Age Management
15 May 2009
Read by 1794 persons
Businesses haven't yet developed the reflex to anticipate the consequences of demographic changes on their workforce. Yet, the outlook in Europe and France is now known: aging of the active population, sector-specific labor shortages, increased tensions in the job market, and a rise in retirements.
The challenges for businesses are defined: attracting new potential, preventing the obsolescence of skills of current employees, and promoting the transfer and transmission of skills. As such, age management is a real human resources practice. However, it is not always identified as such. And the differences are significant between SMEs and large companies.
Different practices in large companies and SMEs
In large companies, the phenomenon of employee age is taken into account when they face technical and/or economic reorganization. HR departments seek to enhance internal skills. Many large companies take into consideration the physical difficulty of jobs: task rotation, case-by-case management, ergonomic improvements, and mutual assistance between colleagues are then favored. To stimulate intergenerational cohabitation, some large companies set up cross-functional project groups, others modify their work organization by adapting management methods (proximity, time for regulatory exchanges). In SMEs, the issue of age is not addressed from a collective point of view. SMEs attach particular importance to internal promotions, cooptation, and training. To stimulate intergenerational cohabitation, the senior/junior pairing formula continues to be appreciated. Some SMEs make the strategic choice of putting a young person in a management position, others form work teams that highlight age diversity. SMEs are aware of the difficulty factors and risks in the workplace but are still not very involved in preventive and corrective actions.
Promoting age diversity
SMEs practice close, case-by-case management. Large companies invest in innovative human resources systems, with the difficulty of moving an aging workforce towards target jobs. At the same time, companies recognize that cohabitation between generations helps ensure skills transfer and optimizes work efficiency. This management requires pragmatic management in terms of recruitment, internal mobility, training plans, and revitalization. In other words, age management must be the subject of a specific forward-looking action plan.
Published May 11, 2009
Posted online May 15, 2009
entreprendre.ma
The challenges for businesses are defined: attracting new potential, preventing the obsolescence of skills of current employees, and promoting the transfer and transmission of skills. As such, age management is a real human resources practice. However, it is not always identified as such. And the differences are significant between SMEs and large companies.
Different practices in large companies and SMEs
In large companies, the phenomenon of employee age is taken into account when they face technical and/or economic reorganization. HR departments seek to enhance internal skills. Many large companies take into consideration the physical difficulty of jobs: task rotation, case-by-case management, ergonomic improvements, and mutual assistance between colleagues are then favored. To stimulate intergenerational cohabitation, some large companies set up cross-functional project groups, others modify their work organization by adapting management methods (proximity, time for regulatory exchanges). In SMEs, the issue of age is not addressed from a collective point of view. SMEs attach particular importance to internal promotions, cooptation, and training. To stimulate intergenerational cohabitation, the senior/junior pairing formula continues to be appreciated. Some SMEs make the strategic choice of putting a young person in a management position, others form work teams that highlight age diversity. SMEs are aware of the difficulty factors and risks in the workplace but are still not very involved in preventive and corrective actions.
Promoting age diversity
SMEs practice close, case-by-case management. Large companies invest in innovative human resources systems, with the difficulty of moving an aging workforce towards target jobs. At the same time, companies recognize that cohabitation between generations helps ensure skills transfer and optimizes work efficiency. This management requires pragmatic management in terms of recruitment, internal mobility, training plans, and revitalization. In other words, age management must be the subject of a specific forward-looking action plan.
Published May 11, 2009
Posted online May 15, 2009
entreprendre.ma
