Page 118 - increasing-the-value-of-age-guidance-in-employers-age-management-strategies

Increasing the value of age: guidance in employers’ age management strategies

This is the case in Enemærke og Petersen. The interviewees emphasised
that the ‘senior conferences’ (group meetings) have been successful, because
there have been external inputs from experts and consultants in the different
fields: legal experts, consultants in pension and consultants from the relevant
trade union.
The strategy has to suit the organisation, complementing any human
resources strategy. In some organisations, guidance with an age focus and an
active concern for all distinct career stages does not fit in the human resources
policy of the organisation. This is the situation when an organisation aims its
policy at all employees, not attributing a role to age and with no special concern
for the specific needs of specific age groups (especially older workers).
Consideration of the lifespan in the development of guidance does not
demand targeted measures for specific age groups. A generalist approach can
successfully enable quality age management if the needs of individuals are
correctly assessed.

7.4. EU policy priorities and the case-studies

This section will look at the how the cases analysed reflect the development of
policy priorities, as they are laid down by the European Council resolution on
lifelong guidance of 2008 (Council of the European Union, 2008b). Recalling the
priorities, they are:
(a) encouraging the development of CMS;
(b) widening access to guidance activities;
(c) ensuring the quality of guidance;
(d) improving the coordination and cooperation of stakeholders.
The first priority (encouraging CMS) is valued in the workplace, but the focus
is mostly cases on skills that are relevant for the organisation, with little focus on
general CMS. The main driving factor behind this is that employers often see
employability as having the right skills to perform the job at hand and the skills
needed to be an active and productive employee.
As noted by Sultana (2011), CMS are often reduced to ‘mere’ competences,
though some cases focus on other subjects that are not job-related. These
approaches are mainly focused on the approaching retirement of the older
employee and are aimed at facilitating this transition (as in the UK case and
cases from France).

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