Why Steward Eldership Matters: Keeping Older Workers Onboard is a Strategic Win

In a world where “youth = high energy” often steals the spotlight, there’s a powerful opportunity being under-leveraged: stewarding our older workers not only honours their past contributions, but fuels present growth, culture, and performance.

The Landscape: Ageing Workforces & Shifting Priorities

• Globally, the proportion of workers aged 55+ is rising dramatically. For example, according to Bain, G7 countries will see more than a quarter of the workforce over 55 by 2031. In Japan, that number will approach 40%.Bain

• As workers age, what they value at work shifts. Things likeinteresting work,autonomy,flexibility, andpurposebecome more important than simply compensation.Bain

• Meanwhile, many organisations are slow to adapt. Only a small fraction have systematic programs for integrating older professionals into talent strategy.Bain

The Japanese Case: Madogiwa‐Zoku - Symbolism Meets Complexity

In Japan, there is the “madogiwa-zoku” (literally “window‐side tribe”) practice. Companies keep older employees on payroll (often past retirement age) but assign them desk jobs with minimal responsibilities, seating them by the windows - symbolically removed from core responsibilities.

• Some see this as wasteful: paying people not to contribute fully.

• Others see dignity: a gesture of loyalty and respect, recognition of lifetime service, preserving workplace respect and avoiding abrupt dismissal.

This tension speaks to what many organisations struggle to balance: how to respect elders while keeping the organisation sharp, engaged, and effective.

Steward Eldership: A Framework

Here’s whereSteward Eldershipcomes in - an approach that asks us to design for win‐wins: for older workers, for younger colleagues, and for the organisation overall. Key pillars include:

1. Retention & Recruitment with Intention

   • Ask: What motivates older workers? (Often greater autonomy, meaningful work, flexibility.)

   • Create roles and pathways that align with those motivations.

   • Don’t treat older employees as “retiring soon” by default - see them as active contributors.

2. Reskilling & Lifelong Learning

   • Offer training and upskilling that match where older workers want to go next, especially where tech or changing business needs are involved.

   • Recognise that older workers often don’t see training as a “must” but do value it when it helps them stay engaged and purposeful.Bain

3. Respecting & Leveraging Strengths

   • Older workers bring institutional memory, mentoring capacity, stability, high standards, and often a strong sense of loyalty.Bain

   • Design roles that let them mentor, shape culture, resolve complex or ambiguous problems where experience is a real asset.

   • Also build flexibility (part‐time, remote, less physically demanding roles) where needed.

4. Avoiding “Window Seats” by Choice, not by Default

   • Rather than hiding older workers away (as with madogiwa-zoku), involve them in meaningful parts of the operation.

   • If some roles need to be lighter or symbolic, ensure those are chosen, respected, and structured in ways that still honour agency, dignity, and contribution.

The Value: What Organisations Gain

• Competitive advantagein talent shortages. As younger workers are fewer, older workers will make up more of the pool. Better to harness than to waste.Bain

• Lower turnover and higher engagement: age‐diverse firms report lower turnover and better productivity.Bain

• Stronger culture and knowledge transfer: preserving institutional knowledge, mentoring, intergenerational learning.

• Greater flexibility and resilience, especially in economic or market shifts, when you have people who can step in with experience.

To leaders, HR‐professionals, entrepreneurs: Let’s embraceSteward Eldership. Rethink how older workers are onboarded, retained, and valued. Design systems - not just gestures - to draw out their contributions, not push them to the margins. The time for window seats has passed; the time for meaningful inclusion is now.

📩Contact us to discuss how a Steward Eldership Certification can transform your leadership pipeline and organisational culture.https://www.alexandrajoy.com.au/contact-me

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