Page 129 - increasing-the-value-of-age-guidance-in-employers-age-management-strategies

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

be supported by a life-span approach for all employees, with an integrated vision
of their career stages.

Key message 6: assure the quality of guidance by professionalising staff,
standardising methodologies and monitoring outcomes
Provide training modules to update skills and competences and provide financial
incentives to do so. An important dimension here is also the skills of the guidance
provider: he/she must have the right skill set for providing good guidance.
National legislation and guidelines regarding the provision of guidance can help
to stimulate this development; such guidelines should also refer to standard
characteristics of the methodologies implemented. Guidelines are especially
important for guidance providers in the workplace, which are usually the direct
supervisors of an employee.
Practice outcomes should be monitored according to established standards.
It is important to underpin guidance policies for older workers with evidence,
showing the effects of policies for organisations and individuals. This will help
reinforce the business case for adopting guidance policies for older workers,
stimulating the adoption and diffusion of good practices.

Key message 7: empower older workers and particularly support at risk
groups
Older workers can be empowered by providing demand side funding instruments
for guidance, such as vouchers, so they can decide themselves what offer to
take. There are specific groups that might need additional attention, because
they might be at greater ‘risk’ of not having access to workplace guidance. This is
the case of people working in SMEs, those employed in geographically remote
regions, and certain industry sectors, who might require additional attention with
regard to support initiatives.

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