Dissertation_Paula Aleksandrowicz_12 ... - Jacobs University

4.2.4. Further Vocational Training
The inclusion into further training raises the workability of older employees. It is also
the prerequirement for their re-deployment in less demanding workplaces (e.g. as clerks
instead of assembly workers) and for promotion to higher positions which are often the best
guarantee of long-term workability (Behrens 1999: 103). Good practice in initial and further
training at firm level calls for
- equal access given to workers of all ages;
- affirmative action in order to make up for possible ageism in the past;
- abolishing stereotypes about the learning ability and motivation of older workers;
- offering learning opportunities during the whole working life (lifelong learning);
- career development rather than tailoring training to one specific workplace;
- establishment of a learning environment at the workplace;
- tailoring training to the learning methods and experience of older workers or providing
training in order to redevelop the motivation to learn;
- regularly examining the training needs of workers of all ages (Walker/Taylor 1998: 3-4;
Naegele/Walker 2003: 229).
The thorough examination of all those aspects in the studied firms was not possible, but
the collected evidence sheds some light on the practice of dealing with older training
participants or participants-to-be.
Only in three firms did personnel managers report that older workers in their firm may
experience difficulties with gaining access to further training, and two personnel managers
perceived some barriers with regard of further training for certain groups of workers (be it
older workers or shift workers) depending on the attitude of the direct superior.
In the foodstuffs company Firm DE-7, where hard statistical data on the training
participation of older workers was available. While younger workers participated on
average in 5.5 training courses in the last two years, the 50-59-year-olds attended in the
same period only 2.76 courses, and ´60pluses´ even less (2.09 courses).
However, to conclude from those examples that the employer discriminates against
older workers in further training would be wrong. The interviewees explained the telling
numbers with the low motivation to learn on part of older workers. Also gerontological
literature noticed that phenomenon – which is due to a mixture of personal and firm-related
factors (e.g. qualification level, general interest in learning, but also age-adequate training
concepts and the degree of autonomy in training decisions; Frerichs/Bögel 2008b: 6-7). My
firm case studies demonstrated that unwillingness to participate in training may be a
reflection of latent ageism in the organisation. To give again the example of Firm DE-7:
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