Page 85 - increasing-the-value-of-age-guidance-in-employers-age-management-strategies

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

In Table 6, job recruitment only shows up in two cases in France, where the
law is a driving factor behind the strategy. Laws can be a stimulus in the
development of a specific approach that organisations otherwise might not see as
part of age management.
Flexible working time practices include adapting or reducing the workload of
older employees. Seven cases have this type of approach in their age
management strategy and, in most, the approach is straightforward: older
employees have the opportunity to rearrange or reduce their working hours. The
case of Eesti Energia offers a variation with ‘shared jobs’ where older employees
are offered shorter and flexible (part-time) working hours. Parallel to this, trainees
are recruited who can compensate for the reduction in hours of the older
employee. Further, the senior employee works together with the trainee to
provide on-the-job training.
Health protection and promotion, and workplace design can be the subject of
promotion activities specifically aimed at the older employee. These activities are
sometimes, as in the case of Enemærke og Petersen, combined with health
checks (annually/every five years) and a discount membership at a fitness centre.
Guidance in these situations aims at promoting and helping employees in
creating a healthy (work)life.
Approaches aimed at employment exit and the transition to retirement are
organised in the form of courses and meetings on the consequences of
retirement. Subjects covered include the effects of retirement on income and
lifestyle and the transition from the labour market to retirement. Guidance
activities developed in these approaches consist of informing and advising
employees about the transition.
There is a link between the aims of the strategy and the approaches
implemented to reach these aims. For example, if older employees have
important skills for the organisation, then the transfer of these skills via a
mentorship programme is a logical approach.
Career development methodologies and guidance activities are used for a
wide range of aims. One approach can address several aims, even though only
one aspect is being targeted. An example is the diversity of aims and effects of
mentorship programmes: they can help lowering sick leave and create a positive
attitude towards older employees, which were the aims in the case of the
Kronoberg County Council. A mentorship programme can also be used as a
stimulus for knowledge transfer, which is the aim at Glual.
Though the aim is mainly driven by one or more challenges, such as
knowledge loss or a high sick leave, sometimes a more comprehensive approach
is chosen as with Kronoberg County Council, Vysočina, and Eesti Energia. For

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