Recruiting Older Employees

A study by Allianz shows that in 2010 people between 60 and 65 will outnumber those between 15 and 20 in the European Union. 28.8 million EU residents are aged 60-65 compared with 28.6 million between the ages of 15 and 20.

This year, for the first time ever, the ongoing demographic change will affect the job market as there will be 200,000 more people approaching or entering retirement than the number of school-leavers.

Professor Michael Heise, chief economist and head of corporate development at Allianz said:

"As the baby boomer generation moves into retirement, this gap is set to widen over the next few years, rising to 8.3 million by 2030."

The Allianz study predicts similar trends in other G-20 states such as Russia, Canada, South Korea and China. In Japan the situation is even more dramatic than in the EU, with only 6 million school-leavers compared to 10 million between the ages of 60 and 65. However, the US is still experiencing growth in the number of people of working age because of its attractiveness as an immigration destination, and a rise in the birth rate.

Heise says that the EU's unemployment problems will not be solved as a result of the shrinking working population, adding that "Even today unemployment is largely a structural issue, i.e. the educational and training background of many job-seekers is irreconcilable with the requirements of the labor market." But, he argues, the demographic trend will not necessarily lead to a decline in economic dynamics and the further marginalization of Europe vis à vis "Chinamerica." Nevertheless, he contends, it is essential to adopt working conditions to the needs of an aging workforce.

Only a third or so of all people between 60 and 64 are still working in the EU but there are considerable differences between the individual member states. While Hungary has the lowest employment rate of just 13.3% for this age group, 63% are still working in Sweden. An additional 8 million workers would be available by 2030 if the rest of Europe could catch up with Sweden.

Heise concludes that increasing the proportion of older people working is a major challenge:

"The key milestones have already been achieved in pursuit of this objective in recent years, with moves to reduce the number of early retirement incentives being introduced as part of pension system reforms in many EU countries. The task now is to create the right environment on the labor market. If the European Union succeeds in this endeavor, it could serve as a role model in the face of an aging population worldwide."


SOURCE:http://www.hrmguide.co.uk/diversity/older-workers.htm

Mission Impossible

Identifying training needs is an important activity that relates to the overall performance of the business.

For further information about identifying training needs, see: Training Needs Analysis Concepts/Approach - a description and explanation of TNA.

"Your assignment, should you choose to accept it, is to coordinate training for our organisation" said the CEO to Dale Wood, the newly appointed Human Resources Manager.

Not that there was really any choice. At the weekend, the CEO had seen an old video. It had prompted memories of a popular television series a few years back.

The CEO had every confidence that Dale could organise the training.

Dale's thoughts focussed on the mission. Was it mission impossible? Certainly it was a lot to ask. The identification of all the training needs of the organisation, making decisions about priorities, assessing the resources required, the planning of a program, and implementation in a logical way, with equity and access - all had to be achieved.

"By the way, I want it ready to go when we meet next week" continued the CEO. "Any questions....... No. Good, now I want to talk about ......"

A little while later, Dale was reflecting on the CEO's request, before heading off to a management meeting about the corporate plan, the budget, quality processes and a few other current developments.

Dale thought about the immensity of the task and fitting it in with all the other developments. Like managers, Dale had a lot to sort out.

After the meeting, Dale had just sat down when a colleague entered the office. "What's up?" enquired Ashley. Dale briefly explained the immensity of the task of organising training when so much else was happening. "So?" prompted Ashley, playing a devil's advocate role.

"So, I'm not sure that we have enough time and energy to organise training properly" replied Dale.

"Let me ask a few questions" continued Ashley. "What is the organisation trying to achieve?"

Dale replied. "You know the answers - better service, reduced costs, increased productivity, increased accountability." "Yes that's all true" continued Ashley, "but give me one word that describes what restructure, enterprise agreements, etc are trying to achieve."

Dale thought about it for a moment and then said "Performance. All the programs, initiatives etc have improved performance as the underlying theme."

"Yes, that's right" replied Ashley. "What underlies performance?"

"The way staff perform, the methods and processes used, the culture of the organisation" Dale explained. "And training is the key. The really successful organisations have worked out their processes and train their staff to do the work properly. I discovered recently that often its the commitment to getting the basics right all the time that is the key to success."

"Yes, I agree" continued Ashley.

"This is all very nice" said Dale, "We know training is important, but how am I going to organise it to take into account all the other things that are happening."

Ashley said "The first thing is the need to achieve a balance between effort and result. Every situation is different, and you need to adjust approaches to suit the circumstances to achieve the maximum result. This diagram should help."


SOURCE:http://derekstockley.com.au/a-training-needs.html