistic to just divide your staff into age groups and blindly apply certain tools to each category. But how do you actually go about it? You can probably guess, as we didn't write this blog for nothing. We naturally have some tips up our sleeves to help you keep your employees happy and productive.

What is life-stage-aware HR policy?

Good life-stage-aware HR policy is mindful of the different life stages of all employees and ensures they remain employable for the organization. If you structure your organization to be life-stage-aware, you are consciously ensuring that your staff remains vital, motivated, and employable throughout their entire working life.

Is that focus on the needs of an employee in a specific life stage actually necessary? Well, if you want to continue developing, utilizing, and retaining the knowledge and experience you have in-house, you really cannot avoid it as an employer. Especially with the current labor market and the aging workforce, it is worth reflecting on this.

Also read why hiring older employees is a good idea!

Every life stage has a major impact on a person's daily life. Young children, informal care, but also changing interests and declining health: these aspects of someone's private life require a significant amount of attention and energy. And because no one has an unlimited battery, this directly affects the amount of energy left for doing the work and fulfilling ambitions.

On the other hand, a phase may arrive where someone needs to invest less energy in their private life and is eager to (re)start their career and learn new things. Be alert then, too, so you can keep this employee on board.

Benefits of life-stage-aware HR policy

There are benefits for both parties in having a good life-stage-aware HR policy.

For the employee, the benefits are:

• Better work-life balance
• Reduced risk of burnout or bore-out
• Career opportunities in every phase
• Greater job satisfaction
• Income security

For the employer, the benefits are:

• Lower absenteeism
• Good for employer branding
• Retention of knowledge and productivity
• Better work atmosphere
• Broader pool of applicants

But now for the next question: how do you make your organization more ‘life-cycle-proof’? We’ll give you some tips.

5 tips for a life-stage-aware HR policy

1. Measurement is knowledge

First, gather as much concrete input as possible. There is likely already a lot of useful information in your HR system. The composition of your staff, past staff turnover and expected future departures, what does absenteeism look like, and how is recruitment and selection of new employees going?

This concrete data is absolutely interesting. But above all, don't forget to look at the stories behind the numbers. Why didn't that applicant take the job? What is the reason for the resignation letter? And why does reintegration into their own role not work for so many employees? Hold exit interviews, talk to an occupational physician, and have recruiters ask follow-up questions of applicants who drop out during the process.

During that inventory, also dare to take a critical look in the mirror: might there have been a few more options for retaining staff after all if you had been more flexible with working hours, had invested a bit more in ergonomics, or had offered training?

You can't change the past, but you can change the future! 

2. Ask your employees

The most useful information about what your employees need naturally comes from... the employees themselves. So make work-life balance a topic of conversation during a progress review, and invite them to say what it takes to keep your valued team member on board. 

Do you want to be sure that employees don't give socially desirable answers just because you happen to be their manager, but truly dare to say what they need to feel comfortable in their stage of life? Then an anonymous, online employee satisfaction survey on this topic is a good idea.

Also read: Use these HR KPI examples to measure whether your HR goals are being met!

3. Set the limits

Of course, trees don't grow to the sky. There are limits to what is also possible and workable from a business and organizational point of view. So alongside an inventory of wishes, you also need a good inventory of possibilities. Scheduling differently, redesigning workplaces, investing in training, or creating job shares (to name just a few examples) has not only financial but also practical consequences. 

Look at this with an open but also realistic eye. Involve your employees in the considerations. That not only builds mutual understanding, it may also produce creative ideas. Perhaps a different division of work among colleagues makes more possible than initially seemed. Are some wishes impossible to fulfill, even with the best will in the world? Then don't beat around the bush: be honest about where things stand and try to reach a compromise. 

4. Learn from each other

Encourage knowledge sharing within the organization. Have older, more experienced employees pass on their accumulated knowledge to new joiners. It's also great when it becomes a two-way street: let starters share the knowledge they just learned at school with the employees who have been around a bit longer.

It's a good idea to also look beyond the established silos and beaten paths. By collaborating across disciplines more often, you look at your own work with fresh eyes, combine strengths and talents, and perhaps discover new possibilities. 

Also read: Breaking silo culture with job rotation! 

5. The toolbox for sustainable HR policy

So many people, so many wishes. What is a godsend for one employee isn't necessarily the solution for another. So take a broad approach if you want to make your HR policy more sustainable. Here are a few ideas to get you started:

• More flexible working hours and more options for working from home.
• Personal development plans in which a (temporary) step back is also an option.
• Offer a career coach who can help think things through.
• Benefits à la carte: each employee gets a budget with which secondary employment benefits can be chosen as they see fit.
• Invest extra in training or coaching on certain themes related to various life stages: informal care, menopause, returning to work after childbirth, or bereavement.

Life-stage-aware HR policy: an online example

An online platform certainly offers benefits if you want to upgrade your HR policy. Not only do you gain more insight and flexibility yourself, the same goes for your employees. They can acquire and share knowledge at a time that suits them, it's easier to send out and fill in surveys, and recording and following up on a personal development plan becomes a piece of cake. 

Sounds interesting? Then feel free to get in touch with us. We would be happy to think along with you to find a solution that fits your organization's needs!