Age diversity at the workplace – research findings from Britain, Germany and Japan
Article Type: Resources From: Strategic HR Review, Volume 8, Issue 4
Middlesex University, London, 12-13 February 2009
Demographic change and the ageing workforce and its effects on the sustainability of pension and social security systems, as well as on the availability of qualified skilled labor, has been widely discussed in recent years. At this conference, held at Middlesex University, final research findings from an ESRC-funded project, “Age Diversity at the Workplace”, were presented. Preliminary findings of a British Council-funded project were also discussed.
Age Diversity at the Workplace, led by Professor Michael Muller-Camen and Dr. Matt Flynn of Middlesex University, explored whether demographic change and the ageing workforce affect Human Resource Management policies and practices equally or differently in different countries. In Britain and Germany, an in-depth investigation of eight case study organizations was undertaken, in the chemical sector, the public sector (secondary schools), the steel industry and in retail. The British Council-funded project, Older workers in the UK and Japan: how employment institutions and work history impact on decisions over work and retirement, led by Dr. Matt Flynn, investigates age management policies and their implementation in similar organizations in Britain and Japan over the next 18 months.
Both projects tried to highlight “best practice” in the management of older workers, but also stressed that solutions to the age challenge are affected by national influences such as the social security system or state-financed early retirement options. Nevertheless, one conference participant remarked that the comparison of age management best practices across different countries were very valuable: “They showed…what can sensibly be changed and what can be incorporated in our organizations.”
Another important finding was the divergent role and influence of social partners in negotiating age management policies in Germany and Britain. A British trade union representative remarked: “The things that I have really picked up today is how other countries have taken a more collaborative approach to this… their governments have played a more active role,recognizing the need to engage social partners and giving them more influence at the table, which is something that we as the union movement still lack.”
A third finding concerned the role of line managers in effectively implementing age management policies in their organizations and teams. In practice, although age management might be on the organizational strategic agenda, it might not be properly implemented by line management. One participant urged: “We have to borrow from the best that is happening and we have to devise management training programs…unless we improve the capacity of managers in all sorts of organizations to use these ideas as part of their normal knowledge resource, we will never change anything.”
The project outcomes of Age Diversity at the Workplace led to a high quality of debate between academics and the audience, which was made up of lobby group members, international organizations and HR practitioners.
Heike SchroederResearcher in HRM at Middlesex University.
