Innovation: Active ageing guide for management in organisations

Italy

AAI Domains:

• Employment (employment rate)

• Independent, healthy and secure living (financial security)

An ageing society includes an ageing workforce, meaning that it is important to develop new strategies for the management and support of older workers. There are often negative views about older workers, such as not being able to learn new skills as quickly as younger people or not being as productive due to declining physical and mental capacity. That may be true in some cases but these are often stereotypical caricatures of older people in the workplace.

Social innovations are needed to improve the management and job satisfaction of older people in the workplace as this group is going to be needed to play a large role in the workplace as governments of all political persuasions are seeking to increase the age at which state retirement pensions are available.

In the northern Italian region of Emilia Romagna, the issue of developing active ageing management strategies was addressed in 2013–14 by Impronta Etica, a non-profit organisation established in 2001 to promote sustainability and corporate social responsibility.

In collaboration with a management consultancy Impronta Etica they undertook a research project with five large organisations based in the region:

1. CADIAI (a social care cooperative)

2. Emil Banca (a not-for-profit bank and credit cooperative)

3. Hera Group (an environmental management group)

4. ANCD (political and trade union consortium of cooperatives)

5. Granarolo (a large food and beverage company)

The hypothesis being tested in the research was that older workers, defined as being over the age of 50 years, will perform better if they feel confident about their professional skills and have a good sense of self-efficacy. Through interviews, focus groups and surveys with a range of older workers and managers in the companies they found that when older workers felt that the company thought they were reliable, adaptable and productive then they had a higher level of self-confidence and self-efficacy.

An approach based on co-creation, engagement and collaboration appeared to offer the best way to develop active ageing management strategies within companies that enabled older workers to feel valued and to be productive members of the workforce.

Impronta Etica developed a very straightforward step-by-step guide for management and workers to follow to develop suitable age-friendly approaches to active ageing that recognised the different cultures of organisations. A four step process based starts with interviews between managers and older workers to understand the topic and identify existing examples of good practice into a matrix. This is followed by a survey of organisational culture based on focus group discussions and a prioritisation review of identified good practice.

A feasibility plan is developed that suits the company culture and environment with consideration to the economic and managerial variables that apply with a checklist developed. Finally, an age management plan of actions to be taken is developed, implemented and periodically evaluated to assess the impact and identify refinements.

In relation to active ageing, this guidance provides a research based approach to the development of age management practices that are appropriate to different organisations. This should enhance the productivity and employability of older workers thus increasing the employment rate of this group over time. Increasing the employment rate of older workers should also provide them with greater financial security as an unwanted early exit from the labour market can have negative effects on health and well-being.

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