By Jen Porter, Senior Advisor, Health Action Alliance

After 40 years working at Riverside Health, a nonprofit healthcare network based in Virginia, Susan* was ready to trade long shifts at work for long afternoons with her grandchildren. A few months after Susan retired, the team at Riverside reached out. They were short-staffed, and Susan had a valuable skill; would she want to come back for just a few hours a week? “Only if I work during school hours,” Susan said, “so I can be there for drop-off and pickup.” The team at Riverside added her to the labor pool and accommodated her schedule. Now, Susan works a few hours a week, filling a vital need for the organization and, as she puts it, living her best life.

Retaining experienced workers is a vital strategy for healthcare organizations facing a talent gap. By 2038, the healthcare industry is expected to experience a shortage of half a million doctors and nurses. At the same time, older adults are the fastest-growing demographic in the workplace. Organizations that integrate and celebrate older workers position themselves to be successful, both in retaining talent and improving health outcomes.

10 Organizations Leading the Change

This summer, the Health Action Alliance and AARP convened 12 leaders from 10 healthcare organizations to explore ways to support workers of all ages. In this Action Accelerator — a cohort of peers from different organizations working toward a shared purpose — participants reviewed AARP’s six practice areas for creating age-friendly workplaces, set goals and mapped out steps for their own organizations, and received feedback and insights from each other.

Exchanging ideas with peers was a highlight for many participants. "I appreciated the real-life examples of how this has been implemented in [other] organizations and the results of these initiatives," one participant shared. "It's great to learn from everybody else.”

For AARP, that kind of peer empowerment is exactly the point. “These conversations highlighted the incredible work already happening at many healthcare organizations and are spurring further action by organizations willing to tackle this topic head-on,” said Shani Hosten, Vice President of Inclusive Impact at AARP.

4 Essential Lessons for Changemakers 

Across three sessions, the group discussed challenges and tools for creating age-friendly workplaces. The sessions were off the record, but a few leaders who participated in the Action Accelerator agreed to share their experiences. Here’s what the group discussed:

1. Data is essential to making the case for change, but doesn’t always come first.

Participants noted the importance of understanding internal data to see the problem clearly and to design solutions. However, neatly organized data by age or tenure isn’t always available. One participant shared how they used anecdotal data to make the case for a small pilot, then used the quantitative results from the pilot to build a stronger data-backed case for expansion. AARP’s employer playbook outlines several ways to use data to build the case for change in your organization, along with suggested metrics to track.

Healthcare is a field known for pushing its people hard — with a tendency to “burn through the workforce and just get it done to deliver short-term results,” as one participant put it. But framing age-friendly policies in financial terms can help CHROs gain buy-in from CFOs to build a sustainable, long-term workforce strategy.

2. Enlist allies by telling stories, creating urgency, and starting with pilots.

Creating the cultural and systemic change needed for age-friendly workplaces can’t be achieved by a single champion; it requires collaboration across teams and departments. Participants discussed five common barriers they might face when trying to bring others along, and strategies to overcome each one:

• To overcome lack of capacity, start with a small pilot.
• To create alignment, tell stories and surface data from your organization or from peers.
• To build connection, find allies in executive sponsors, ERGs, and culture leaders.
• To establish organizational capabilities, use existing resources, like this checklist for creating age-friendly workplaces or this longevity readiness tool.
• To overcome inertia, build momentum by starting with a team that has an immediate need, then sharing what worked. 

One participant, for example, made plans to conduct a listening tour to understand what employees want to see, and then host storytelling events to highlight what’s already working. Another set a goal to work directly with their employee resource groups to create a groundswell of interest and pilot strategies.

3. Flexibility in job design can keep valued talent in the workforce longer.

Although healthcare organizations face logistical complexities in creating job flexibility, the results benefit both organizations and employees, as Susan’s story shows. Even after employees retire, staying connected can benefit the organization. Riverside Health achieves this through a dedicated alumni program for retired staff. “We want them to continue to be good stewards in the community,” said Jennifer Shinn, System Director of People Operations. “Do they want to come back and be preceptors? Do they want to come back and volunteer? Do they want to come back and work a labor pool job? Do they want to teach at our college?” These proactive outreach efforts can help fill talent gaps, enrich volunteer programs, and bring new patients into the organization.

4. Intentional succession planning is an often-missed opportunity for celebration and mentoring.

Change can be scary. When it comes to retirement, many people and teams avoid the topic entirely. As one participant put it, “A very critical part of the role of aging workers is to create environments in which transitions are a natural and supported part of the workplace culture and structure.” Planning for transitions can help mitigate the loss that happens when long-tenured employees leave, and it can also create opportunities for mentoring and growth for younger employees. “There’s a level of integrity to honoring transitions,” said Bhargav Chandrashekar, an occupational medicine physician specializing in global workforce health. “For people who have devoted years to a profession and a company, how do we treat them with dignity, in a way that serves both the individual and the organization?”

The Curb-Cut Effect and What’s Next

Many of the strategies to support older workers also have a curb-cut effect, which means they ultimately benefit employees in all life stages. For example, flexible work schedules can aid new parents, and flexibility in job design can support those with chronic health conditions. As the healthcare industry faces talent challenges in the coming decade, implementing these strategies can help organizations retain valuable workers and stand out as both employers and providers. 

Participants in the Action Accelerator agreed age-friendly strategies are both an important differentiator and the right thing to do, no matter where they are starting. “I didn't feel intimidated at all, like 'Wow, we're so far behind what everybody else is doing.' It was just an opportunity to say, 'Oh, that sounds like a great way to ladder up.'”

*Name has been changed

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