Page 52 - increasing-the-value-of-age-guidance-in-employers-age-management-strategies

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

A first step that most countries seem to be making is increasing the age for
retirement, through the adoption of legislative reforms. Increasing retirement age
is an instrumental step in the process of active ageing which carries little
implication for career support systems that can cover the life-span of workers.
Literature shows a strong concern that the current debate goes only in the
direction of simply raising the age of entitlement to pensions (as has been the
general trend across Europe) without contemplating the consequences (Maltby,
2011).
Accompanying measures are needed to help workers throughout their
career, including financial initiatives for employers to hire older workers and to
keep older employees active during their (extended) career.
Guidance can play an important role in providing career development
support to workers of all ages. Given its adaptability to context (workplace,
training, employment service) and the fact that it possesses a holistic set of
theories and methodologies, guidance can promote the autonomous
management of someone’s career at any point in life, whatever their situation.
Guidance methodologies can enable individuals to access reliable
information about the labour market, learning opportunities and validation
services. They also can help people identify their own skills, competences and
aspiration to make meaningful career choices, to have better-quality working lives
and to be more productive up to current pension age.
Guidance can enable individuals to increase dramatically their productive
contribution to the economy and society, while maintaining relatively high levels
of job satisfaction. Nevertheless, despite its potential, guidance is rarely
mentioned in national active ageing strategies, legislation, or financial
frameworks.

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