Working and ageing - Cedefop - Europa
Working and ageing - Cedefop - Europa
Working and ageing - Cedefop - Europa
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214<br />
<strong>Working</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>ageing</strong><br />
Guidance <strong>and</strong> counselling for mature learners<br />
(b) a process of reassuring employees upon entry into training period: the<br />
first step was to identify <strong>and</strong> acknowledge competences already acquired<br />
by trainees in their former jobs. This was to give them more selfconfidence<br />
in their capacity to learn;<br />
(c) external IT training: employees took pride in doing this training, which very<br />
often helped them to keep pace with their children, as far as new<br />
technologies are concerned;<br />
(d) internal training based on work situations: trainees were guided during<br />
one month by a more experienced employee of the call centre, to give<br />
them confidence in their capacity to adapt to their new job situation;<br />
(e) regular individual monitoring: the human resources manager met trainees<br />
regularly to follow their progress.<br />
Success factors related to environment are:<br />
(a) clear pathways between the business lines <strong>and</strong> transparent skill<br />
requirements: this was made possible by manpower planning;<br />
(b) secure mobility system, option to return: if employees changed their minds<br />
or did not complete the training programme, they had the possibility to go<br />
back to their former jobs;<br />
(c) steady managerial support: managers met newcomers in the call centre<br />
regularly to be sure their integration was successful;<br />
(d) acknowledgement of new skills: the company planned to organise a little<br />
event <strong>and</strong> deliver a certificate to the employees concerned, on completion<br />
of the programme.<br />
Many of these success factors had already been identified earlier in research<br />
on <strong>ageing</strong> workersʼ capacity to adapt to new technologies (Marquié, 1995) or<br />
on <strong>ageing</strong> workers engaged in vocational training (Delgoulet et al, 1997).<br />
Outcomes <strong>and</strong> steps requiring extra care with regard<br />
to the senior population<br />
A long monolithic experience <strong>and</strong> a strong occupational identity directed<br />
adaptation of the training system. Nevertheless, at the time of the survey, the<br />
commitment of older workers to the mobility programme was generally below<br />
expectations, at approximately 30 employees of 53. But those employees<br />
were highly committed: only two who had volunteered for the programme did<br />
not complete the training.<br />
Several types of barriers emerged, all of which related to attractiveness of<br />
the new job from the participantsʼ perspective: image of working in a call<br />
centre, variable working hours, <strong>and</strong> loss of extra shift work compensation.