Encore!
The Civic Boom!, the first phase of Heritage Fund’s Community Experience Partnership (CEP) project, provided rich information about the opportunities and barriers for adults aged 50 and above to be actively and effectively engaged in the community. Given that a significant number of residents were classified as “younger seniors” (in their 50s), the foundation determined it critical that the community tailor opportunities for continuing employment, volunteer service and lifelong learning to meet the unique needs of this younger senior group.
Early work identified flexibility as a key ingredient for strategies designed to reach this population. The advisory council created for this work took particular note that many older adults were interested in delaying retirement or reentering the workforce—provided that work and benefits could be restructured to meet their particular needs and lifestyles.
Community solution
Heritage Fund and its close partner, Senior Center Services, with support from additional stakeholders, are engaging in work to explore a community-based approach to utilizing the knowledge and skills of older workers to address the looming labor shortage. Partners are working with area employers and human resource managers to provide employment opportunities designed to retain older workers in the workforce. The success of the work is largely tied to the Learning Network, which offers the foundation key research information on best practices policies and procedures used in businesses and communities, nationally and internationally.
Encore!
The Encore! Resource Center will help build a better community understanding of the assets that the growing older population can contribute to the workplace and the community. The Encore! Resource Center is located at the Senior Center and will be incorporated into Mill Race Center, a new community center for active adults projected to open in the fall of 2010.
The Elwood-Senior Staffing program is the primary focus of the Encore! Resource Center. The program is a partnership between Senior Products, Inc. and Elwood Staffing Services. Senior Products is the senior employment program that has operated as a part of Senior Center Services since 1960. Elwood Staffing Services, which is the largest private staffing service in Indiana, has 35 offices in seven states.
Heritage Fund and Senior Center Services are implementing the following steps:
- Organizing an Advisory Council that includes representatives of Heritage Fund, Senior Center Services, Elwood Staffing, Columbus Area Chamber of Commerce, Southeast Indiana Human Resource Association (SIHRA), the Senior Products board of directors, Ivy Tech Community College and Ec015.
- Offering educational opportunities, community presentations and materials highlighting the value of retaining and re-engaging 50-plus workers in the local workforce
- Providing information to employers regarding the benefits of retooling the workplace to provide flexible employment opportunities
- Enrolling over 150 applicants aged 50 plus in the Elwood Staffing database, and conducting a targeted marketing campaign to 400+ Bartholomew County employers
- Hosting a Community Forum highlighting the value of older workers in conjunction with a Senior Employment Job Fair
Opportunities and barriers
The greatest strength and opportunity to this work is the culture of collaboration that the foundation and its partners enjoy. Another is the high level of awareness of the positive attributes and contributions of older adults by partner community organizations and leaders. Perhaps the greatest barrier remains an attitudinal one, often mired in stereotypic images of older adults. Ironically, younger seniors may be slow to relate to the challenges of an aging population. Many employers seem to adopt a “head in the sand” stance regarding the looming workforce shortages. However, evidence exists that the 50-plus population and the business community are warming to the potential upside and positive aspects of a growing older population.
