This is author version of article published as:
Price, Robin A. and Colley, Linda (2007) Assessing HR Strategies for Retaining and Aging Workforce. In Proceedings 15th International Employment Relations Association Conference: Working Lives, Working Choices, pages pp. 1-18, Canterbury, England. Copyright 2007 (please consult author)

ASSESSING HR STRATEGIES FOR RETAINING AN AGEING WORKFORCE
Dr Robin Price, Queensland University of Technology Dr Linda Colley, Griffith University

Contact Details Dr Robin Price Lecturer School of Management Queensland University of Technology 2 George Street BRISBANE QLD 4000 r.price@qut.edu.au Telephone +61 7 31382790 Fax +61 7 31381313 Dr Linda Colley Adjunct Lecturer Department of Industrial Relations Griffith Business School Griffith University NATHAN QLD 4111

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ASSESSING HR STRATEGIES FOR RETAINING AN AGEING WORKFORCE
Abstract An ageing workforce is an issue faced by governments and employers in most western countries (OECD 2005). The generally accepted definition of an aged worker is someone aged 45 years and over (Brooke 2003). At the level of the organisation, a range of HR strategies are recommended to deal with an ageing workforce, including attracting younger workers and retaining ageing workers for longer. Recruiting younger workers changes the demographic structure of the workforce, and is not the focus of this paper. Here we identify potential strategies derived from the literature that could be adopted to retain an existing ageing workforce. We then examine a public sector organisation with an ageing workforce, to assess which strategies have been adopted and to begin to assess how effective these strategies are. We find that the case study organisation adopts many of the HR strategies suggested in the literature, but our preliminary findings suggest that these policies are unlikely to have a positive