Newsletter: February 2005
Re-vision's new office
and an invitation extended to all to visit us there...
The Albany workshops
intriguing responses to the opportunity to participate in 'guided autobiography'...
On managing and retaining an ageing workforce
a conference on this theme attracted almost three times the number of people expected
Re-vision's new office
We are almost completely moved in now and extremely pleased with it all. It's a great neighbourhood to begin with. We're across the road from the Perth Zoo, so we get to hear the odd strange animal sound, and we overlook Richardson Reserve with its trees and occasional cricketers. A wonderful breeze blows in from the Swan River - well, it's wonderful now that we've learned not to leave loose papers around!
The interior has been completely redesigned and, thanks to the combined talents of Murray Slavin and Karen McRobb, it looks squiffy indeed. There is one big meeting room where we can hold workshops or Boardroom type meetings. Or other people can: it's self-contained and organised so it can be hired. The other large room is an open plan office for us which has managed to avoid the look (or feel) of workstations - it's much friendlier than that. There's a small room so two people can talk quietly and privately. And a comfy ottoman arrangement that defines the 'reading room'. Stimulating reading material is accumulating.
We're going to have a series of open houses over the coming weeks but you are welcome to drop by. One of us, at least, is here most of the time. Monday mornings aren't good, however. That time is reserved, as it has long been, for the three of us to plot and plan Re-vision's next and current work. In fact, there are several interesting irons in fires at the moment, which we'll be posting more about soon.
Please do visit - even if you don't know us yet. Simple curiosity is a fine excuse for stopping by. And there's plenty of parking.
The Albany workshops
This was the first time Ann Zubrick took the Guided Autobiography (Telling and Sharing Stories of Life) workshop to Albany and a number of the people who signed up were a little apprehensive. Some did not consider themselves particularly good writers nor did they have any great yearning to write. As one announced boldly at the start, "I'm not a writer. But I am interested in hearing other people's experiences. And perhaps sharing my own."
Ann never pressures anyone into sharing, or writing, but there is something in the way she handles this workshop that participants become not just willing but actually eager to reflect carefully and out loud on past experiences. In fact, the confessed non-writer came in the second morning with a new announcement, directed at Ann: "you're a very dangerous woman, you know!" She didn't.
It turns out that the first session started him remembering things he had thought "were absolutely gone". and that were so vivid that, almost without meaning to, he started putting them down on paper. And that morning he brought in, and shared, a most beautiful piece of writing about a family picnic that had taken place 60 years before.
Some people have wondered if focusing on the events, thoughts and feelings of earlier phases of our lives isn't too much like 'living in the past'. Not at all. All the evidence says that reminiscing is an excellent strategy for staying mentally alert. And it can be an effective tool for shaping the future, too.
Being reminded by Ann's experience of the value for all of us of reflecting on the past in a guided, systematic way, we've decided to start a Guided Autobiography workshop series at our lovely new offices in South Perth in March. So do have a look at the calendar of events or workshops for individuals. It's an experience people find truly rewarding.
Conference on managing and retaining an ageing workforce
The conference, held at the end of last year, was sponsored by the ACIRRT Centre at the University of Sydney. It was attended by Jane Figgis and 90 others. The university originally thought that only about 30 people would sign up and, although small gatherings are often more congenial than large ones, the packed room was a pleasing sign that many people recognise that traditional ideas about older workers work need to be overhauled (re-visioned!).
Ann Zubrick conducted several workshops for Albany Summer School in January. The sheer delight with which she recounts her experiences of the week and the way she enthuses about the people she met makes it hard to know who gets more out of her time there: the workshop participants or Ann! Probably both. As in previous years, she had a lot of repeat 'customers' although the age range this year was the largest ever: from 35 to 92.
One consistent message from the day was that retirement is likely to become a gradual process. Speaker after speaker reported finding that most workers over the age of 45 would like a "phased" retirement. One referred to the period between age 55 and 75 as the retirement zone with progressively less time spent in the workplace but, crucially, not less engagement or commitment when at work.
It was clear, too, from the three large employers who spoke - Australia Post, the Commonwealth Bank, Westpac - that while older workers were valued workers, finding working arrangements that best suit them, whether full time or part-time, is not a simple matter. In fact, it requires rethinking everyone's work, reviewing business strategy and overall industrial relations.
These three large employers are putting - or thinking about putting - a range of initiatives in place to attract and retain older staff. What was interesting, and admirable, was the way they fully acknowledged that some of the strategies they are trying might very well not work. But some will. Ross Miller from Westpac talked of being on a "complex and unprecedented journey".
It was not so clear from the presentations whether the three large employers had to do a lot of conquering of traditional negative stereotypes - you know, the notions that older workers are less productive, recalcitrant learners, more prone to accidents because they are older. On the other hand, these organisations do think differently about their older workers than their younger ones but their advice is to think about all the different age groups of workers in an integrated framework rather than each in isolation.
Age Discrimination was the subject of Therese MacDermott's talk. She's a highly regarded employment law specialist who has been involved in the whole range of anti-discrimination legislation. She pointed out that treating older workers differently from younger ones (or vice versa) was not necessarily discrimination. Certain age distinctions are justifiable if they are designed to assist certain groups (either young or old).