Page 58 - increasing-the-value-of-age-guidance-in-employers-age-management-strategies

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

improvement of working conditions and risk prevention; skill development and
access to training; facilitating the work-to-retirement transition; knowledge and
skill transfer and the development of tutorship programmes. All these issues can
be supported by guidance activities but there is no specification of which activities
to develop.
A recent study published by the research department of the French Ministry
of Labour, Employment and Social Dialogue (DARES, 2011) evaluated the first
qualitative impacts of the resulting older worker action plans and agreements.
This study revealed relatively low concern with the mature stages of career
development: issues such as the hiring of older workers and transitions from work
to retirement had reduced relevance in the analysed agreements.
The general absence, across the EU, of guidelines on how guidance
activities can be developed in workplace contexts means no contribution to the
development of late career support. The examples which do exist (in Denmark,
Finland and the UK) frequently depart from strong stakeholder engagement in
active ageing in firms, independently of the existence of favourable normative
settings. Further analysis follows in the next section.

4.3.2. National strategies and types of stakeholder engagement
Despite a relative absence of legislation on this matter, national strategies for
active ageing have reportedly been developed in several countries in Europe.
Nevertheless, few recent initiatives have so far led to the introduction of concrete
measures to support active ageing, including guidance for older workers.
In the Czech Republic, national interest in active ageing is defined in major
strategic documents based on programmes and recommendations given by the
European Union and the United Nations. However, action (such as the national
programme of preparation for ageing) tends to be restricted to proclaiming the
importance of care for the target group 50+, with little in the way of specific and
practical measures that could be characterised as guidance activities.
In Denmark, Germany, France and the Netherlands, comprehensive
approaches to active ageing are the result of national tripartite dialogue or
sectoral social partner negotiations. In some countries (including France)
comprehensive approaches are implemented through national legislation based
on social partner agreements, requiring the introduction of age management
planning and management policies in companies.
Guidance often does not have a specific place in this very broad active
ageing strategy development. Generally, there are no designated funds for
lifelong guidance as an instrument for age management, although in practice

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