Age management is, in words of Walker (1997), “the various dimensions by which human resources are managed within organizations with an explicit focus on ageing and, also, more generally, to the overall management of the workforce ageing via public policy or collective bargaining.”
The interventions in age management are the kinds of things that organizations can do, in other words, the tools of age management. These tools have grown over the years. Today, the tools can be classificated in the following categories: changing attitudes; recruitment; training, development and promotion, wage policy; ergonomics and job design; health and well being; exit policy; and redeployment.
“Good practice in the employment of older workers consists of providing an environment in which each individual is able to achieve his or her broad potential without being disadvantaged by their age”
Walker (2005)
For any age management strategy to be successful it is necessary backing from senior management, a supportive HR environment, commitment from the ageing workers concerned and careful and flexible integration. Methodology
First, we did an appointment with Petra de Saa Perez, teacher of Administration and Organization of Companies in the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain. This appointment was by email, and we asked her if we could do an e-interview, with the program Skype. She accepted it, and our group and another student, who also chose the same topic, did the e-interview. The e-interview was 31th of March (Monday) at 18:00 hours. It was a very dynamic interview, although in the beginning there were some problems with the internet conexion, and the image was not clear. However, in the middle of the e-interview the conexion was fixed itself. We were 10 minutes asking about our topic and also 10 minutes of questions of the other group. She also sent us some documents which we did not add because the documents were in Spanish. Some questions asked in the e-interview are the following:
- What are the main factors who have influenced the necessity of the age management?
- In what do consist the age management?
- Which are the benefits of adopting this strategy?
- Do you know any company who is adopting this strategy? What did happen in this company? And the results?
- Can this company be used like an example to other companies?
Like we said before, the e-interview was so dynamic, and also interesting. The most important thing that we can extract of the interview, because she repeated it many times, is that every problem in the company about the ageing workforce is going to be different to other one, because each problem of the Human Resource has to be solved regarding the person, not the employee. However, she also emphasized that every company must to remove each existing age barriers.
She was continually referring to practical examples, with real companies with who she has been working.
After this primary research, we collect more information in internet, where there are some really interesting articles, and we finish with our conclusion.
The Business Context
There are some factors that have influenced in the creation of this Human Resource strategy, the age management, such as:
Demographic shifts
Developed countries are nations with a very old population. For example, in U.S. the number of workers over 55 is projected to nearly double from 2002.(1) In appendix one you can see how organizations are preparing for the possibility of a shortage of workers due to the retiring baby boom generation in U.S.
Globalization
New markets are opening, with more competitors, facility the flow of knowledge. Therefore, strategies in Human Resource are advantages from the competitors.
Technological change
New technologies are continuously changing, needing to improve the skills of the people.
Business strategies
Innovation puts added emphasis on collaboration, process excellence, leadership, customer service, subjects belonging to the Human Resource department. Also age diversity in an organization is widely regarded as a business strategy, because of the transfer of knowledge/skills.
Personal factors
Most old workers want to continue working. For example, 11,8% of population aged 65 to 69 was active in labor force in Canada in 2001.(2) Some factors are:
- Enjoy in their work
- Find a meaning in what they are doing in their job
- Economic factors (do not have a private pension plan, to be widower/widow, etc.).
- Workers who have not been in the labor market for many years
Moreover, there are other factors more linked with the needs of the older employees, such as:
- Personal health problems
- Declining physical energy levels
- Stress due to rapid change in technology
- Family care responsibilities
- Support an elderly family member
Organizational factors
Also the organizational factors are so important in the implementation of this strategy, for example:
- Not enough workforce productivity
- Surprise workforce issues
- Too few employees
- Too many employees
- Wrong employees
- Wrong skills
- Not enough innovation
