Barclays
Joined up on age
Like many financial organisations Barclays suffered in the early 1990's, when companies were cutting swathes of their workforces. This resulted in losing a number of older employees, a large amount of corporate memory and led to an expectation that people could retire at 50 with a generous package. This was also compounded by the fact that, over a number of years, the organisation reduced the number of external recruits, which resulted in a reduction of younger people entering the financial sector. Barclays has been working hard to redress the balance and to ensure the business values people regardless of age.
Work commenced in 2002 and it was agreed at the very beginning that to make a difference in this area, more than the HR team had to pull together. A working party crossing all business areas was created to ensure the changes in policy and practice could be felt throughout the company.
A number of policy initiatives were implemented in 2002, for example, extending the right to request flexible working to all staff and providing the option to request to work beyond retirement age. This was combined with the introduction of a new pensions scheme called 'afterwork' that allows staff to continue to contribute to their pension as long as they remain in employment.
The work has not ended and Barclays continue to review their policy and practice to seek new ways of supporting and encouraging age diversity.
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Joined up on age
Like many financial organisations Barclays suffered in the early 1990's, when companies were cutting swathes of their workforces. This resulted in losing a number of older employees, a large amount of corporate memory and led to an expectation that people could retire at 50 with a generous package. This was also compounded by the fact that, over a number of years, the organisation reduced the number of external recruits, which resulted in a reduction of younger people entering the financial sector. Barclays has been working hard to redress the balance and to ensure the business values people regardless of age.
Work commenced in 2002 and it was agreed at the very beginning that to make a difference in this area, more than the HR team had to pull together. A working party crossing all business areas was created to ensure the changes in policy and practice could be felt throughout the company.
A number of policy initiatives were implemented in 2002, for example, extending the right to request flexible working to all staff and providing the option to request to work beyond retirement age. This was combined with the introduction of a new pensions scheme called 'afterwork' that allows staff to continue to contribute to their pension as long as they remain in employment.
The work has not ended and Barclays continue to review their policy and practice to seek new ways of supporting and encouraging age diversity.
Click icon to download a printable version of the case study
download pdf
