Working and ageing - Cedefop - Europa
Working and ageing - Cedefop - Europa
Working and ageing - Cedefop - Europa
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<strong>Working</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>ageing</strong><br />
Guidance <strong>and</strong> counselling for mature learners<br />
practical reasons (a very large geographical dispersion of respondents) few<br />
interviews were done by phone. The method for recording <strong>and</strong> processing<br />
was the same in both cases. The items to be covered in the interviews were<br />
identified <strong>and</strong> sent to respondents before the interview. This helped<br />
respondents to give well thought-out answers, <strong>and</strong> whenever necessary, to<br />
consult information sources available to them in advance, for instance with<br />
respect to statistics relevant to their own unit or operation. Each interview<br />
lasted for about one hour. There was no transcription; rather, by listening <strong>and</strong><br />
marking highlights, we could go back to recordings <strong>and</strong> obtain exact wordings.<br />
Quotes were grouped in accordance with the main areas of concern (see<br />
Section 12.4). We tried to find elucidative quotes from different groups of<br />
respondents to assess if conflicting views for each area would appear.<br />
13.4. Results<br />
13.4.1. Organisational aspects<br />
A general view of many respondents in the armed forces is that openness to<br />
change is low; it is difficult to bring about change in a large, complex organisation:<br />
ʻthe armed forces are an ocean liner, manoeuvred slowly, with tough resistance<br />
forces in the organisation hampering movementʼ (human resources).<br />
There is high momentum in the organisation also visible in the career<br />
switching project. Over the years, the Swedish Armed Forces have<br />
accumulated problems linked to the age <strong>and</strong> competence structure of the<br />
organisation for provisions made in employment contracts, <strong>and</strong> general<br />
unwillingness to fire officers. In interviews there was an almost unanimous<br />
view that reform was necessary to change the age <strong>and</strong> competence structure.<br />
Many respondents believed that motivation of older officers was a problem.<br />
They are neither willing to, nor obliged to do foreign service. It is difficult to<br />
recruit staff officers to such assignments, <strong>and</strong> older officers, 55+, also have<br />
problems to fulfil physical dem<strong>and</strong>s in field service: ʻthey did not join the armed<br />
forces to go to Afghanistanʼ (human resources);ʻ soldiers have to carry ever<br />
heavier burdens, <strong>and</strong> officers should be good examplesʼ (comm<strong>and</strong>ing officer).<br />
It is often a specific unit <strong>and</strong> its situation that has priority, rather than the<br />
overriding problems of the armed forces at large. Comm<strong>and</strong>ing officers have<br />
a strong <strong>and</strong> dominant position; they may not be persuaded by personnel<br />
officers that a change is necessary: ʻthe major problem was to make<br />
comm<strong>and</strong>ing officers agree that this was a problem; “this is not what it looks<br />
like in my unit” ʼ (human resources).