John WrighthouseGroup Human Resources Director

Nationwide Building Society

Retirement at Nationwide

Introduction

Introduction to Nationwide Background of flexible

retirement at Nationwide Actions to support flexible

retirement Our current position Looking ahead

Nationwide Building Society

World’s largest building society - £200 billion assets

UK’s 3rd largest mortgage lender, 2nd largest savings provider

Mutual Status, owned by our members

Founder members of the EFA

Our people

Workforce Profile by Age - Five Year Comparison

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

Under 20 20-29 30-39 40-49 50+

(as at 31/12/09)

%

2004 2009

13.67% employees aged 50 Almost 300 employees over 60 Oldest employee is 78 youngest is 16 Branch Managers range from age 20 to 62 Customer Representatives range from

age 17 to 74

Reflecting our customers

Comparison of Age - Employees and Customers

0

10

20

30

40

Under20:

20 – 29: 30 – 39: 40 – 49: 50 – 59: 60+

Age Range (as at 31/12/09)

%

Employees Customers (Dec 08)

Our customers tell us they want to do business with

people they can relate to and share experiences with

We saw what was coming…

Pre 2000 - retirement age – 60 2001 – part flexible retirement to age 70 2005 – full flexible retirement to age 75 2010 – move to 75+

Things to do…

Issues to overcome to allow flexible retirement to workPerformance Management

Recognition and Reward

Training and Development

Absence Management

Pensions

Performance Management

There is no difference in dealing with performance management for older workers than for any other group

Performance PlansCalibration meetings

to ensure fairness Review the ‘what’

and the ‘how’Train managers

Reward and Recognition Strong and robust rewards policy – not

aligned to age or length of service

We have enhanced our approach further with “Future Reward” – linking pay to new performance management policy.

We have engaged employees by involving them in the process e.g. “Have Your Say Cafes” on bonus schemes

You can use other methods to reward loyalty

Long service awards

Extended holiday entitlement

Training and Development

Ensure access to learning is open to all

employees

Provide multiple learning delivery to suit

individual’s preferred styles

Enhance equitable approach to career

development by discussing talent &

potential at calibration meetings

Absence Management and Time Off

Understand the impact that a more diverse

workforce will have upon absence

Use effective absence policies and occupational

health support

Create policies to support your aging workforce

We provide – unpaid leave breaks, carers leave,

flexible working process for all

Pensions – A Day 2006

Flexible pensions can improve retention of older

workers

Ability to draw pension & continue working

Our flexible working process compliments

changing lifestyle for over 55s looking to draw

pensions and work fewer hours

What we have seen so far…

More employees working beyond 60

Only 10 employees over 70 – this will increase

at a slow pace

Retirement Process used once a year (on

average)

c5% of job applications from over 50s

What our people think…

‘Working at Nationwide keeps me

motivated and my brain ticking over’

‘I enjoy using my experience to solve complex queries to

satisfy our customers – a benefit for both me and

the business’

‘I still lead an active social life, being able to

draw my salary and pension pays for my

holidays’

‘Where youth is increasingly

predominant in society, Nationwide continue to

value me as an older worker’

Creating a Modern Mutual

HR People Plan – transformation to enhance

performance

Engaged people Flexible Workforce High

performing and agile organisation

The role of leadership is critical

Creating a modern mutual

Demographic projections Impact of the economic downturn More people need to working for longer 1 in 5 young people are out of work Age is an issue for every organisation!

Things have moved on from what we thought in 2005…

Our next challenge…

Can we continue to provide benefits indefinitely?

What are the costs?What’s the impact as our

workforce ages?Can we find a more creative

way of providing benefits?What are the legal risks?

The reality of removing our retirement age altogether…

Summary

Recognised market leader by removing 60 as retirement age prior to legislation

Robust policies and process are key

We have retained high performers

Market conditions have changed the age debate

We need to be honest about the costs of removing retirement age altogether

It’s time to think differently!

Any questions?

Summary

Enjoy the remainder of the conference