Page 59 - increasing-the-value-of-age-guidance-in-employers-age-management-strategies

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

some type of guidance support for older unemployed persons and older workers
tends to be available.
The Czech Republic introduced in 2008 a follow-up to the initial programme
Quality of life in old age. The programme now covers four main areas: education,
the social security system, employment policy and social partnerships, but still
lacks specific guidance measures on labour market issues and employment.
Where guidance is embedded in national policies, most of the time it
concerns career guidance implemented in active labour market policies,
education and VET provision, without necessarily being articulated within an
active ageing policy package. These diverse policy areas and sectors, in turn,
might not be closely integrated and might involve many stakeholders.
The countries studied have a diverse set of actors involved. Some
emphasise (semi-)governmental actors at national and regional levels (such as
PES), and some have a more (decentralised) industry-oriented focus. In most
countries, unions and industrial organisations (the social partners) play an
important role in making guidance available within companies. Most countries
offer guidance at decentralised level (regional or industrial).
With a decentralised approach to guidance and active age management,
governments tend to act more as facilitators, rather than providers. In such cases
national government plays a bigger role in the dissemination of good practices in
age management and by stimulating (for example via funding) the creation of
good guidance support services. The more decentralised the approach, the
greater the focus on stimulating the development of the guidance instead of on
the direct provision of guidance.
In many countries social partners, through collective bargaining, enter into
agreements on guidance and active age management. Strategies for guidance,
education and up-skilling are based on all the relevant players taking joint
responsibility. Guidance in active age management has found a successful place
in the vocabulary of big corporations and some middle-sized enterprises in most
countries, particularly in firms with international experience and self-contained
human resources departments.
Guidance is frequently attached to specific institutional environments which
reflect more a sector taxonomy (education, VET, employment) than the life cycle
of individuals. The level of formal integration of guidance services across these
sectors can be very low, as can the degree of cooperation between interested
stakeholders. As a result, the life-span theoretical framework that guidance offers
to support age management strategies might not be reflected in the practical
organisation of guidance services, which can be scattered across distinct policy
fields and levels.

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