Case study

South Wales Forgemasters

Age Positive Champion

South Wales Forgemasters supply forgings to the automotive industry. The company has a predominantly middle-age employee structure, moving towards the older employee rather than the younger employee. Of the 70 employees, 16 are aged 50 and over.

Older workers bring a degree of maturity to the workplace. There is a degree of hands-on knowledge one gains with age and experience - so there is an advantage in having someone a little older to do this particular work. In anything we do in terms of human resources we never think about age at all. Older workers are often reliable, more committed, take less time off, are generally more financially stable and with less worries, have fewer personal problems and come to work because they enjoy coming to work. All of these qualities are extremely important. ...views from South Wales Forgemasters

HUMAN RESOURCE POLICIES:

The company has an overall human resource policy that includes training and equal opportunities - there is no reference to age within the policy.

Equal Opportunities Policies

Equal opportunities are covered within the overall human resource policy. Whilst the company is always mindful of its human resource policy, there is no formal monitoring process.

Age Diversity Policy

The company does not have an older workers or age diversity policy, rather an employment policy that covers all employees young or old. The nature of the business, heavy-duty metal processing - with a dirty, noisy environment - makes it somewhat less attractive as an employment opportunity than those offered by many of the other companies in the locality. South Wales Forgemasters has therefore had less choice in terms of job applicant, taking on employees who have had difficulty in finding jobs elsewhere. "The whole philosophy we adopt in employment terms is that whether you're 16 or 60 you have a part to play in our employment programme".

HUMAN RESOURCE PRACTICES:

South Wales Forgemasters are ‘Investors in People’ award holders and were awarded the prestigious Welsh Business of the Year Award for people development and the TEC South East Wales Award for Innovation in People Development.

Recruitment

South Wales Forgemasters uses a variety of recruitment avenues, these include notifying the existing workforce, the local JobCentre or if necessary advertisements placed in the local newspaper. Job application forms ask for basic personal details, including age as well as education and work history. Whilst including age on the application form, the company makes no reference to this when selecting individuals for interview, or during the interview process itself. The company has a clear picture of the employee it seeks to recruit. It looks for individuals who will embrace continuous improvement in their own development, have the correct attitude and an open mind.

The company has found that many older people have these qualities and secure posts with them as a result. An example of the company's policy on disregarding age at interview is the case of a recently employed electrician aged 57; he was offered employment as he was the most suitable applicant, having the appropriate type of industrial experience, the right attitude and approach. "When he attended the first interview he was very concerned about his age and whether we would regard this as a negative factor. We were very keen to reassure him that age plays no part within our recruitment policy; we have only ever sought to recruit the most suitable applicant".

Selection

The main criteria used for selection include attitude, flexibility, experience, the individuals' understanding of "lean manufacturing", "just in time processes" and their ability to fit in with the company. Age is never a consideration, with the company's track record of generally recruiting a middle-aged workforce providing some proof.

Retention

The company has put much time and effort in changing the attitude of employees and itself in terms of approach to the business. South Wales Forgemasters feels that it empowers its people to make and take decisions on behalf of the company. For example, each team is responsible for maintaining and ordering its own consumables and each team has a budget for this. There is a very low turnover of staff at South Wales Forgemasters; in the last four years only two people have left the company. Most of the company's older workers commenced with them as young people and have seen no reason to leave.

Go to top of page

Training and Development

A formal induction period is provided for each new employee. After induction the company and employee agree any necessary training and a training plan is drawn up. The company assesses annually the abilities of each of its employees, matches these to the work within the plant and arranges any necessary training. This applies to all employees regardless of age or position. In terms of general training the company found that some older workers were a little reluctant to undertake training. They have therefore provided flexibility in terms of extended support and tuition, where necessary. Once individuals have started to feel comfortable with the learning environment they have seen the real difference training has made to them. The company recently gave training to one older worker in basic computer literacy. "He has continued to learn more about computers and software, a lot of it in his own time. He has become so confident and comfortable with new technology that he has been instrumental in helping to install our preventative maintenance software to the computer system. We are amazed how quickly he has done all this."

Many of the workforce have been given formal trainer training and this has proved very useful for the company in terms of passing on the vital skills of the more experienced, older members of staff to newer and younger employees. "Many of our older workers have been involved in this and we are well aware that they provide excellent support to many of our new workers from a practical industrial point of view as well as passing on their experiences of working here at South Wales Forgemasters." The one event that really changed matters at the company was the secondment of a "Master Engineer" from Japan and three British engineers coming to the plant to work with eight, predominantly older workers (generally reflecting the make-up of the workforce), from the shop floor to show how they could make an impact in terms of continuous improvement. This helped to convince many of the workers that no matter what age they are they have a part to play in the success of the company.

Redundancy

There is a company redundancy policy. Redundancy is a last resort at South Wales Forgemasters, the company preferring to "hold" workers in an extended training environment rather than laying them off. Should this become a long-term situation then, reluctantly, the company has to consider the possibility of redundancy. The decision to make any member staff redundant would, first and foremost, not be related to age.

Retirement

There is no specific retirement policy other than the company expects that employees will retire at the state pension age of 60 and 65. South Wales Forgemasters examine their age profile to determine when people are likely to retire and make contingency plans for replacement. A current example of this is where a skilled toolmaker, shortly due to retire, now has a trainee working with him and learning all aspects of his job. One individual, who previously worked within the forge and retired earlier this year has been asked to return to work within the CAD department to develop designs for a new project.

This re-employment has been of mutual benefit to both parties, the company not wishing to lose valuable skills, the individual not feeling that he was ready to give up work completely. The company were very keen to retain his services because this individual's skills would have been virtually impossible to find elsewhere within the locality. A further retired forgeman (aged 68), was invited by the company to develop, and is now providing site security services. The company knew him very well and valued his knowledge, experience and reliability and were very keen to retain him in this new capacity.

Go to top of page

Go back to Case Studies page

20 KEY FACTS your business needs to know about age legislation and retirement