Ageless at Work - Skills for Care

meetings initiated by team managers to share experiences and to explain particular features of
IB. This informal, hands-on training and support, offered by managers and IB teams, tended
to attract more praise than the more formal events. Other common support mechanisms,
which were generally welcomed by care co-ordinators and team managers, included: peer
support groups; the identification of champions in each team; and an IB team able and willing
to respond to queries and offer one-to-one support to care co-ordinators.
Intergenerational learning practices may also provide opportunities for the social care workforce to
learn from and support one another during the transformation process. Traditionally, intergenerational
practice has been concerned with ‘generating greater understanding and respect between
generations and building more cohesive societies’ (Thomas, 2009). More recently, however, there has
been interest in broadening the definition, including a new focus on intergenerational learning in the
workplace (DIUS, 2009). The evidence base reflects its historic origins, so there is little published
material documenting good practice in intergenerational learning in the workplace, although the
Government has made a commitment to develop new and innovative approaches to intergenerational
learning in the workplace through the Learning Revolution Transformation Fund and strengthen the
evidence base for informal adult learning activity in the workplace (DIUS, 2009).
One aspect of intergenerational practice, however, that has been extensively reviewed in the literature
is mentoring. There are also examples of good practice within the care sector and in particular from
the Tick Tock EQUAL project. This included a guidance pack containing desk-top research findings
on mentoring practices designed to help project partners design effective mentoring projects (Age
Concern Training, 2006). A second version of the Guidance Pack (Age Concern Training, 2007) was
published in 2007. This incorporated findings from action research undertaken with the Delivery
Partners and their projects in France, Finland and England, incorporating mini case studies of
‘practice in operation’. The key conclusions of the project were:
Mentoring is a powerful intervention for people aged 50 and over helping overcome barriers in
inclusion in the labour market and lifelong learning and offering a supportive environment that
nurtures a sense of self-worth and personal control. However, it can be overlooked as an
intervention option for adults outside of executive professional development or enterprise support.
Mentoring is capable of traversing international boundaries and offer benefits to transnational
partners where these alliances recognise and respond to the differing socio-economic factors,
cultures, infrastructures, language and interpretation variations influencing domestic needs and
activity.
Mentoring is particularly successful in the health and social care sector demonstrating structured
formal schemes, which have the full commitment and support of the organisation, to be effective
in the recruitment, induction and retention of older workers. It provides a vehicle with which to
undertake peer and intergenerational knowledge and skill sharing, and offers mentors a sense of
worth that increases motivation.
Mentoring can support active citizenship by older people acting a peer or intergenerational
mentors. Voluntary sector initiatives can encourage active citizenship through inclusion of older
people, who have considerable transferable skills and/or experience, as peer or intergenerational
mentors. However there are reported gaps in information on different ‘models in action’ in
Ageless at Work: Change workplace cultures, development skills. Good practice report 41