Case study

Nationwide Building Society

Age Positive Champion

The Western Daily Press Regional Newspaper Company Awards Winner 2000 (Swindon Branch)

Winner of the DfEE Award for Age Diversity Category of the Personnel Today Awards 2000

Some years back, we experienced a loss of corporate memory at the time of a merger. The subsequent recruitment of younger employees in large numbers and increasing turnover in some areas of the business prompted Nationwide to take positive action to bring back the stability brought about by mixed age teams.

At Nationwide we want our employees to take pride in working for an organisation that lives by values. These apply equally to our customers and our employees. Apart from any other consideration, this is commercially the right thing to do. We strive to ensure that all employees are treated equally and fairly regardless of age. We have policies to enable this and monitor the effectiveness regularly - one example being via our annual employee survey 'Viewpoint'

Keith Astill, Head of Corporate Personnel, Nationwide Building Society

OUR AGE POSITIVE GOOD PRACTICE:

As a champion of age diversity, Nationwide has also been involved in Government initiatives such as the Code of Practice on Age Diversity in Employment, the Foresight Ageing Panel’s ‘Age Shift’ report and the ‘Winning the Generation Game’ report. We have also received much external press recognition for the work that we do in this area. In November 2000, Nationwide won the DfEE sponsored Personnel Today Award for Promoting Age Diversity in the Workplace and our approach to managing age diversity was accredited in The Sunday Times, 100 Best Places to Work For survey, when the Society was rated 23rd.

As with any organisational change, top level commitment is essential to promote diversity and our Board and Chief Executives’ Committee has expressed their commitment to Nationwide’s diversity strategy and pledged support for the specific diversity initiatives that are underway and planned for the next financial year. They are closely involved in all aspects of diversity from policy development to implementation plans.

We have aimed to change behaviour by demonstrating the positive aspects of diversity and showing how it can benefit the business as well as individual employees. This is achieved by monitoring employee profiles, comparing with external benchmark data and making recommendations for action to the Diversity & Equality of Opportunity Committee, a high level business forum which is chaired by the Deputy Chief Executive, Bernard Simpson.

The Society is committed to an inclusive employment environment that attracts and retains employees across the age spectrum. It also believes in employee choice and has developed policies that recognise the changing lifestyle needs of its employees. Internal initiatives include an Equal Opportunities Policy that includes age, targeted advertising which excludes age bars, telephone shortlisting and the introduction of flexible working arrangements supported by flexible benefits (Choices) to enable employees to chose benefits that suit their lifestyle circumstances. We successfully implemented a new flexible retirement option in October 2001 that provides employees with an opportunity to work beyond the Society’s normal retirement age of 60. This will help Nationwide retain a corporate memory as employees can now extend their retirement up to the age of 70.

The Personnel and Development Division is formally measured on how well it enables the business to meet diversity targets. For the last financial year, there were targets on age profile. This target has been met and a more challenging target has been set for the next financial year.

BENEFITS OF OUR GOOD PRACTICE:

Customers

An age diverse workforce which better reflects our customer base helps us to understand customer needs and develop business solutions to meet market needs. This results in improved customer satisfaction and increased sales.

Employees

Our commitment to age diversity demonstrates that we value the contribution of all our employees which in turn improves motivation, morale and productivity resulting in improved employee satisfaction. Employees also see a more stable environment where Nationwide values all employees and is keen to retain their skills.

In this year’s employee satisfaction survey, 77% of respondents felt that management supported equality of opportunity to all employees.

Organisation

Nationwide’s profile as an age diversity champion gives greater access to a wider recruitment tool from which to select the best person for the job. This can lead to reduced recruitment and training costs and lower employee turnover.

"They were only interested in me, my qualifications and experience."

Alan Martin, 61, works for an employer committed to age equality - the Nationwide Building Society. He is currently on a year's secondment to the retail training department, having joined Nationwide in 1998 aged 56. Alan's working life began in the computing industry after he got a degree in Applied Science. He worked for 14 years in international sales.

"When I applied to join as a Nationwide adviser I was lucky," says Alan. "It was one of the first employers I applied to and it had no issue with my age. The first interview was conducted over the phone so my potential employers had no idea how old I was. They were only interested in me, my qualifications and experience."

Since then Alan has held a number of posts including managing internet mortgage application advisers.

"I'm pleased with Nationwide's stance on considering employment beyond 60 because I think the company benefits from all-round experience," he says. "I enjoy my job and have no immediate plans to retire. It's reassuring to know I can carry on working as long as I want to and need to."

The Nationwide Building Society has extended its employment terms and conditions enabling employees who wish to work until the age of 75 to do so.

Nationwide was one of the first organisations to introduce flexible retirement back in 2001 to allow older employees to work until 70. The Society has now extended this policy allowing those who want to, to continue working up until 75. Those choosing to carry on working will be entitled to their existing benefits.

Jeremy del Strother, divisional director personnel and development, said: "This new approach to flexible retirement benefits both our employees and the organisation. Research has shown that there is a strong correlation between employee satisfaction, customer satisfaction and the success of any business. We have found that older employees help increase the levels of satisfaction amongst our customers. We also know that some employees wish to continue working beyond the normal retirement age, so have enhanced our policies to support those employees, giving them more choice over when they want to retire."

Tim Poil, General Secretary of Nationwide Group Staff Union, commented: "We have been working with Nationwide for some time on ways to enhance opportunities for older workers. I am delighted that this has resulted in these innovative and pioneering developments."

TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said: "It's good to see employers and unions working together to combat ageist attitudes at work. Nationwide has been forward thinking enough to realise the benefits that come from employing older workers. I hope other businesses start to follow Nationwide's lead and begin to see the forthcoming age equality regulations as an opportunity not a threat."

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