Management Blog

Older workers are delaying retirement: report

A new survey by the Australian Bureau of Statistics has revealed a large number of older workers are delaying retirement, The Age reports.

The survey found 36 per cent of respondents who planned to retire at some stage said the timing of their retirement depended on the state of their financial security.

Personal health and physical ability were also listed as factors that can influence the decision to leave work.

The survey also found most Australians believe they won't be able to live off a government pension with around 50 per cent of older workers expecting superannuation to be their main income source.

The ABS says the average age of retirement for Australia has been 61 over the past five years, however currently employed workers who plan to retire say they will do so at around the age of 63.

Gender differences emerge over work lunch habits

It appears Australia is a nation of ladies who don't lunch with a new survey revealing women are less likely to take lunch breaks than their male counterparts.

According to the Herald Sun, more than 30 per cent of women don't take lunch breaks and eat at their desks while only 24 per cent of men have the same habit.

Gender differences also emerged over the time spent at lunch. It's claimed 40 per cent of men take a break of more than 30 minutes whereas 30 per cent of women lunch for over half an hour.

The Sandhurst Find Foods study claims long lunches are history with less than 4 per cent of people taking over an hour for lunch.

In addition, it's claimed almost half of the survey respondents bring their lunch from home.

Men stronger workplace social networkers: study

While women are traditionally seen as stronger communicators than men, a new survey has found men have the upper hand when it comes to networking via social media, Smart Company reports.

According to the article, a new survey by professional social networking site LinkedIn has found men are better networkers in the military, capital markets, human resources and newspaper sectors.

But when it comes to the dispute resolution, philanthropy, marketing and advertising and writing and editing industries, women display savvier networking skills.

LinkedIn's researchers made their conclusions based on an analysis of the average number of connections between professionals working within industries.

The article also offers some advice for those wishing to use sites like LinkedIn to boost their networking potential.

Career coach Sally-Anne Blanshard says career-focused social networkers should continually update their profiles with new information and resources, such as relevant and interesting links.

The benefits of understanding customer 'jobs'

Contemporary marketers can boost sales by spending more time considering the social, functional or emotional 'job' that a product or service fulfils, this Harvard Working Knowledge post suggests.

Author Clayton M. Christensen claims marketers should a focus on how people use or connect to brand, in other words it's job, instead of obsessing over the fulfillment of a market segment.

The example of eBay is used to illustrate the point. Christensen says the online service was designed to achieve the job of helping people sell personal items rather than filling an 'auction psychographic'.

It's claimed one of the main reasons marketers are more interested in markets than how a product or service is embraced is due to market research methods that concentrate too heavily on demographics.

Older web users flock to social media

More proof has arisen that older people are embracing the social media phenomenon, the New York Times reports.

A new study by researchers Pew claims social media use has more than doubled by those over 45 years of age while adults 74 years and older have quadrupled their social media presence.

In addition, the researchers found teenagers were subtly changing their social media habits with a 50 per cent drop in blog use while every other age group experienced a rise in blogging.

It's claimed social media sites are appealing to older users, especially those with medical conditions, as it provides them with an outlet to discuss their lives with others in similar situations.

The full Pew Report can be found here. 

The Chinese art of 'non-inventing'

China has become the fastest place to do businesses and, as a result, has the potential to change the way enterprises operate across the globe, a recent management-issues post argues.

According to the opinion piece by management academic Bill Fischer, Chinese entrepreneurs move faster than their better resourced, bigger branded foreign competitors thanks to a new approach.

This point of entrepreneurial difference revolves around a new set of 'non-inventing' market ambitions.

It's claimed many Chinese enterprises aren't trying to find a unique value proposition, but are instead adopting other organisation's value propositions and doing a better job.

An example is Toabao, a company that has copied and improved the consumer-to-consumer eBay model due to its speed to market, adoption of Chineseness and willingness to take risks.

Women opting for work/life balance: survey

New research suggests most Australian women are more focused on their family life than career, The Advertiser reports.

The Kidspot survey found three quarters of women feel family is the most important thing in their lives and placed career last in a list of priorities that included friends, fitness, study and community work.

Kidspot chief executive Katie May says the results show the idea of 'doing it all' is no longer relevant and that there has been a move away from the 'perfectionist' attitudes held by many women.

But female equality advocate Jenni Colwill disagrees with the idea that women are disengaged with the world of work.

Colwill says women are more assertive than ever and that if they're annoyed with a workplace they are much more likely to make it known by leaving a job.

Humans grow smarter with age

In a finding that runs contrary to popular belief, a new study suggests humans get smarter as they get older.

The study found specific thinking skills including vocabulary and inductive reasoning all improved with age, as did our ability to judge other people and ideas.

Researchers also found that the ability to hold our tongues strengthens with age, a skill blogger Barbara Strauch suggests can come in handy at work when dealing with younger employees.

Writing in Harvard Business Review Stauch relays the story of an executive who claims to have improved his work processes by letting younger workers talk first and wrestle with problems in their own way.

The five generation workplace is coming

Prepare yourself. In the not too distant future you could be managing not just three generational groups but five, according to Harvard Business' Conversation Starter blog.

This yet to manifest workplace development will see the following groups working together:

• Traditionalists – born before 1946
• Baby Boomers – born between 1946 & 1964
• Generation X – born between 1965 and 1976
• Millennials – born between 1977 and 1997
• Gen 2020 – born after 1997

It's argued this new demographic environment will change the world of work in a number of ways that can be foreseen by asking four key questions, which can be found here.

Prepare for a population growth spurt

Australia is headed for a migration-driven population explosion according to demographers.

Reporting on the trend, Smart Company says Federal Government research indicates Australia's population will grow by 62.8 per cent over the next 40 years.

The Government says that along with a rising birth rate, migration will be a key driver of growth in order to ensure the country has a sufficient population of working age.

It's claimed the changing face of Australia may result in new cities popping up as well as growth in key areas such as Harvey Bay, Cairns, Port Douglas, Port Macquarie and Coffs Harbour.

Another result of the trend is a large number of highly educated, high maintenance Baby Boomers finding themselves with lots of time on their hands.

A development that demographer Bernard Salt says will require businesses to tailor their services to a group that won't hold back when it comes to complaining.