Extending working lives: age management in SMEs

an article by Vanesa Fuertes, Valerie Egdell and Ronald McQuaid (Employment Research Institute, Edinburgh Napier University, UK) published in Employee Relations Volume 35 Issue 3 (2013)

Abstract

Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to present a study of age management in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the UK.

Design/methodology/approach
Qualitative data collection and exploratory research with six SMEs comprising of: initial interviews with representatives from the SMEs; action research activities designed to raise awareness of age management issues and age discrimination legislation; and follow-up interviews to ascertain if awareness raising activities resulted in any changes, or planned changes, in policy, practice and attitudes towards older workers.

Findings
Good practice in age management can be found in SMEs, but was not found to be part of a systematic strategy. Negative practices and attitudes towards older workers are observed, with positive and negative age stereotypes coexisting. Negative stereotypes displayed can undermine the perceived economic value of older workers. There may be a gap between policy and practice, but awareness raising campaigns that reach employers can influence existing ways of working by showing the benefits of an age diverse workforce and helping reduce prejudices against older workers.

Research limitations/implications
The sample size is small and context specific. However, the study usefully illustrates different approaches to age management policies and practices in SMEs, and the potential benefits of age management awareness in influencing attitudes and practices towards older workers in SMEs.

Originality/value
The experience of age management in SMEs is under researched and examples of good practice in age management are often drawn from large organisations. The paper highlights that SMEs often lack the resources to seek advice regarding age management; therefore, those responsible for age management awareness raising activities may need to approach businesses directly.

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Trade union responses to ageing workforces in the UK and Germany

an article by Matthew Flynn and Martin Upchurch (Middlesex University Business School, UK), Michael Muller-Camen (WU, Vienna University of Economics and Business, Austria and Middlesex University Business School, UK) and Heike Schroder (WU, Vienna University of Economics and Business, Austria) published in Human Relations Volume 66 Number 1 (January 2013)

Abstract

Ageing workforces are placing conflicting pressures on European trade unions in order to, on the one hand, protect pensions and early retirement routes, and, on the other, promote human resource management (HRM) policies geared towards enabling their older members to extend working life.

Using interviews from German and United Kingdom (UK) trade unions, we discuss how unions are both constrained and enabled by pre-existing institutional structures in advocating approaches to age management.

In Germany, some unions use their strong institutional role to affect public policy and industrial change at national and sectoral levels. UK unions have taken a more defensive approach, focused on protecting pension rights.

The contrasting varieties of capitalism, welfare systems and trade unions’ own orientations are creating different pressures and mechanisms to which unions need to respond. While the German inclusive system is providing unions with mechanisms for negotiating collectively at the national level, UK unions’ activism remains localized.

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