Page 126 - increasing-the-value-of-age-guidance-in-employers-age-management-strategies

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

expectations; application writing training and CV building; and job-search
techniques. In some cases organisations may not even have a perception of how
using the basic, social and personal skills of their employees may increase their
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productivity, and fail to invest in their development ( ).
Challenge 14
Explicit quality assurance systems are rare and outcomes rarely monitored or
evaluated. Assuring guidance quality is not high on the agenda of most
companies and generally lacks any form of quality framework. There are
exceptions, where activities are based on scientific research and/or known good
practices. Quality criteria are mainly implicit in these cases and often based on
local world visions and on available examples. Further, it is up to the employer to
decide whether guidance professionals should satisfy some quality criteria
regarding their qualifications and skills. The rationale of employers is outcome-
oriented and generally the implementation of a quality framework for guidance
activities is not part of the conscious decision-making process to achieve the
expected outcomes. External provision (by trained experts) could contribute to
quality and ensure that activities are developed in a safe, neutral environment,
outside the company where the employee can speak openly about his/her
problems, needs and ambitions. The use of external professionals is most likely
incidental, a one-time-deal at the start-up of the age management strategy.
Whenever the outcomes of guidance activities are monitored and evaluated it is
usually due to external financing by the European Social Fund or other
programmes that set obligations in this respect. Cases provided little hard
evidence about the effect of their policies, which hampers comparability and
diffusion of good practices, by not generating convincing proof about their added
value.

8.2. From challenge to key messages

The key challenges identified in the study can be used as a reference to
formulate key messages for the following stakeholders:
(a) policy-makers at different levels (national, regional or in a sector);
(b) professional guidance providers;
(c) employers.

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( ) This became evident in the first PIAAC (OECD, 2013) results on the use of soft skills
by firms.

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