Page 80 - increasing-the-value-of-age-guidance-in-employers-age-management-strategies

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

Keeping older workers active and productive is the most important central
theme among most age management policies. This is the result of a development
in the age composition of the population, not just within companies but also at
industrial, national and EU level. This is what binds most cases together.
As can be seen in Table 5, the urge to develop an age management strategy
is, in most cases, the result of (foreseen) challenges relating to productivity, sick
leave, organisation culture and knowledge.
A productive workforce is important for any company and sector (public and
private, profit and non-profit). If the management of an organisation sees
challenges to productivity, age management can be a solution. This is the case,
for example, in Schumann Haustechnik. This organisation faced enormous
challenges due to the ageing workforce and high employee turnover because of
high physical and psychological burdens and low career perspectives.
Productivity challenges can also be related to national policies which
increase the pension age (as addressed in the previous chapter). Employers see
that their own workforce also needs to work longer and to maintain a productive
workforce they increase the attention paid to older employees through an age
management strategy. This is an indirect effect of national policy on
organisations, because the main aim of the policy is to increase the pension age
and is not directly aimed at stimulating age management strategies.
Another recurring challenge companies can face is relatively high sick leave
figures. The age management strategy at the Kronoberg County Council stems
from increased sick leave in the organisation, especially among employees aged
over 55. The issue of rapidly increasing sick leave in the entire labour market was
also a matter of great concern for the government at the time.
Cases also address negative views about older employees in the
organisation, for example regarding productivity. Policies have been developed
that address these negative stereotypes, working on creating a culture in the
organisation that values the input of older workers. A concrete example in this
respect is the age management strategy at Kiruna, which aimed to change the
culture in the organisation regarding the position of older employees in the
workplace.
Some organisations also see the added value of older workers: they are
skilled and have a good grasp of processes, so losing them to (early) retirement
means losing skills that are needed. The timeframes in which the organisation
foresees these problems differ. Some companies see these challenges when the
problem is immediate, for example when an employee indicates that he wants to
talk about early retirement (which was the situation at Glual). Others see the
challenges of knowledge loss years before this situation is at hand (which was

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