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CE 083 917

Tikkanen, Tarja; Lahn, Leif Christian; Withnall, Alexandra;Ward, Peter; Lyng, KolbeinWorking Life Changes and Training of Older Workers. ResearchReportNorwegian Inst. of Adult Education, Trondheim.; EuropeanCommission, Brussels (Belgium).ISBN-82-7724-039-22002-00-00131p.

TSER- SOE2 -CT97 -2016

VOX, Nedre Bakklandet 60, N-7014 Trondheim, Norway (225Norwegian Kroner). Tel: 47-73 99 08 40; Fax: 47-73 99 08 50;e-mail: vox@vox.no; Web site: http://www.vox.no.

Books (010) Reports Research (143)

EDRS Price MF01/PC06 Plus Postage.Action Research; Adult Education; *Adult Learning; AgeDifferences; Case Studies; *Competence; Educational Research;Employee Attitudes; Employer Attitudes; Employer EmployeeRelationship; Foreign Countries; Informal Education;Information Technology; Inplant Programs; IntergenerationalPrograms; Job Skills; *Labor Force Development; LearningMotivation; Lifelong Learning; Off the Job Training; OlderAdults; *Older Workers; *On the Job Training; OrganizationalChange; Outcomes of Education; Small Businesses; VocationalEvaluation; *Work EnvironmentFinland; Norway; United Kingdom; *Work Based Learning

WORKTOW was a multidisciplinary action research projectcarried out in 27 small and medium-sized enterprises in the United Kingdom,Finland, and Norway. The main focus was on the learning of workers aged 45and older. In-depth case studies were conducted in all three countriesinvolving a range of learning interventions. Results showed age was notrelated to how stimulating workplaces were experienced as learningenvironments nor to subjective assessment of learning attitudes, skills, ormotivation., The job competence of older workers was generally highly valuedbut not systematically monitored or recorded. Changes in working life andworkplaces stimulated learning and reduced opportunities for it for all agegroups. Introduction of information technology was the greatest learningchallenge to older employees. In terms of human resources development, olderemployees participated in informal and nonformal training in the same way.asyounger workers, but to a lesser extent in formal training. Case studiesshowed successful work-based learning and training interventions involvingolder workers had the potential to improve learning motivation, strengthenself confidence and organizational commitment, and improve the social climatein groups with mixed ages. Conclusions indicated the need to acknowledgeworkplaces as learning environments; develop more systematic measures forbroad-based job competence assessment; and implement an integrative,intergenerational approach to learning. (Contains 143 references.) (YLB)

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Tarja Tikkanen, Leif Christian Lahn,Alexandra Withnall,

Peter Ward & Kolbein Lyng

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Tarja Tikkanen, Leif Christian Lahn,Alexandra With nall,

Peter Ward & Kolbein Lyng

Working life changesand training

of older workers

ISBN 82-7724-039-2Trondheim 2002

IV Framework Programme, European CommissionTSER SOE2 CT97 2016

Abstract

WORKTOW was a multidisciplinary actionresearch project carried out in 27 small andmidium sized enterprises (SMEs) in industry,service and office-work sectors in the UK,Finland and Norway.The aims were to inves-tigate how to recognise, value and utilisejob competence; aspects of learning at work;HRD practices involving older workers andthe facilitation of lifelong learning; and howthe diversity of the workforce can facilitatethe development of learning organisations.

In-depth case studies were carried out in allthree countries involving a range of learninginterventions. Results showed that age wasnot related to how stimulating workplaceswere experienced as learning environments,nor to the subjective assessment of learningattitudes, skills, or motivation, except formemory and speed of learning. Strongervariation was found between sectors andcompanies.

job competence of older workers wasgenerally highly valued although it was notsystematically monitored or recorded.

changes in working life and in the work-places tended both to stimulate learningand to reduce opportunities for it for allage groups.

introduction of IT was the greatest learn-ing challenge to older employees but thiswas not universal.

in some cases of small businesses olderworkers, especially those with higher levelsof education and expertise, did not findtheir work as stimulating in terms of newlearning as their less experienced col-leagues did. Coupled with scarce careeropportunities, this situation sometimes ledto estimations of low value and meaning-fulness attached to training related to one'scurrent job.

in terms of human resources development,older employees participated less thanyounger colleagues in formal training withinindustry but there were no differences inparticipation in informal and non-formaltraining and in service and informationsector. In some cases, the learning interven-tions were successful in helping managers toreframe the situation of older workers andlearning in general but only where managerswere receptive and could see the relevancefor everyday practice.

A number of conclusions were drawn fromthe study, including the need to acknowledgeworkplaces as learning environments; theneed to develop more systematic measuresfor broad-based job competence assessmentthe need to encourage employers and olderworkers themselves to accept some responsi-bility for ensuring they have access to learningand training opportunities; the need to paymore attention to practical training outcomesand their implications for motivating highlyexperienced workers further in small busi-nesses. It was also noted that strategies couldbe developed to enhance the strong sense ofinter-generational solidarity observed in someworkplaces and to capitalize on the comple-mentary skills of workers of different ages.

Overall, responding to the new learning imper-ative in working life and utilising the diversityof the workforce presents a challenge to thecompetence of management especially in olderoccupations and companies. One way forwardwould be to strengthen investment and effortin developing more local learning networksand to assist SMEs by providing a range ofvarious resources to enhance learning, trainingog development in them.developing more locallearning networks and to assist SMEs by pro-viding a range of resources to enhance learn-ing, training and development in them.

Executive summary

IntroductionWORKTOW was a multidisciplinary actionresearch project, with its main focus on thelearning of older workers (aged (45+) inworking life. Its starting point was the indi-vidual and organisational effects, needs andopportunities emanating from the intersec-tion of two trends in society, namely, theageing of populations and changes in work-ing life.These trends, in turn, have strongimplications for lifelong learning and discus-sions about competence maintenance andfor both individual and organisational devel-opment.

AimsThe aims were to investigate:

how to recognise, value and utilise jobcompetence (skills, knowledge, attitudes);

learning at work;

HRD practices involving older workers andthe facilitation of lifelong learning

diversity of the workforce in facilitating thedevelopment of learning organisations.

MethodsThe study was conducted in 27 SMEs inindustrial, service and office-work sectorsin England, Finland and Norway. Data wascollected through questionnaires and inter-views with management and employees, andthrough documentary analysis together withsome direct observation.The questionnaireswere partially standardised among partners;they involved similar questions to employeesand management, with questions to the latterbeing constructed from the point of view ofthe company. Case studies, in which a rangeof learning interventions were developed andapplied within a group of SMEs were alsocarried out and evaluated.

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Main resultsJob competence

In most of the companies, skill requirementswere undergoing a change, so that additionaland/or new skills were needed in the use ofcomputers, in communicating with customersand with increasing emphasis on the need tounderstand the whole production process.

The job competence of older workers wasgenerally highly valued. The existence of nega-tive attitudes towards older workers and thegenerally held view that they lack competenceand that their skills are dated, was not sup-ported by the results of this study. On the con-trary, we found that mature workers bring arange of knowledge, skills, experience and posi-tive attitudes to the workplace, complementingthose of less experienced workers. Differencesin competence among workers were ascribedto individual characteristics rather than to age,particularly among management.

Systematic monitoring or documenting of thecharacteristics of competence did not exist,beyond occasional developmental talks or inskills audits.There was an assumption thatthis information was 'known' tacitly by man-agers. Employees considered social compe-tence, professional competence and workmorale to improve with age.The job compe-tence of experienced workers was acknowl-edged and utilised internally in SMEs e.g. inmentoring. Competence was seen both as anindividual and a collective phenomenon basedmore on work experience and personal char-acteristics than on formal training.

Learning at workChanges in working life and in the workplacepresented a challenge to the learning effortsof both older and younger workers alike. It

also reduced their opportunities for learning,due to increased workloads and pressures oftime. In some cases, the former opted for astrategy of adjustment rather than choosingto participate amidst the changes.Age wasnot related to how stimulating workplaceswere experienced as learning environments,nor to the subjective assessments of learningattitudes, skills, or motivation, except formemory and speed of learning. Stronger vari-ation was found between sectors and compa-nies. However, in some cases older workers,especially those with higher levels of educa-tion and expertise, did not find their workas stimulating in small businesses, in termsof new learning as their less experienced col-leagues did.

In the service sector, learning challenges origi-nated predominantly from within the workitself, especially from the requirements of cus-tomers. In industry, they were related moreclosely to outside forces (e.g. quality require-ments, educational reforms, labour market)or to technological innovation. In some SMEs(notably in the UK) with low status jobsand a predominance of relatively poorly edu-cated female workers, issues concerning thedevelopment and training of staff and theirlearning and the possible need for change inthe organisation, were not considered to beof any importance either for employers or fortheir employees.

In spite of this, attitudes towards learningand training were generally positive. However,employees and management did hold sys-tematically different attitudes to learning andtraining for employees - employees weremore positive, employers strongly underlinedindividual differences.What the managementrated systematically more positive than theemployees did was the learning opportunitiesthat the company provided. Social and pro-fessional competence, together with workmorale were all considered to improve withage.

New technology constituted the greatestlearning challenge to all employees. No gen-eral rule applied, however; in some SMEs

5

older workers coped well with new technol-ogy, as acknowledged by their younger col-leagues. In others, it was a cause of their exitfrom the labour market.

Learning related to practice was preferredover formal training. It was seen as a highlysocial and collegially shared activity, whetherconsciously acknowledged as such or not. Insome companies where formal training wasprovided, besides practical and immediatelyutilisable knowledge, the need to acquire thekind of knowledge that would have greatergeneral applicability was also expressed.

HRD & lifelong learningOur results showed that planning cycles wererelatively short in most SMEs, especially thesmaller ones, making long range planning andinvestment in personnel development prob-lematic.The consequences were most severein relation to investment in training and devel-opment. HRD was typically not an issue inSMEs and not considered a central area ofactivity. Human resources were not viewedas the most important aspects of the compa-nies' consideration of their future relative toother areas, such as product development,the needs of clientele, or direct economicconsiderations. Older workers did participatein informal and non-formal training in thesame way as younger workers, but to alesser extent in formal training. Furthermore,in industry, significant age differences werefound in participation in formal training unlikein service and information work. Observa-tions from Norway indicated that, in industry,there was a growing appreciation of those intheir fifties as being an asset to the company,but while they were consequently invited totake part in programmes of vocational educa-tion, only very few accepted the offer.

The learning culture was generally rated fairlypositively, especially among older workers.Variation was found across sectors, but wasviewed least positively by those in low-skilledjobs. Employees were somewhat less satisfiedwith feedback systems and with the level ofsupport and encouragement for their partici-pation in learning from management. Manage-

7

ment's low profile in this regard was justifiedby a rationale according to which employeesneed to be active and take the initiative them-selves in order to obtain the support ofmanagement. In other words, management didnot consider it their job to identify develop-mental needs and challenges at individual levelamong their staff. Employees and managerrated learning culture quite differently, how-ever, between the three participating coun-tries.The employees rated learning culturethe best in the UK companies and the leastpositive in the Finnish SMEs, while the man-agement in Norway rated the situation muchbetter than the management in other coun-tries or the Norwegian employees.

Even in companies where learning at workwas acknowledged as an issue and attentionhad been paid or initiatives put in placeto enhance learning and development amongemployees, nothing other than job skills wasmonitored or documented.The competencedevelopment of younger workers, however,was more visible and systematically addressedthrough senior-junior partnerships (e.g. men-toring), while older workers were viewedas contributors and 'teachers' rather thanas being themselves in need of learning anddevelopment (except within IT).The contri-bution of the latter was typically taken-for-granted rather than specifically credited orrewarded. Little attention was paid to waysin which learning might be transferred fromformal training settings to the workplace,beyond tailoring and narrow targeting ofcourses provided. In cases when an olderemployee had high experience but work withlittle stimulation to new learning and work-place with scarce career opportunities, thissituation sometimes led to estimations of lowvalue and meaningfulness attached to trainingrelated to one's current job.

Diversity and learning organisations

Thinking in terms of learning, not just interms of working, was something of a newconcept in small businesses.Accordingly, anyconsideration of the workplace as a learningenvironment and a learning organisation wasalso a newly emerging issue. Responding to

6

the new learning imperative in working lifeand utilising the diversity of personnel chal-lenges the competence of managements ina way which is crucial to the progress ofSMEs towards becoming learning organisa-tions, especially in more traditional occupa-tions and in older companies.According toour observations, some SME managementsare not always sufficiently aware of the exist-ence of this learning imperative, nor very wellequipped to meet it.

A major issue when considering the work-place as a learning environment is the extentto which work tasks and skills have beenspecialised on one hand or integrated andshared among workers on the other.Whilstthe development of an appreciation of collec-tive job competence (e.g. in team work) wasobservable in the service sector and informa-tion work, this kind of development appearedto be slow in traditional industrial plantsDiversity in terms of age/experience/competence within the workforce was gener-ally valued and utilised in SMEs. We alsofound fairly strong inter-generational solidar-ity in SMEs, indicating an appreciation of spe-cialised expertise as well as collective aspectsof knowledge and skills in companies.Thissolidarity was probably an important factoraccounting for older workers' satisfactionwith their taken-for-granted contribution toinformal competence development amongthe younger workers. It also contributedto continuity in the various workplaces andthereby helped to counterbalance the con-tinual changes being experienced.

Nevertheless, in some SMEs, older workersfelt they could contribute more than theircurrent job tasks allowed.This contributionand its potential usefulness was not alwaysrecognised by management.Where extravalue was attached to informal, experi-ence-based knowledge in working life thereseemed to be an increase in the appreciationof the competence of older workers; thiswas helpful in balancing out managements'views relative to their impressions of youngerworkers.

Case studies on learning interventionsWORKTOW interventions focused on map-ping the learning environment in general,including opportunities for participation inlearning situations, attitudes towards olderworkers, perceived competence and theinvestigation of individual learning styles andpreferences for learning.The rationale, themethods used and the subjects involved inthe various project sites varied, whilst thegoal was shared i.e. to improve opportunitiesfor learning among older workers. Some part-ners chose to focus solely on older workers,whilst others adopted an integrative approachinvolving all workers.

Our results showed that successful work-based learning and training interventionsinvolving older workers have the potential forimproving their motivation for learning, forstrengthening their self-confidence and organ-isational commitment, and for improving thesocial climate in groups with mixed ages.

Given that an understanding of learning styleswill assume a new relevance as the practiceof lifelong learning becomes more established,WORKTOW was innovative in that it intro-duced a new and more focused method ofanalysing individual learning style preferencesto Europe, drawing on research from theUSA. It also showed the value of developing abiographical approach to understanding olderworkers' attitudes towards undertaking learn-ing and their pedagogical preferences. Suchmethods have considerable implications forhuman resource development practice andultimately for the promotion of lifelong learn-ing across Europe.

When case studies were targeted on the eval-uation of a vocational training programmeinvolving older employees (Norway), andemployment development schemes (UK) theresults showed that it succeeded in contribut-ing towards helping older workers in learningto learn and developing their self-confidence,in improving teamwork and the social climate,in enhancing organisational learning, and incombating age-barriers.

7

The action research conducted in SMEsnotably in Finland - succeeded in providingmore systematic information and knowledgeconcerning the situation in the companiesaround the WORKTOW themes: learning,training, competence and its development,HRD, and awareness of ageing and its signifi-cance from the company's point of view.Theproject enabled new thought processes andreflection among employers and management,but to a lesser extent among employees inmany SM Es.

As an approach to workplace learning, actionresearch assumes a strong reliance on theability of employees and employers to for-mulate problems and to self-reflect and onindividual and collective involvement (partici-pation and communication) in organisationalchange processes, presupposing a measureof learning. Our results showed that thereappears to be a low level of awarenessof, and reflection on, such a "self-educative"power in the SMEs studied, even though ourobservation and analysis of everyday prac-tices offered strong evidence of the existenceof this phenomenon.The results suggestedstrongly that, in research with this kind oforientation, it is not sufficient for researchersto generate "manageable" knowledge fromthe company's situation or to make the tacitknowledge embedded in various practicesmore visible. Equally important is to allowtime to provide support to management andemployers to enable them to convert knowl-edge back into practice. Otherwise, there isa danger that results from any analysis ofissues in learning and HRD rarely upper-most in the minds of employers and managersin SMEs will not translate into usable prac-tice. Rather, as in some of the companies, find-ings may be judged as "too general" and willthus be seen by managers as having little valuein everyday practice. In companies wheremanagers were more open to receiving andreflecting on this type of information, ourreflexive interventions succeeded in helpingto reframe the situation of older workers andlearning in general.

ConclusionsOverall, the results suggested that, ratherthan focusing more strongly on dispositionalaspects, such as developing favourable atti-tudes towards learning and improving internalmotivation amongst employees of all ages,several situational and institutional issues arecentral when aiming to encourage SMEs andtheir personnel to see themselves as learningorganisations.

Workplaces need to be acknowledged aslearning environments. It is important tofocus on organising work and the workplaceitself to allow more time for learning andreflection on how to improve learning atwork for all employees.Although this studyfocused on small businesses, it showed thatinternal communication and information flowcan and should be improved in these com-panies.When developing a suitable environ-ment for learning in the workplace, it is moreuseful to adopt the specific attributes of theparticular job sector and occupational branchin question, as well as the local situation inthe company (including level of formal educa-tion among the employees) rather than focus-ing on the age of the potential participants.

There is a need to develop more systematicmethods and measures for broad-based job-competence assessment and for its documen-tation in'SMEs. Such an approach would helpto encourage a more transparent and long-term planning strategy in respect of individualand collective competence development aswell as overall organisational planning.Thesemeasures would also make the existing prac-tice of subjective (typically by managementand supervisors) and categorical (e.g. on thebasis of age) evaluations of competence moreobjective and potentially less discriminatory.

In sectors involving low skilled workers inlow status jobs especially women thereis still a long way to go, on the one hand,in increasing awareness of the importanceof learning and arousing interest in it; andon the other, to encourage employers andolder workers themselves to recognise andacknowledge their importance in the work-

8

place and to accept some responsibility forensuring that they have access to learning andtraining opportunities.

There is a need to pay more attention to prac-tical training outcomes and the consequencesfor motivating experienced employees in SMEsto develop themselves further. Older workersespecially, and those with higher levels of edu-cation and expertise, should find participationin training rewarding and meaningful in theworkplace context. Our results showed thatthis is not always the case in small businesseswith low career oportunities.This is likely topose a challenge to training providers as wellas to managers and employers in SMEs.

While the diversity of the workforce isacknowledged and we found indications of astrong sense of inter-generational solidarityin many workplaces, this could be improvedfurther by increasing awareness of the issueand by developing more systematic strategiesto address it. Such a development would alsoimprove the collective functioning and theutilization of collective competence in manyworkplaces as well as increasing broaderawareness of strengths and limitations inorganisational competence.

The new learning imperative in working lifechallenges the competence of management in acompletely new way. There is a need to focuson the development of this in the areas ofboth competence management and age man-agement. Members of management in SMEswould clearly benefit from developing theirown abilities in knowledge management, inhow to deal with the new area of learningsupport, in competence development, and inthe development of working environmentsas learning environments.This would involveacquiring new skills in communication andcooperation with various external trainingproviders, as well as improving analytic skillsin relation to systematic monitoring and inaddressing the situation in different companiesand amongst various groups of employees.

Besides the development of competence,enhancing learning in SMEs calls for manage-

/0

ment to consider investing more in devel-

oping local learning networks. Such a devel-

opment has the potential both to increase

the effectiveness of training providers and to

improve awareness of training provision in

SMEs. Regional governmental agencies, such

as Employment and Economic DevelopmentCentres, or their equivalents, could play a

more effective coordination role in thesedevelopments.The latter could also assist

SMEs by providing other resources (financial

support, information, etc.) to enhance learn-

ing, training and development in them.

Finally the results suggested that, from thepoint of view of older workers in SMEs,

an integrative approach to various HRD ini-

tiatives to enhance organisational learning,

rather than age-segregation, is to be rec-

ommended. Such a view is based on the

assumption, and observation, that in terms

of overall competence, highly experienced

mature workers and newly trained younger

ones have complementary skills, knowledge

and attitudes.There is therefore considerable

potential for them to learn from each other

and thus to increase collective organisational

competence.

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Content

Abstract

Executive summary

1 Introduction & objectives

3

4

12

General background 12

WORKTOW objectives 14

II Theoretical framework 15

Older workers in a changing labour market 15

Labour market trends 15

Labour market and the older workers in Finland, Norway and the UK 1 S

Working life changes and their implications for older workers 18

Increasing flexibility and changing competence requirements 18

Older workers in the workplace 22

Changing careers 24

Age-awareness and HRD in companies 25

Participation of older workers in education and training 29

Policies and practices of lifelong learning (LL) 31

Towards a coherent system of LL as a goal 31

Existing policies and practices narrowly focused on economic and

vocational aspects 31

What is in there for older workers? 32

Lifelong learning policies and practice in the WORKTOW countries 33

Learning in the workplace 33

Re-conceptualising learning and competence at work 33

Little attention to learning and competence development among older workers

or in SMEs 36

Older workers as learners 38

Empirical studies 43

III Survey on SMEs as learning environments 44Companies and employees participating in the study 44

On describing the results in this report 46

Results 46

Organisational context for learning of older workers 46

Employees' views of SMEs as learning environments 48

Summary and conclusions 55

I0

IV Case studies on learning interventions 57

Learning interventions as individual reflection onlearning styles 58Alexandra Withnall, Keele University

Learning interventions based on Employee Development

schemes (EDS) 63

Peter Ward, Lancaster University

Learning interventions as action research with a broad

developmental assessment 68Tarja Tikkanen, University of Jyvaskyla, Norwegian Institute of Adult Education (NVI)

Learning interventions as evaluation and data feedback ofdialogic practices and career development 86Kolbein Lyng, Norwegian Social Research (NOVA)

Learning interventions as participatory analysis of learningpractices and career patterns 89Leif Lahn,Work Research Institute (WRI)

A summarising comparison of the learning interventions 97Learning interventions compared 97

Comparison of the results of the WORKTOW learning interventions 99

Summary of the effects of the research-based interventions 99

IV Conclusions and policy implications 100Summary and conclusions relative to WORKTOW objectives 100

Recognising, valuing and utilising the job-competence of older workers in

work and learning situations 100

Older workers' learning in work settings 102

HRD involving older workers facilitating lifelong learning and productivity

and combating exclusion 106

Diversity of workforce in terms of age and competence contributing to

learning organisations 109

Flexibility and productivity of the European older workforce and their

significance in the discussion about social cohesion 111

Policy implications 115

Implications for research strategies and agendas 117

V Dissemination and exploitation of results 1 I 8

References 122

II 13

I Introduction & objectives

General backgroundWORKTOW was a multidisciplinary researchproject, with its main focus on learning amongolder (45+) workers.Thus, the central themewas concerned with job-related competence(defined broadly to involve knowledge, skills,learning, values, and attitudes), its mainte-nance and development, as well as formal andinformal learning on-the-job.WORKTOWfocused on small and medium sized enter-prises (SMEs), thus aiming to expand theknowledge base in HRD, so far mostly drawnfrom studies in large companies. Its startingpoint was the individual and organisationaleffects, needs and opportunities emanatingfrom the intersection of two trends in soci-ety: the ageing of populations and changesin working life.These trends, in turn, havestrong implications for lifelong learning anddiscussions about competence maintenanceand development (figure I).

Demographic change the ageing of the popu-lation together with decreased birth rates and

Figure I WORKTOW's central themes

Demographicdevelopment

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mortality (increased longevity) - will continueto drastically alter the structure of the work-force in coming decades.This development willimpact on working life directly through a dimin-ishing supply of labour and indirectly through itsimplications for productivity and competitive-ness (competence maintenance and develop-ment among the workforce) as pointed out, forexample, by the OECD. Consequently, there isa need for a better understanding of how thelabour market and working life itself could adaptto an ageing workforce (OECD EmploymentOutlook, 1998).

The continuous changes in working life, exac-erbated by technological development and anincreasingly global economy, will continue toimpact on general competence requirements.As a result, the value of traditional trainingsystems has been challenged and there is anemerging need to adjust educational systemsto the requirements of working life (econ-omy) (National actions to..., 2001). Relatedto this, the focus on competence develop-

Job competenceof older workers

Lifelonglearning

12

Changingworking life

ment has changed from training to learningand with emphasis on a much broader rangeof learning environments; in particular, theworkplace is now acknowledged as of consid-erable importance, sometimes more so thanformal training settings (e.g. Billett 2001).'

In combination, these two trends of workforceageing and a rapidly changing working lifehave contributed to the development of ahighly ambiguous view of the competence ofolder workers (Tikkanen, I 998a).This changingworking life and demands for new andrenewed skills and knowledge, has resulted, onthe one hand, in their competencies becominglabelled as obsolete and lacking.Together withdifficult employment situations and early pen-sion policies, the latter has contributed toincreasing age discrimination and an exclusionof older workers from the labour marketduring the 1990s (Walker, 1997). On theother hand, as the knowledge and skills, basedon formal training, have been judged inade-quate in working life, the value of experience-based "real competence" (Nordisk kartleg-ging..., 2001) or Cross Curricula Competen-cies (OECD) has increased in importance.Whilst, in principle, this could allow for greater

value being placed on the competence ofmature employees, in practice this value variesconsiderably depending on the nature of theexpertise and thus of the job tasks and con-text in which it has developed. Routine exper-tise has a whole different value from "flexper-tise", more flexible expertise (van der Heijden,1998).

These developments have made it necessaryto revitalise the old idea of lifelong learning( Tikkanen, I 998a). Since the EU White Paper in1995, a number of initiatives have been madethrough, for example, the European Commis-sion (National actions to implement, 2001).There is a pressing need to develop systematiclearning initiatives and interventions. On theone hand, occupational knowledge and skillsacquired once in a life-time are not necessarilyvalid and sufficient over the course of a chang-ing working life. On the other hand, traininginstitutions are faced with demands to adjustand align their course provision and curricula

13

with the competence needs and demands ofworking life.The main goal for the latter isto fill in the gap between formal training andcompetence needs in workplaces.Thus, thereis also a need to understand more of how toensure commensurability between job-relatedlearning and training and the experience-basedcompetence of mature workers and the needsof working life.As regards the latter, mostarguments have been based on the deficit-assumption, which is also more broadly appliedto defining older people in society. In line withthis view the job competence of older workersis obsolete or "lacking" and thus they are "inneed" of new skills and knowledge (Tikkanen,I 998a).Acknowledging the need for new learn-ing, we have, however, focused in WORKTOWon examining the added value of mature com-petence in current working life.

By nature WORKTOW was an action-orientedresearch project, aiming to develop and evaluatecase studies of good practice in educational andtraining interventions in SMEs in different occu-pational fields.To prepare the learning interven-tions a survey was carried out in all the partici-pating SMEs, targeted separately on employeesand managers/employers. Choosing a companyas our research unit defined our approach ascontextual and systemic to examining learningand competence of older workers.The pur-poses of WORKTOW in relation to organi-sational policy and practice were to identifyinnovative ways:

to motivate employers to invest in olderworkers - but also more broadly in low-educated employees,

to motivate older employees to partici-pate in learning activities, and

to utilise the competence (knowledge,skills and attitudes) of older workers.

To demonstrate through case studies andcomparative analysis of good practice indifferent countries the ways in which theabove objectives can contribute to theflexibility and productivity of the Europeanolder workforce, to social cohesion, and tothe improved functioning of the Europeanlabour market generally.

WORKTOW objectivesThe objectives of WORKTOW weretargeted to five areas, and were described asfollows:

Job competence:

To investigate the extent to which theknowledge, skills, experience, and attitudesof older workers can be recognised, valuedand utilised in work and learning situations.

Learning at work:

To investigate the ways in which olderworkers learn within work settings.

HRD and lifelong learning for produc-tivity and against exclusion:

To investigate the extent to which humanresource development practice and educa-tional interventions involving older work-ers can facilitate lifelong learning andproductivity, and, thereby, also contributeto the policies and practises that can pre-vent the exclusion of senior workers fromworking life.

16 14

Diversity of workforce contributing tolearning organisations:

To investigate the ways in which the diver-sity of the workforce in terms of ageand acquisition of knowledge, skills, experi-ence and attitudes can contribute to thedevelop-ment of learning organisations inthe work context and, more generally, tothe creation of the learning society.

Flexible workforce and social cohesion:

To demonstrate through case studies andcomparative analysis of good practice indifferent countries the ways in which theabove objectives can contribute to theflexibility and productivity of the Europeanolder workforce, to social cohesion, and tothe improved functioning of the Europeanlabour market generally.

II Theoretical framework

Older workers in a changinglabour marketLabour market trendsThe employment situation in Europe was prob-lematic during the 1990s, particularly for olderworkers and other marginal groups.Towardsthe end of the decade there was a slightincrease in employment among those under 55years of age but the situation remained stablein the 55-59 age group, and dropped slightlyamong 60-64 year olds (Older workers in thelabour market and outside, 2000).

According to the OECD Employment Out-look (1998, pp. 123- 126), the labour marketsituation of older workers will, in future, becharacterised by the following developments:

Over the next few decades, the predictedageing of the labour force will be outsidethe range of recent historical experience.According to one scenario, between 1995and 2030, the average proportion of workersaged from 45 to 59 years will rise from 27to 33 per cent in the 15 countries of the EU.It is not clear how labour markets will adaptto this increase in the supply of older work-ers. Most likely, however, companies will need

to employ a greater proportion of workersaged 45 59 years, as well as those overcurrent retirement age (over 60 years).

Educational attainment among older work-ers will rise rapidly.

The emerging skill demands of working lifewill increasingly need to be met by mid-and late career workers.

Key factors in determining the employ-ment and earnings opportunities of olderworkers will be the HRD practices of com-panies (training, recruitment, pay, etc.).

Proactive strategies acknowledging theskills-base of the older workers are likely

15

to be more effective than remedial meas-ures after employment problems havebeen encountered.

Older workers' situation in the labour marketwill also be influenced by the predictedlabour shortage related to lower expansionrates in the pool of younger workers. It isanticipated that the biggest labour shortagewill be in the service sector - in which jobstend to be less physically demanding (Kramer,1995). However, prediction is difficult, due forexample, to developments in the technicalsector. It is probable that, in future, manyservice jobs will be held by older workers(Kramer, 1995, 23).The experiments made inhiring older employees have been encourag-ing.They show, for example, that the costsfor employers decline due to lower turnoverrates and lower training costs (of newcom-ers) and that productivity has increased, aswell as that older workers have appeared tobe superior in dedication, reliability and qual-ity of work (Kramer, 1995; Schneider, 1994).

The conclusions made concerning the socio-economic implications of population ageingtend to be rather pessimistic or expressedin negative terms. The ETAN (European Tech-nology Assessment Network) expert groupintroduces a more optimistic perspective, inwhich demographic change is viewed as apositive opportunity for the European econ-omy. It is pointed out that this opportunity"lies in innovative technological, social and organi-sational responses to the challenges of an ageingpopulation. Through innovation it may be possible

not only to avert potential economic problems,but also to enhance the quality of life of olderpeople, and to develop new business possibilities

for European industry" (Ageing Population andTechnology 1998, 5).The ETAN report iden-tifies three broad areas of such innovativeopportunities, namely, those related to:

the extension of working life among olderpeople

enhanced activity, mobility and quality oflife

health, well-being and support.

Concerning older workers at a Europe widelevel, we still are in a situation in which thereexists a range of recommendations for policyformulation on various levels, but in whichpractice is still based on single examples. Inother words, there is still considerably moredebate concerning the situation of olderworkers than practical initiatives. On a com-pany level this situation is very clearly dem-onstrated in the comparative report HumanResource Management in Western Europe. Noneof the contributors from the then, in mid-1990s, 12 EU countries dealt in any depthwith the implications of population ageing forHRM practices.The editor concluded thatthis omission indicates how "the realization ofthis evolution along with the disruptions, bothsocial and organizational, that it entails, seemsvery weak" (Brunstein, I 995a, 3).

Table I

Labour market and the older workersin Finland, Norway and the UKTable I summarises the main characteristicsof the labour market trends framing thesituation of older workers in the threeWORKTOW countries.This overview is sup-ported by a more detailed description of thesituation in each country.

UK

As in other European countries, the UK labourforce is ageing and by 2011 there will be over2 million more members aged 45+. Factorscontributing to the changes in employmentpatterns affecting older people include thedecline in the UK manufacturing industry, theencouragement of early retirement, the impactof technology on skill requirements and flexibleproduction regimes. Recently the governmenthas set out a range of measures that areexpected to improve older people's opportu-nities to contribute to the economy and tosociety in their later working years, eg. the NewDeal 50+.

A summary of the labour market trends in the WORKTOW countries

Countries Labour market trends

UK

Finland

Norway

Exclusion and marginalization of older people from the workforce and under-representation in training schemes.

Labour market situation for 55+ workers persistently problematic, drawing from the earlylabour exit pathways and severe economic recession of the early 1990s.Three majorgovernmental, cross-administrative programs have been launched, addressing directly orindirectly the situation of ageing workers, with a focus on ageing, working-life developmentand well-being in working life'. Some improvement recently observed in the employmentsituation of older workers.

A shortage of labour and high pressure in work life together with a culture of earlyretirement has contributed to a lowering of the real pension age and a decreasing numberof older workers participating in training and learning.

' For more information see National Age Program at http://www.stm.fi/english/current/ageprog/index.htm,the National Workplace Development Programme at http://www.mol.fi /tyke/new/english/index.htm, and Well-being at Work Programme at http://www.mol.fi/jaksamisohjelma/svenska_english/eng_index.htm.

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Finland

There are several summary reports avail-able describing the situation of older work-ers in Finland.The overview presented inthis chapter is based on the reports Olderworkers in the Labour Market and outside(2000) and Older workers in Finland, partsI and II (Tikkanen, 2000a; 2000b). From abroader European perspective, the situationof older workers in the labour market andin society more generally started to gainattention relatively late in Finland.Whenmajor political initiatives were taken, how-ever, they appeared to be both powerfuland prestigious and rapid progress has beenmade.As a result, the solutions devisedand the broad approaches adopted towardsolder workers in Finland are currentlyregarded as examples of good practiceby many other European countries (ActiveStrategies for an Ageing Workforce, 1999:Ilmarinen, 2000;Tikkanen, 2000a).Thereare two landmarks, which in this contextare the most significant ones.The first isthe National Programme for Ageing Work-ers' 1998-2002, implemented jointly by thethree Ministries of Labour, Education, andHealth and Social Affairs, involving centralsocial partners, too. Secondly the devel-opment of the broad model or index ofworkability by the Institute of OccupationalHealth, marked a new holisitic approach toolder workers.The index combines variousaspects of health (physical, social, psycho-logical), job competence, and age-manage-ment as central elements in a considerationof the situation of older workers in variousworkplaces, and is currently also used inother countries. Other major governmentalinitiatives, highly relevant to older workers,are the National Working Life DevelopmentProgrammes' and the Well-being Program',the latter focusing on individual conse-quences of changes in work and workingconditions.

In addition to the various early exit pathwaysalso developed in Finland since the 1980s(Gould, 1996), another main factor militatingagainst the situation of older workers in thelabour market was the economic recession

17

of early 1990s, this being one of the deepestin the history of the country.The resulting,persistently poor employment situation in thecountry has been especially detrimental toolder workers. In several others respects, thesituation of this section of the workforce isinfluenced by factors that are shared by manyother European countries.There is a rapidgrowth of population over 55 years of age,more so than in any other EU Member Stateor in the USA (Older workers in ..., 2000).An increasingly early labour exit and subse-quent falling labour force participation ratesamong older workers has been driven byearly pension policies.Towards the end of the1990s and the beginning of the new millen-nium, the rapid recovery of the economyhas, paradoxically, resulted in serious prob-lems in relation to employee well being and inthe simultaneous existence of labour short-ages and unemployment. Job-related stressand exhaustion have increased in health careand education, but also in different branchesof the private sector, as indicated by variousmeasures of working climate. Practically noage group of workers has been left untouchedby this phenomenon.This situation formedthe background to the national program inwell-being: "People feel exhausted and drainedof energy, and at many workplaces no longerget any pleasure from working. Worker skills andknow-how have not always kept up with the fast-changing demands of the job.A rising workloadoften has to be carried by an ever smaller staff"(http://www.mol.fi /jaksamisohjelma/svenska_english/eng_index.htm)

Traditionally the approach to older workersin Finland has been characterised by astrong focus on health-related issues. Morerecently, this approach has been broadened, asdescribed above, and a multitude of measures,including job competence and issues relatedto work environment and management, is cur-rently used. In addition to improved job com-petence and workability, improved employ-ment is a major goal in various initiatives.Theparticipation rate of older workers in educa-tion and training started to increase duringthe recovery from the economic recession ofthe early 1990s. By the mid - 1990s, this rate in

job-related CVET (so called 'personnel train-ing') had reached the levels of younger agegroups, because the increase in participationhas been strongest for employees aged 45years and above.

Norway

In the mid-90s, the situation in the labourmarket in Norway changed from one of rela-tively high unemployment to a shortage oflabour in many sectors.At this time, fewerolder workers were pushed out of workinglife, but during the last years, the tendencyhas been towards a continual lowering of thereal pension age.At the moment it is belowthe age of 60 despite a period of economicgrowth and a governmental strategy of stimu-lating integration into work life - the so called"work line". In addition, there has been agrowing understanding that the shortage oflabour in many sectors cannot be reducedby importing skilled workers from abroad,and that the only solution is to invest in theexisting work force (The Norwegian LabourMarket 2001). None of these initiatives haveso far been successful.

The latest major initiative, the National ActionPlan for Senior Policies within Working Life

("Strong Lift", Krafttak), launched jointly by thesocial partners, government agencies and pri-vate companies, is a broad-based programmeaimed to reverse the negative trends towardsa lower actual retirement age (Nasjonalt kraft-tak for seniorpolitikk i arbeidslivet, 2001).Another major initiative, also highly relevantto the situation of older workers, is the ideaof competence reform (in adult education) inNorway2.1n addition, legal and financial meas-ures have been taken in an attempt to makepension schemes more flexible (NOU 19,I 998).These initiatives aim to improve boththe working environment and learning oppor-tunities for employees during the later stagesof their careers. Recent studies in Norwayindicate a negative trend in these latter areasdue to an intensification of work (heavy timepressure and increasing work loads).

Working life changes and theirimplications for older workers

Increasing flexibility and changing com-petence requirementsTo reinforce companies' competitiveness,attention has been strongly focused onincreasing flexibility in working life, and effortsmade accordingly.The idea of flexibility hasbeen approached and defined from variouspoints of view, resulting in a range of effortsto describe and model this variety in a coher-ent way. In table 2 we have described variousaspects of these flexibility requirements fromthe demand side of the labour market.Thefour different flexibility areas examined arenumerical, functional, technological and organ-isational.The factors driving these notions offlexibility derive ultimately from the broaderchanges affecting the labour market andworking life, as demonstrated in, for example,new production systems, changing compe-tence requirements and renewed occupa-tional structures. In table 2 we have alsosuggested possible alternative consequencesfrom these trends for learning and compe-tence development, albeit there is some over-lap from one approach to another. Finallythe table suggests possible implications forthe situation of older workers (contingen-cies), depending on the measures adoptedto address the various types of flexibilityrequirements.

Numerical flexibility refers to changes in thenumber of employees or in working time(also referred to as "temporal flexibility") eg.the amount of overtime or part time work.The externalisation of tasks is also includedin this term that is, the extent to whichthe production of goods or services is notcarried out by employees, but is out-sourcedto other companies or manpower is hiredon a temporary basis.This type of flexibilityrequirements reflect the quantitative strategyof HRM to address increasingly competitivemarkets (Brunstein, I 995b), in that it concen-trates on staffing and aims at aligning person-

2 More information at http://odin.dep.no/kuf/engelsk/education/competence-reform/014061-990031/index-dok000-b-n-a.html

Table 2 A relationship between types of flexibility on the demand side of the labourmarket, competence needs, implications for older workers and possible contingencies in work lifeinfluencing the situation for this age group.

Competenceneeds

Implications for the Contingenciesdevelopment of older workers

Numericalflexibility

Functionalflexibility

Basic skillsLearning abilitySelf-confidence

Multi-skillsProblem-solving skillsCommunication skillsTransferable skills

Technological Computer literacyflexibility Learning ability

Organisationalflexibility

Social competence,participation &co-operationMeta-competence

Reduced investments

Greater recognition oftheir competence throughthe added value given toexperience-based knowledgeBroadening of skillsNegative transfer

Stereotypes about learningto use computersFew learning opportunities

Appreciation of wisdomas a quality in socialrelations Emphasis onchange resistance

Negative effects if taskexternalisation becomesa dominant strategy

New organisation andmethods of trainingWork experience asbasis for developingnew skills

Differences in familiaritywith computers (cohort)

Participation in developmentprocesses and differentiatedsolutions

nel with the needs of a firm according tooutside markets. Market trends are integratedinto business plans through personnel plan-ning and the key strategy considers humanresources mainly as a cost factor (Brunstein,I 995b). From this point of view, older work-ers are especially vulnerable. On the onehand, this is because salaries are often tiedto seniority, making older workers moreexpensive to employers. On the other hand,emerging strategies, such as out-sourcing, mayreduce the need for the internal developmentof competence in companies and thereforehave a negative influence on investments inthe training of older workers. Furthermore,an age-mix and different recruitment profilesin companies affect the career opportunities,turnover, mobility, problem solving capabilitiesand cultural climate (Pfeffer, 1983; Lawrence,1996).

Most turbulent organisations are not to befound in private sector, but in the publicsector (Torp & Mastekaasa, 1990) with a

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high average age among the employees(public administration, educational institu-tions). Older workers are more affectedby both downsizing and internal reorganisa-tion than their younger colleagues.The mainreason is that this age group is concentratedin sectors like traditional industries and largercompanies that are subject to radical changes(Unseem, 1993). Studies on layoffs have foundthat older employees are less likely tobe replaced than their younger colleaguesreflecting seniority agreements in industrialrelations (Forsberg & Olofsson, 1993). Oneof the purposes of launching early retirementpolicies in the 1980s was to provide workopportunities for younger people. However,this line of thinking was short-sighted; Mirkin(1987) has shown that in economically diffi-cult times, employers did not actually replacethose older workers who had left the com-pany.

Functional flexibility refers to changes in workcontent and work tasks. It is thought that

this kind of flexibility can be met by the devel-opment of new technical skills, multi-skilling,problem-solving and meta-cognitive abilities,methodological skills (Onstenk, 1992), learn-ing to learn (Froman, 1994) and other meta-skills (Hall & Mirvis, 1995), as well as socialskills (Larson, 1992). Organisations, however,strongly direct the development of theseskills.As van Vianen (1997) has pointed out,it is not just any learning among employeesthat is rewarded, but only those needed forthe organisation to operate effectively. Con-sequently, she suggested that organisationshave to create their own flexible workforce,defined by and related to the core skill needsof the organisation.

The general demand for a broader and multi-dimensional knowledge base is reflected inthe attention given to key qualifications andinformal learning (Bjornavold, 200I).Accord-ing to Bjornavold (2001), the importance ofkey qualifications is related to concernsabout the application ('knowing how' ratherthan 'knowing that') of facts, theories, andrules in social, organisational and tech-nological settings within the context ofunprecedented organisational and technologi-cal change. Referring to the expertise devel-opment described by Dreyfus and Dreyfus(1986) he further suggests that key qualifi-cations represent a transition "towards intu-itive and involved skilled behaviour basedon accumulation of concrete experiences"(Bjornavold, 2001, 81). In as much as this istrue, functional flexibility could offer olderworkers improved chances for development,based on recognition of the value of theirprior learning and competence (APEL). How-ever, this might also be hampered by an inabil-ity to transfer this prior learning in situationsdemanding the development of new knowl-edge and skills.

Technological flexibility refers to new require-ments that are associated with the intro-duction of computer-based tools. Often suchchanges are closely connected with re-defini-tions of work content and task structure, butthe mastery of new technology may requiretask-independent qualifications (Zuboff, 1988)

such as abstract reasoning, textual skills andsystemic understanding of work processes(Schumann, I 998).The development of skillsrequired by new technology is among thecore challenges for older workers and theirjob-competence. In addition to actual short-comings in their skills, there are often stere-otypes operating against older workers, underthe assumption of social information process-ing theory (SIP) (Salanick & Pfeffer, 1978).According to SIP theory, individual percep-tions are likely to be influenced by the opin-ions, information and behaviours of others(van Vianen, 1997).These stereotypes concerntheir assumed lower trainability, flexibilityand cost-effectiveness compared to youngerworkers, and are used as main argumentsfor not investing money in their training anddevelopment (van Vianen, 1997). For example,older workers are often believed to havetrouble in learning to handle computers andto resist computerized work (Kelley & Char-ness, 1995). However, training programs inthis field do not usually incorporate theexpertise of experienced professionals (Warr,1998).

Research addressing the issue of work per-formance and technology use among olderworkers emphasises the following character-istics:

the percentage of workers in this agegroup doing computerised work is com-paratively low

they are poorer performers,

have negative attitudes towards the use ofnew technology and

follow specific cognitive strategies in theirwork with computers.

However age-related disadvantages may bereduced and eliminated by instructionaldesign tailored to the needs of older workers(Sterns et al., 1994; Sharit & Czaja, 1994; Bara-cat & Marquis, 1994; Holm, 1994).

Organisational flexibility is not necessarilyrelated to changes in work processes andtechnology as it is "concept driven" or"market driven" (Gustaysen, 1996).The

20

conditions and requirements implicated inincreased organisational flexibility partly over-lap with those described above in relationto functional flexibility.The need to developmore flexible organisations has also beenreferred to as a form of structural flexibilityunder the assumption that the remodelling ofa firm's structure is the primary weapon forobtaining increased production (Brunstein,I 995b).According to this assumption, thereis a "general need for restructuring organisationsand jobs to incorporate greater scope for intrinsicmotivation and to facilitate employee involvementby developing broadly challenging jobs within a

more organic flexible organisation" (Brunstein,I995b, 318).The essential driving force inthis restructuring process is the change incorporate cultures from vertical to horizon-tal structures. Such a culture is characterisedby collaborative partnerships (instead of com-mand- and-control managerial hierarchy), anda workplace which is increasingly team-drivenand intimate, with more intensive interactionand more emphasis on soft-skills (MacLeod2000 in Cleveland-Innes & Potvin, 2001). Sucha new environment will have consequencesfor learning interventions, which we will dis-cuss later in this report (see chapter onLearning and competence at work later inthis report).

The discussion around what kind of compe-tencies is needed to increase organisationalflexibility is highly speculative.Typically thisdiscussion derives from the requirement forsupporting horizontal structures and under-lines the need for employee participation andco-operation.This, in turn, requires high-ordersocial and communicational skills to enableeg successful networking.The consequencesfor the development of older workers can bepositive or negative. On the one hand, thebroad social competencies and meta-compe-tence, which are central to developing thisline of flexibility, is an area which developsthrough maturity and experience and could,thus, be advantageous for older workers(see chapter on Learning and competence atwork later). On the other hand, if older work-ers' resistance to change, real or assumed,is adopted as a starting point, it may have

21

detrimental effects for further developmentamong this sector of the workforce.

Older workers are amenable to new organ-isational designs, for example team-basedwork (Hayslip et al., 1995), but temporarystructures like adhocracies, network structuresand project organisations can function con-trary to the need for stability and slowing-down in late career (Hirsch & Stanley, 1996).However, senior employees are also givennew opportunities, since their life-situationdemands less investment in familial obligations.In light of the many changes currently takingplace in working life, the absence of studiesthat throw light on the reaction and role ofolder workers in such processes surprise us.

Table 3 describes the flexibility called for bythe supply side of the labour market. Merson(1996) has made a distinction between flex-ibility of skills and of working conditions.Theformer refers to the level and relevance ofskills (Young, 1993), as well as to the convert-ibility of skills in the labour market. Flexibilityof working conditions refers to legal and con-tractual regulations of employment, workingtime, working environment etc.

From the point of view of future qualificationsin work life, older workers without higherdegrees will have a much harder time getting(attractive) jobs than those who do possesssuch a background. Among younger people,this variable will not be that crucial.This sug-gests that there is a powerful age-effect ham-pering the situation of older workers.Whilsttoday in most European countries the formaleducational background of older people is stillpoorer than that of younger people (OECD,1998), this ratio is anticipated to balance outrapidly as the older generations with thelowest levels of education exit the labourforce. However, for the current lower-edu-cated generations of older workers, especiallythe 'oldest' older workers (55+), the trendtowards higher formal qualifications may func-tion to discourage their future development.

Flexibility of working conditions, with lessregulated human resources and a more

Table 3 The relationship between types of flexibilities on the supply side of labour market,competence needs, implications for older workers and contingencies in working life influencingthe situation for this age group.

Competencesupply

Implications for thedevelopment of older workers

Contingencies

Flexibility of Higher educatedskills work force

Flexibility ofworkingconditions

Deregulated humanresourcesBounded careers

Higher education as acrucial qualification

Weakening security netDifferentiated career paths

Future balance of skillsand educational output.

Laissez faire orinstitutional labourmarket policy

mobile workforce, means less job securityand differentiation of career paths.While thetotal workforce will be influenced by thisdevelopment, the impact on older workersmay be stronger, because for them it meansa change from long-held mind-sets to anew rationale. Research has shown thatolder workers are, on the one hand lessmobile, but on the other more loyal towardstheir employers. However, a vision of morebalanced working conditions between theyounger and older generations in the futureworkplaces is possible from the point ofview of health.Trends that have an impact tothis direction are several, improving health byyounger generations due to improved healthcare and less demanding job tasks (at leastphysically), as well as increasing attention toand investments in occupational health inworkplaces notably in the Nordic and someother European countries, as the most impor-tant ones. Forecasts concerning working con-ditions are difficult to be made, however,since regardless of improved overall healthlevel among populations, there is a tendencytowards increasing work-related health prob-lems.Working conditions from the point ofview of older workers are discussed furtherin the next chapter.

Older workers in the workplaceGeneral working conditions

The working conditions in the 15 EU-coun-tries have been monitored by the EuropeanFoundation for the Improvement of Living andWorking Conditions (Paoli, 1997; Merllie &

24

Paoli, 2000).The following is a summary ofthe results relevant to the situation of olderworkers in the workplace.

For all age groups working conditionshave been deteriorating during the lastten years due to increasing work-relatedhealth problems, intensification of workand flexible employment practices.

With increasing age workers are in aslightly favourable position when it comesto physical demands, repetitiveness anddegrees of freedom in job performance.

Indicators of learning environment quali-ties (training, learning new things at work,rotating tasks, consultation, collegial discus-sions, work appraisal and use of comput-ers) show small changes during the last tenyears. Despite slogans like "workplace as alearning arena" there is evidence that theupdating of the work force is increasinglyachieved through formal training insteadof developing systematic on-job-learningmeasures.This tendency may marginalizeexperienced workers.

The age-group above 50 years is under-represented in SMEs since entrepreneurialorganisations are often populated byyounger workers.

Competence updating and adjustmentnecessary to avoid marginalization

The most typical line of reasoning in relationto older workers in working life underlinestheir inadaquecies or obsolete competence

22

(Walker, 1996) and the need to adjust theircompetence accordingly to the demands ofnew forms of and tools for work, new ways ofworking, and changing working environments.This is, by and large, the core of the "prob-lem" of older workers in workplaces.Takenthat technological development and globalisa-don are the main driving forces of changeand renewal in working life, the challengeposed for older workers is first and foremost,although not solely, to adjust their job com-petence to the demands set by new tech-nology and its broader use in workplaces.Training and competence development is atypical means called for in this adjustment.At the moment, there is an abundance of vari-ous training and development programmesto be found in workplaces and they can beexpected to increase. For example, in Finlandthe Working Life Barometer 1997 showedthat almost 57 % of companies in industry,49 % in private services, 51 % of munici-palities and 52 % of workplaces run by thestate have launched some kind of projectsto enhance learning and development. How-ever, there are not many training projectsspecifically addressing the situation of olderworkers (Linkola, 1998), although in manyworkplaces they are becoming a majority

Another training-related problem for olderworkers is that training has not been devel-oped from the point of view of participantswith low levels of formal education and littleexperience in training, but rather to relativelyexperienced learners in formal settings. Con-siderable improvement in training for and ofolder workers can, however, be expected totake place in the near future. Such a con-clusion may be made based on the varietyof policy recommendations made by variousactors addressing the situation of older work-ers in the 1990s (for an overview seeTikkanen, I 998c).A majority of these recom-mendations paid attention to improving thepossibilities and preconditions for educationand training for older workers.

When it comes to informal learning andcompetence maintenance and development atwork, studies (van der Heijden, 1998; van der

23

Heijden &Thijssen, 1998) have shown lack ofstimulus and support to learning at work forolder workers. Challenges in informal learningat work are discussed in more details laterin this report (see chapter on Learning inthe workplace). Older workers themselvestend to view their long work experience andcorresponding competence through informallearning as their special strength (Tikkanen,I 997).The interest in and value of experien-tial knowledge has also increased in workinglife and adult education (Mulligan & Griffin,1992), but paradoxically at the same timethe value of most experienced workers hasdecreased in working life (Tikkanen, 1998a).

Adjusting new technology to match olderworkers

To counterbalance the demands of olderworkers to adjust to the demands of newtechnology, the report by the ETAN (Euro-pean Technology Assessment Network) groupunderlined the importance of developing newtechnology to better match the end usersand to provide more user friendly solutions.The group also underlined the importance ofviewing the issue of ageing and the varioussolutions sought for the challenges it poses,as interconnected, as opposed to otherdevelopments taking place independently insociety and working life. Underlining the lead-ing impact of technological development onbroader socio-economic development in soci-ety, the group suggests a range of priorityareas for RTD&I (research, technology, devel-opment & innovation) signified by the ageingpopulation. Examples of these areas are life-long learning techniques; technologies andmethods for new modes of flexible workorganisation; design for age-neutral productand process technologies; and age-relevantICT applications in work, domestic environ-ment and support (The Ageing Population andTechnology, 1998).

Advantages of increasing age in workinglife

Increasing age and experience in working lifealso has several advantages. Based on an over-view of existing research, the following list

of various improvements (advantages) by agehas been compiled by the Finnish Institute ofOccupational Health:

Strategic thinking

Becoming sharp-eyed

Consideration

Wisdom

Ability to reflect

Argumentation skills

Coping skills

Holistic perception

Managing use of language

High learning motivation

Work commitment

Loyalty towards the employer

Less absenteeism

Job experience

Summary

In summary, the situation concerning olderworkers in the workplace suggests strongambivalence towards them; they are simulta-neously valued but not valued, and tend tobe viewed both as assets and as problems.Further, their levels of competence are seenas problematic and as a core issue inrelation to their employability (recruitmentand retention). However, support and motiva-tion for their learning and competence devel-opment seems of lesser importance than thatof younger workers. Given the increasingvolume of older workers compared to thediminishing younger generations of employ-ees, we can anticipate that sustainable organ-isational development will require moreattention to be directed towards older work-ers, their learning and potential contributionto the workplace.

Changing careersThe social consequences of company com-petitiveness, accelerated by changes in work-ing life as described in the previous chapter,are often most damaging to those sectionsof the workforce nearer the margins of the

labour force and who are therefore the mostvulnerable.The positioning of older workerson the margins tends to be the result ofthe demand for new or renewed compe-tences and qualifications in the main sectorof the labour force rather than sudden majorchanges in their abilities. Changes in thinkingin relation to competences have also meantradical changes in thinking about careers.Again, these changes are likely to have astronger impact on older workers than ontheir younger counterparts.

Discussions concerning career planning andolder employees typically assume the bureau-cratic system of occupational progressionas a given (Ornstein & Isabella, I 993).Thismodel has some prescriptive validity althoughit is rarely realised in practice. It has beenobserved that the recent interest of mid-lifeworkers (around 45) in involvement in train-ing is motivated by a strong anticipation ofupward mobility (DeFilippi &Arthur, 1996).Thus, many proactively oriented matureemployees who subscribe to this goal mayend up facing a conflicting situation becauseof changing thinking on careers.

Boundaryless careers. The ideology of the ver-tical lifetime career is attracting less and lesssupport. Generally speaking, the system ofvertical and upward mobility is being replacedby a more diverse landscape of paths andfields. Careers have become `boundaryless'(Arthur & Rousseau, I996). Many of the suc-cess stories of boundaryless careers, how-ever, stem from US working life, so we shouldbe cautious when generalising them to aEuropean setting, with lower labour forcemobility and different systems of industrialrelations (Hoftstede, 1984). Potentially how-ever, this development could increase oppor-tunities for older workers to satisfy theirpersonal interests and capacities, providedthat employers adopt a policy of 'laissez faire'in encouraging those who want to designtheir own future (Weick & Berlinger, 1989).For older workers, the notion of the bounda-ryless career can, however, bring both positiveand negative prospects. On the one hand,highly experienced older workers who have

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invested a lot of time and energy in externalcontacts (customer, clients, other firms), mayhave developed valuable expertise in "know-ing whom" (DeFilippi & Arthur, 1996) in anetwork economy (Porter, 1990). On theother hand, such a scenario is likely to pro-voke anxiety among those with limited oppor-tunities within the labour market (Hirsch &Shanley, 1996), typically those who remaintied to poor educational opportunities andmonotonous jobs.

Present generations of older workers mayinterpret the message to seek alternative path-ways as a downgrading of their expertise andpersonal worth (Hall, I 986).They may alsoview a new start as an insurmountable barriersince careers are often irreversible and energyinvested in them is lost ("sunk investments",Hirsch & Shanley, I 996).An examination ofthe contrast between attitudes to work of thepresent adult population and those of youngergenerations suggests that there is a reorien-tation towards the intrinsic value of workinstead of towards career prospects in existingjobs (Lahn,1996).This further suggests thatnew personal commitments and identitiescould be created around extended life projectswhich, for example, integrate a continuing pur-suit of one's own interests with temporaryassignments and collective learning processes

(Lahn, 1993).

Competence of older workers and the new career

thinking. If we look at career development pos-sibilities among more mature workers, littleevidence emerges from research concerningmajor competence problems among olderworkers as an obstacle to adopting this newway of thinking about, and practice of careers.Nor is there any research evidence thattheir self-reported willingness to develop theircompetence through participation in trainingand other forms of new learning wouldprove an obstacle for them in adopting thisnew career thinking. However, compared toyounger workers, older workers have beenshown to have lower occupational and geo-graphical mobility (Kolari, 1989; Labour ForceMobility and Flexibility..., 1995) that is, inrelation both to willingness and actual practice.

2

How such a difference is related to situationalfactors or to personal lifespan developmentand changing priorities is not well docu-mented. In contrast, the role of structuralfactors in explaining these differences seemsclear; they are also implicated in explanationsof the fact that older workers are slowerto adopt new thinking about careers. Moreprecisely, a major influential factor is the gen-eral labour market and employment situationamong older workers in particular althoughthis situation varies somewhat across Euro-pean countries.A related major factor is theattitudes mainly held not only by management,but also by younger colleagues, as well as thosereflected in the prevailing cultural climate insociety.These attitudes concern the role andstatus of older workers in working life (recruit-ment and retention) and in society generallyand are powerful determinants of the currentsituation and options for development of olderworkers in the workplace (Kuhn,Taylor, Lunde,Mirabile & Reday-Mulvey, 1998). Furthermore,the options for and forms of training anddevelopment programs on offer are not alwayssuitable and appropriate for older employees.Very few companies have tried to implementcareer planning policies specifically for middle-aged and older workers (Kuhn, et al., 1998).Training and development programs are alsosometimes poorly co-ordinated with the prac-tical demands of the workplace, notably thehectic pace of work. Issues related to trainingare discussed in more details later in thisreport.

Age-awareness and HRD incompaniesCultural transitions. Within the traditionalapproach to HRM and HRD, the age or matu-rity of employees has generally not beenaddressed as an issue. Interestingly, this sit-uation can partly be accounted for by thetraditionally "self-evident" high value of olderworkers in workplaces.The age of employeeshas traditionally only gained specific attentionmainly in statistical, structural or economicterms.These views have, however, shiftedsomewhat over time and are related tochanges in working life and society.These fluc-

Table 4 Phases in human resources management and their impact on perceptions of the valueof older workers in the workplace (adapted from Tikkanen,Valkeavaara & Lunde, 1996)

Developmental Knowledge Source of learning Focus in personnel Future Value ofphase authority and competence management orientation older workers

Management

phase I 970s

Management Job experience Job performance,loyalty

Expertise phase Experts, Education and job performance,1980s specialists training (E&T) individual

development

Team-work Teams of Scientific Individual andphase 1990s workers,

consultantsknowledge, E&T

development

organisationallearning and

Intelligence/competence

Increasingly

shared;"coreMultiple;scienti-fic

Lifelong learning,training, personal

phase 2000 teams",cooperation &partnerships

knowledge,E&T, personality,

job experience

growth anddevelopment

Stable High amongmanagement

Linear growth, Diminishingenthusiasm

Controlled,sustainablegrowthviews

Unstable anduncertain,althoughgrowthanticipated

Older workersas a problem,ambivalent

Increasing, age

less of an issue

tuations are described in Table 4 in relationto a robust description of different phases inHRM in companies.

One framework that demonstrates how olderworkers are (still) being regarded in the work-place incorporates the traditional medical ordeficiency model in which older age is tradition-ally viewed as involving a combination of sick-ness (lack of health) and other deficiencies. Inthe workplace, this is reflected in the expecta-tions and attitudes of others. However, olderworkers themselves often "fulfil this prophecy"by viewing their current and future optionswithin this frameworkAn area where this lineof thinking has been most persistent is in learn-ing and development, demonstrated in the neg-ative stereotypes concerning older workers'learning ability and/or willingness to participatein training.

Whilst cultural changes concerning learningand development in the workplace contexthave already been taking place over a decadeor more, the involvement of older workershas only recently begun to emerge (Tikkanen,I 998a), and is still very linnited.This changeis characterised in the last two phases in

HRM as described in Table 4, as well as in theshift from the third to the fourth phases. Fur-thermore, apart from changes in work, jobsand working life more generally, another par-allel and related cultural transition is takingplace in the workplace.What can be dis-cerned is a change from "old times" and thevaluing of mature employees and their com-petence, to modern times, with new compe-tence requirements and the perception thatit is younger employees who are most likelyto possess these.There still seems to besome ambivalence among management con-cerning this issue, as demonstrated particu-larly in views concerning the value of priorexperience in the process of managing vari-ous jobs. In addition, views concerning part-nerships with management as well as anincreasingly shared and collective approach toknowledge and competence, pose new chal-lenges to management regarding the statusand role of older workers.

Emergence of age-awareness. Studies(Brunstein, 1995b; Pitkanen & Lofstrom,I 999a) have shown that management, andthe personal perception a manager holdsconcerning his relationship with the older

26 2 e)

employee, as well as the prevailing organisa-tional culture are the core factors affectingthe situation of older workers in companies.Management's role is perhaps even morepronounced in small businesses (van denTillaart, van den Berg &Warmerdam,1998) than in big companies that tend tohave more impersonal managerial-subordi-nate relationships.The results of a Leonardo-project Lifelong Learning Enforcementand Empowerment of Older Workers(LLEEO) showed that, whilst lack of formaltraining is a considerable problem forolder workers in the labour market, anequally big problem is to be found inthe attitudes of employers and management(www.dipoli.hut.fi /projektitilleeo).A gradualrecognition of this attitudinal problem hastaken place, albeit far from consistentlyacross all European countries.This concernhas created a new concept,"age-manage-ment" auuti, 2001), and a new awareness ofthe age issue within HRM.

integration or an exclusive focus on older work-

ers? It has been seen that age-awareness inHRM and HRD has only recently started todevelop. Referring to table 4 above, we couldargue that this awareness has emerged in par-allel to the increasing focus on competences,instead of on individual employees (e.g. cur-rently competences are sought and bought,rather than employees). However, it is stillthe case that the literature that might helpus to understand this point of view is veryscarce, as are policies developed to addressage-awareness both in the workplace and atnational level. What makes the issue par-ticularly problematic is that in raising thequestion of older workers as a special casein discussion and policy making, there is arisk of stigmatising them and thus of doingmore harm than good to their cause (Walker,I 998).A related factor is that defining goodpractice in age management (Juuti, 2001;Linkola, 1999) is not without difficulties.Thestudy on Combating Age Barriers inEmployment (Walker, 1997) used five maindimensions to categorise aspects of goodpractice:

27

job recruitment and exit

training, development and promotion

flexible working practice

ergonomics

job design

changing attitudes and ageing workers(Walker, 1998).

All of these aspects are also very relevantto, and have been addressed in theWORKTOW-study.As a way forward,Walker (1998) suggests that any actionsthat aim to combat age barriers, whetherlabelled 'older worker' policies or more gen-eral HR policies, should be consideredas good practice in this context. Further-more, he proposes an integrated, compre-hensive, lifelong-oriented approach as moreuseful and fruitful, rather than a separate,tightly older workers- focused approachwith ad-hoc measures to address theseissues. Lifelong learning and continuoustraining are central elements in such a strat-egy.

HRD and older workers in WORKTOW-countries

In table 5 below we have first briefly charac-terised the central issues in HRM and HRDin the WORKTOW-countries.The table is fol-lowed by brief descriptions of the nationalsituations.

UK

In larger companies there is a growingemphasis on formal planned training andinformal learning and a need to developa favourable climate in which to incorporatethe principles of equality of opportunity.National initiatives are being launched tohelp SMEs to develop more effective work-place strategies, to help create a muchstronger culture of lifelong learning inthe UK and to support learning networks(National Skills Task Force, 2000).

It is therefore likely that the HRD-policiesand practices in both large businesses andsmaller companies will need to be subject to

Table 5 A summary of the HRM- and HRD-policies in companies in the WORKTOW countries

Countries HRM & HRD policies in companies

UK In larger companies a growing emphasis on formally planned training and informal learningand a need to develop a favourable climate. National support of workplace learning in SMEs.

Finland

Norway

A combination of central initiatives and support of local developmental projects (largelyESF-supported) exists. Large national programs have created a high activity in HRDalthough the projects in SMEs are often short-term, ideals are in contradicted in practice,competence evaluation tools are lacking and age-awareness among managers has onlyrecently started to increase. State employer has outlined guidelines for senior policy.Ministry of Labour has provided a guide to age management in workplaces to make betteruse of existing competence.

Major initiatives in HRD taken at branch level and implemented in SMEs, but overviews ofpractice show a considerable gap between the "models" and actual practice. Only recentlyhave issues of age been integrated into projects at company level.A national programme hasrecently been launched to enhance policy for seniors in workplaces.

periodic review in response to this pressure.It remains to be seen to what extent suchchanges, if implemented, will affect the climateof learning within companies and will arousefurther interest in what is learnt, how it isbeing learnt, how that learning is planned andimplemented and its outcomes at both indi-vidual and company level.

Finland

The following list addresses some of the mostcentral age-related characteristics in HRMand HRD in Finland are (based on the sum-maries in Tikkanen, 2000a; 2000b):

The large governmental HRD-initiatives

together with the European Social Fund (ESF)are stimulating many activities at differentlevels with a main focus on health andwell-being, but increasingly extending toinvolve also job-competence (knowledge,skills, attitudes).

A number of ESF-projects are specificallytargeted on older workers, although studiesshow that it is still rare to explicitlyaddress older workers in developmentalprojects (Linkola, 1998). However, theprojects in SMEs are often short-term andnarrow-focused (targeted) and ideals are incontradiction to practice.

Provision of and participation in continuingtraining is common also in SMEs and amongworkers aged 45+.

Tools for measuring broad, experience-based

competence and effective instructionalmethods are lacking and put experiencedadult workers in a disadvantageous posi-tion. However, the national VET-systemallows employees to gain accreditation andformal qualification for prior learning andcompetence gained through informal andnon-formal learning in the workplace.

Age-awareness among management hasbeen low in most companies.The lack ofsystematic personnel policy in SMEs meanspoor, if any, documentation and recordingof information concerning the staff.

Policies on seniors very rarely exist in com-panies. Only very recently have some com-panies as well as the Ministry of Labour,become aware of and begun to pay atten-tion to this area and to define policies andpractice.

Norway

The government and the social partners havelaunched a National Competence Reform,within a broader framework of adult edu-cation.The reform is being implementedthrough a multitude of locally initiated devel-

28

opmental projects. However, overviews showa considerable gap between the "models" andimplementation in practice.

Only recently have issues of age been inte-grated into projects at company level.Thisreorientation has resulted in initiatives aimedat the development of a "seniors" policy inboth the public and private sectors as wellas in supporting measures taken by govern-ment and social partners.

Open and flexible training for adults hasbecome a major area of political interestand business investment in Norway. Mostof the discussion, however, has concentratedon financial arrangements and on establishingnet-based information systems and a platformwhere providers and users can meet.

Participation of older workers ineducation and trainingGeneral trends

The OECD Employment Outlook 1998 (pp.128) showed that, among other matters, educa-tional attainment among older workers will riserapidly. Given the increased demand for moreeducated workers, rising educational attainmentshould ease the employment situation of olderworkers.The following is a summary of themost important contemporary issues and futurechallenges in research and policy concerning theparticipation of older workers in learning andeducation (Tikkanen, I 998a; 1998c).

I Unbalanced participation. - Participationdecreases with increasing age. Older workersare also less likely to get training providedby the employer, and less likely to partici-pate in learning activities. Cross-nationaldifferences are notable, however.

2 Diversity in provision, problems in access.- Besides individual concern (e.g. learningskills, motivation, needs, time & otherresources, health), participation is a matterof supply (availability) and access (social, cul-tural, geographical and economic barriersand incentives) to various learning optionswithin an education and training system.

3 Education and training consultation andguidance is still difficult to find.The colour-ful system of training provision may beexperienced as confusing and even threat-ening by poorly educated employees, aswell as employers in SMEs.

4 Learning of older workers not an issue.- Attitudes and the lack of; or obsoletefactual knowledge of ageing play a part bothamong employers/ co-workers and older work-ers themselves in discussion concerning par-ticipation of older workers in learning andtraining activities.

5 Job competence and productivity is theissue, not age as such. - From the pointof view of working life, the participation ofolder workers should be considered in thebroader context of job organisation and thelocal and national labour market, instead ofsolely focusing on age and other individualcharacteristics.

6 Fragmented policy and practice - At thelevel of national policy making, the participa-tion of older workers in education andtraining is a complex matter located at theintersection of labour policy and educa-tional policy and, to a degree, also relatedto social (pension) policy.An integratedpolicy is typically lacking and there is anambiguity concerning the ends and means.However, some countries have recentlystarted to develop more coherent policiestowards older workers.

7 Need for comprehensive and cross-institu-tional learning interventions, locally and indeveloping provision (cross-disciplinary co-operation) - In addition to the integrationof policies, it is important to pay attentionto integrated co-operation between differentdisciplines (eg. adult education, sociology,economics, gerontology) when formulatingprinciples and practice in relation to com-petence development interventions amongolder workers.A report on educationalopportunities for older people (Douglas etal. 1990) concludes that the collaborationbetween different providers of various'services' for older people should beencouraged to the full, ie. between formalinstitutions and informal organizations, and

between education and other sectors.Thefact that the trainers and adult educatorsas well as management lack the knowledgeabout the best approaches and methods forlearning enhancement among older work-ers, is highly relevant in the discussion aboutincreasing the participation of this sector ofthe population in learning activities.

8 Enthusiasm for training of older workersA European solution? - In the EC, increas-ing the participation of older workers intraining is seen as crucial in the search forsolutions to the challenge (more commonlyreferred to as 'problem') of older workersand the ageing workforce, as well as to thethreat of social exclusion of this section ofpopulation. Most reports and policy paperssuggest more training of older workers asthe main solution to their labour marketsituation. In countries with high investmentin training coupled with a difficult employ-

ment situation (e.g. in Finland), however,some indications exist that there is a strongnegative age-effect prevailing over that ofnew training. Compared to younger people,training among older workers does appearto have lower impact on the status of olderworkers in the labour market.

Participation rates

Comparable statistics on older workers' par-ticipation in training in different Europeancountries are not easily found, due to differ-ences both in training systems and in themethodology used in documentation (statisti-cal surveys).There has been a major increase inparticipation in adult education since the 1980s,but there are big differences between dif-ferent countries.This development has beenmost pronounced in the Nordic countries.Table 6 shows the participation rates in the

Table 6 Participation rates in adult education in the EC and the Member States

Country Participation % Country Participation %

Sweden 17.6 Germany 3.6Finland 16.7 Italy 3.1

Denmark 16.2 Belgium 2.7United Kingdom 11.8 Luxembourg 2.6Netherlands 11.6 Spain 2.1

Austria 7.5 Portugal 2.1

EU15 5.6 France 1.6

Ireland 5.2 Greece 0.4

Source: EU Labour Force Survey, 1996. Eurostat, Luxembourg.

Table 7 Participation in job-related continuing education and training by age, 1994 - 1995

Age groupParticipation rate (%)

Total Paid for by the employer

15 24 years 38.8 16.0

25 44 years 35.6 25.745 54 years 30.8 22.655 64 years 23.3 17.4

Total 34.2 22.7

Source: OECD Employment Outlook (1998, p. 140).

30

EU and the Member States based on the EULabour Force Survey from 1996.

Another characteristic in participation intraining is that most of it is work-related.Table 7 shows the participation rates injob-related continuing education and training(CET) based on the IALS-survey by OECD.As table 7 shows, more than one third ofthe total working age population participatedin job-related CET in 1994-95, and most ofit was provided by employers.Table 7 showsalso that participation is lower in older agegroups.

In employer-provided training, the decrease inparticipation starts only after the age of 45years.While the statistics showing a decliningparticipation rate by age have typically beenexplained by age as a cause of this decline,a more plausible explanation is, however, edu-cational background (Tikkanen, I 998b).Wheneducational background is controlled, the agedifferences disappear for those under 60years of age, whereas significant level effects(participation of the poorly educated is lowin all age groups and of the highly educatedhigh in all age groups) are revealed (Tikkanen,I 998b).This latter fact underlines the accu-mulation of human capital generally shown instudies on adult education.

Furthermore, substantial variation in participa-tion between countries can also be found incontinuing vocational education and training(CVET). In some countries for example, inFinland and the USA it is older workers(aged 45 54 years) who receive mostof the job-related training.The EurostatStatistics also show that in Sweden thoseemployed and aged 40-49 have the highestparticipation rates in various training pro-grammes. Given that, in these countries,older workers have also received less formaleducation than their younger counterparts,these findings suggest that the higher partici-pation rates in job-related education amongolder workers actually works against theeducational accumulation trend mentionedearlier.

31

Obstacles to participation among olderworkersStereotypical thinking among older workersunderlies their lack of interest in new learn-ing and development and appears to be themain obstacle to their participation in learn-ing activities. However, statistics (Blomqvist etal. 1997) have shown that, apart from thehectic pace of work (among all employees),obstacles to participation in training amongolder workers (45+) are:

suitable training not available (35.7 % men-tion this reason),

difficulty in obtaining interesting training(33.8 %)

training not provided (36.8 %).

Policies and practices of lifelonglearning (LL)Towards a coherent system of LL as agoal

Formal education and training has becomemore accessible to adults all over the Europe

(Colardyn, 200I).The existing formal educationand training systems in all countries, however,are limited from the perspective of lifelonglearning.While they may allow access to citi-zens at any phase of their lives, they are insuf-ficient to meet the current learning demandsand needs of individuals, organisations andsocieties. In addition to lifelong access toformal learning opportunities, lifelong learningis increasingly seen as involving informal andnon-formal forms of learning and participation.As a result, attention in governmental educa-tional policy circles and in practice has turnedtowards realising the idea of lifelong learningand developing it into a coherent system link-ing different forms of learning in differentlearning domains at different stages of life

(www2.trainingvillage.grietv/nonformal/).

Existing policies and practices narrowlyfocused on economic and vocationalaspects

1996 was declared European Year of LifelongLearning. Although notions of lifelong learning

now inform educational policy debates in sev-eral European countries, the definition of life-long learning is a complex one and a numberof perspectives and alternative formulationscan be distinguished in the extensive litera-ture that has emerged around the concept(see Aspin and Chapman, 2000).The mainline of critique towards the development untilrecently, as indicated within the range of EUand national policy documents that have beenpublished, is that lifelong learning has a veryclear economic imperative and it is narrowlyfocused on vocational education and learning.

Different European governments haveattempted to demonstrate their commitmentto the development of lifelong learning througha range of strategies that have included extend-ing the duration of initial education, proposalsfor encouraging more young people to stayin the education system, reform of vocationaleducation and training, efforts to widen partici-pation in education at all levels and to reachpreviously disadvantaged and target groups.There has been a particular emphasis on part-nerships between governments and the privatesector and sometimes with trade unions aswell as stress on the balance of responsibilityamong individuals, employers and the state.These policy developments suggest recognitionof the importance of investment in humancapital if businesses and nations are to beenabled to compete in the global economy.

However, there is also some evidence of anemerging perception that reliance on a narrowvocationalism may well be insufficient. Forexample, the idea of competence reform inNorway and the on-going changes in the UKpost-compulsory education and training systemboth recognise the need to transform learningthrough a holistic response.The development ofknowledge and skills is important for workplacelearning but also for continuing individual devel-opment, to encourage creativity and innovationand to help build a cohesive society (DfEE,1999).This kind of thinking comes closer tosome of the more humanistic definitions of life-long learning as a cradle-to-grave entitlement bywhich individuals are encouraged and enabledto continue learning throughout their lives.

What is in there for older workers?In most European countries, through variousconceptualisations of LL, assorted forms, con-texts and alternatives for learning participationhave existed for people in different phases oflife, including the period when active workinglife is over. However,Tikkanen (1998a) hasargued that older workers are the last ones tobe involved in the discourse and practice of LLThis situation is, on the one hand, a result ofthe long held, though currently changing viewthat more experienced workers are more com-petent workers, and thus do not necessarilyneed to participate in training.The other side ofthis coin is that vocational education and train-ing has only been targeted towards youngerworkers, given emphasis by traditional tripartitelifespan thinking (training/work/retirement). Fur-thermore some persistent negative stereotypesabout learning at older ages have generallyworked to exclude older people from learningactivities. Finally, the focus on participation informal learning activities has ignored the learn-ing taking place in informal settings, and thusthat among older workers. Many older workersstill find it hard to grasp that learning takingplace at work is as equally valid as that takingplace in formal settings.Thus, although lifelonglearning policies and practice have been devel-oped in various countries for several decadesnow, older workers simply have not been anissue (Tikkanen, 1998a).

The situation started slowly to changetowards the end of I 990s.Various policy doc-uments emanating from the EU underlinedthe need to include older workers in LL, toprovide learning opportunities for them, todevelop new, more suitable learning methodsfor them, etc.The rationale behind theserecommendations was that the solution tothe problematic situation of older workers inthe labour market is new learning, preferablyin formal contexts.Thus, according to thisrationale, one of the main reasons for thehighly problematic situation of older workersin the European labour market was theirjob competence.Added to that, they lackedthe social status conferred by formal trainingqualifications. Studies such as the 'Over 45'

(Mirabile, 1998) carried out under the Leon-ardo programme showed that, in the 1990sthe situation of older workers in the contextof LL was still problematic and varied vastlyfrom one country to another, as did thenational systems developed to enhance LL.

Later on, the discussion around LL haschanged further to emphasise non-formal andinformal learning and through various sys-tems now being developed for accreditationof prior learning (Bjeirnivold, 1997; 2001). Inprinciple, at any rate, this line of thinkingshould now finally involve older workers inthe discourse of LL, and open new opportuni-ties and visions for their learning and devel-opment in the context of working life.Thefuture challenge may thus be in changing theold mindsets.

The European Commission has recentlydeveloped a new, coherent approach, com-plementary to the existing ones, in the Mem-orandum on Lifelong Learning (2000).TheMemorandum underlines six key messages toprovide a structured framework for debate,which concerned two issues: how to worktogether on a comprehensive lifelong learningstrategy and how to put that into practiceat all levels, recognizing the interests of allconcerned (www2.trainingvillage.grietv/111/).Thekey messages are:

New basic skills for all (extending access)

More investment in human resources

Innovation in teaching and learning(extending contexts and methods)

Valuing learning (extending towards infor-mal and non-formal learning)

Rethinking guidance and counselling (moreinformation and advice)

Bringing learning closer to home

The underlying rationale is not only nationalprosperity but also the development of anunderstanding of the rights and duties ofcitizenship leading to social cohesion andan informed awareness to enable individualchoice from among a range of options fora satisfying lifestyle. In practice, it is likely

that there is a complex interplay betweenthese elements (Aspin and Chapman, 2000).Lifelong learning might therefore be seen asa multi-faceted process that extends from thecompulsory phase of education and genuinelycontinues throughout life in a range of formaland informal contexts. In this way, workplacelearning at whatever age can be seen as animportant part of the overall vision. It isobvious that all the six key messages standto greatly enhance learning and developmentopportunities for older workers.

Lifelong learning policies and practicein the WO RKTOW countriesTable 8 briefly summarises the keydevelopments and initiatives in theWORKTOW-countries in respect of LL poli-cies and shows how they address the situa-tion of older workers.

Learning in the workplaceRe-conceptualising learning and compe-tence at workIn a rapidly changing work life, requirementsfor vocational education and training (VET)increase. Besides basic VET, continuing voca-tional education and training (CVET) andlearning most generally referred to as post-compulsory education and training - at workare required to maintain job competence.This requires the ability, willingness and moti-vation to learn continuously. Organisationsare increasingly viewed as 'arenas for learn-ingVlearning environments' or 'learning com-munities' (e.g. Mulligan & Griffin, 1992). Com-petence is in constant flux.

Learning in the workplace as situa-tional, contextual and constructiveCharacteristics of research on work-based learn-ing. Research on work-based learning hasseveral characteristics. For example, it iscross disciplinary in nature, with importantcontributions coming from philosophy, his-tory, management science, education, psy-chology, social anthropology, sociology, polit-ical science and economics.As a result, the

Table 8 A summary of the national training policies addressing older workers in theWORKTOW countries

Countries Training of older workers: National policies

UK

Finland

Norway

The Kennedy (Committee) Report suggested that all firms (over 200 employees) set uptheir own learning centres with reference to the results from the Employee DevelopmentSchemes.

The National Age Programme gives considerable attention to the development of learningand training possibilities for older workers. In practice the initiatives have involved effortsto actualise lifelong learning more generally.Approach to the learning of older workershas been one of integration.Whilst in initiatives for older workers main focus still is onhealth and well-being, attention to job-competence is increasing and some improvementshave taken place, demonstrated e.g. in the increased participation rates of older workersin job-related education and training.

Reforms in continuous vocational training and adult education and training favouring non-formal learning and recognising the value of work experience.A major governmentalinitiative ("Krafttak") addressing the situation of older workers in the labour market haseducation and training measures as among the most important ones.

units of analysis differ considerably from onearea to another. In WORKTOW we havefocused on the analysis of interactional situ-ations that contribute to the work-basedlearning of older workers - either as indi-viduals or as members of groups althoughlocal learning networks have also beentouched upon. Other issues emerging fromempirical studies within this field focus onformally organised learning or training, onthe individual in learning and its outcomes(Ellstrom, 1996a; I 996b), on cognitively ori-ented theorising (learning as a transfer ofinformation packages), and on survey meth-odology. Discussion around the necessity oflifelong learning (see chapter on policies andpractices on lifelong learning earlier inthis report), boosted mainly by continuous,far-reaching changes in technology and inworking life, has resulted in a verticallyand horizontally broadened approach tolearning and competence development. Con-sequently, during the last decade or so, anincreasing number of studies have emergedthat focus on informal or tacit aspects inwork-based learning (Coy, 1989; Chaiklin &Lave, 1993; Engestr6m & Middleton, 1996).Further, contextual aarvinen & Poikela,2001), situational and collective aspects (Bil-lett, 2001; Billett & Boud, 2001; Ellstrom,I 996b) have been emphasised, as well asapproaches that underline the need to

develop coherent and comprehensive sys-tems encompassing various forms and arenasof learning. In empirical studies, however, thelatter tends to be addressed less often.

Learning as contextual, situational and construc-

tive. The resulting dominant conception oflearning acknowledges the situational, contex-tual and constructive perspective. Both thecognitive and contextual approaches to learn-ing, nevertheless, have relative validity in rela-tion to specific contexts of practice, ratherthan being dichotomies (see for example Ell-strom, I 996).The contextual approach, how-ever, is likely to be more promising whenstudying informal aspects of learning. Billet(2001, pp. 32-22) has emphasised three situ-ational factors as core issues for learning totake place in a workplace. Firstly, the situationprovides the activities (that people engage in),the problems (to be solved), knowledge (tobe constructed) and goals (for problem solv-ing) for learning in the workplace. Secondly,there is direct guidance available in the work-place, which provides the basis for collabora-tive learning between the learner and moreexperienced workers.And thirdly, there isindirect guidance available in the workplace inthe form of opportunities to observe otherworkers, and the physical workplace and toolsfor working.

34

Some core characteristics in the approach,which has guided the WORKTOW project,are in line with the concept of learningdescribed above.These characteristics aresummarised as follows:

Learning in natural situations. Learning takesplace and can be observed in natural situ-ations rather than within a laboratory set-ting.Thus it can also be enhanced outsideinstitutional settings, and learning proc-esses may be studied over time.

Tacit knowledge and its extemalisation in actions.

The concept of knowledge is extended in thedirection of tacit skills and adaptive routines.A great deal of learning takes place withoutindividuals necessary being aware of it and

assessing what they do3. Learning should be

understood as externalisation (from actionsto words, see Nonaka, 1996) rather thaninternalisation (from words to actions).Thecreative role of social processes is oftenunderestimated when tacit skills are madeexplicit and articulated.

Focus on transfer.Transfer of competenceis a process of active reconstruction.Skills seldom spread themselves and trans-fer often takes place as a complex inter-action between individuals. Differences inprocessing efficiency, however, cannot beconsidered independently of the knowl-edge domain in which they are beingassessed (Ceci, 1990; Gardner & Sternberg,1994). People may be adept and intelligentin one domain and inefficient in another.This relates to the problem of transfer:performance of individuals in their areaof expertise cannot be predicted by theirperformance in another domain.

Contextual factors.Tools, media, forms, andso on, play an important role in the learn-ing process. Concepts such as "distributedcognition" underline the intimate relation-ship between human problem solving andrelated technologies.

Competence as constructed and collective.Views and assessment concerning a com-petent worker in working life are not onlytied to the workplace as such, but areinterwoven with definitions within occupa-tions, structures and contracts concerningwages, as well as the changing life situationsof individual workers (Ellstrom, I 996b).Therefore, competence is only looselyintertwined with factual abilities and per-formance, but rather can be viewed as aresult of a social construction process (Ell-swam, 1996a; I 996b).The same skills maybe conceived as trivial in one context andas an indication of competence in another.

Multi-skills and meta-competences. Humanproblem solving involves a multiplicity ofskills, not only instrumental-technical abili-ties and competence.The collective aspectof competence requires constant use ofcommunication skills and other social com-petences, involved in meta-competence(Nordhaug, 1991 later in this report wediscuss competence of older workers inSMEs).

Harmony and "power-play".Workplaces donot just provide harmonious learning envi-ronments, but can also function as bat-tlefields.The notion of the workplace as acontested terrain can be observed in therelationships between workers and man-agement, within and between teams, inthe division of labour and among affiliatedgroups, as well as being related to differ-ences in gender, age and ethnicity (Billett,2001). Consequently, distribution of oppor-tunities for learning may not be equitable.

Intensive research design in case studies. In

research on learning in the workplaceintensive (few units, many variables)designs are preferred to extensive (manyunits, few variables) ones, but these differ-ent approaches are complementary.

3 It is not possible here to go deeply into the concept of Iearning.At this stage it suffices to point out thatadaptive learning refers to a lasting change in behaviour, which does not necessarily imply an awareness ofthis change.A widely shared view among scholars in the field suggests that higher-order learning presupposessome reflection and assessment activities in relation to practice (Sch6n, 1983; Rolf, 1991). Later in this reportwe will discuss informal learning within the framework of work and age.

35

Little attention to learning and compe-tence development among older work-ers or in SMEs

Small vs. big businesses as learning envi-ronments

The learning imperative resulting from tech-nological development (Gavigan, 2000) hasnot impacted on companies or employees inequal measure (Tikkanen, 2001). Research onlearning at work has focused extensively onlarge companies, which have better resourcesand HRD infrastructure (Gil et al., 1994).Studies have also demonstrated that learningprocesses in small companies are organizeddifferently than in bigger ones and that SMEsas learning environments depend strongly onthe skills of the small-business owners, in par-ticular their entrepreneurial (external orien-tation) and managerial skills (internal ori-entation) (Tillaart et al., 1998). Based onthe surveys of working conditions by theEuropean Foundation (Paoli, 1997; Merllie &Paoli, 2000), we can conclude that SMEsoffer a poorer learning environment for theiremployees than larger companies. SMEs aslearning environments, generally speaking, arecharacterised by face-to-face interaction, alow degree of formalisation and a low rateof innovation. However the innovative quali-ties of smaller work organisations may notbe easily discerned in quantitative studies. Fur-thermore, SMEs represent a highly eclecticfield, one of the great divisions being betweentraditional and new occupational areas. SMEsin new occupational sectors are often compe-tence-intensive work environments, where anumber of pioneering innovations originate(Appelbaum & Batt, 1994). In contrast, thoselocated in traditional sectors may still utiliseold tools, traditional working methods andpractices, their situation exacerbated in manycases by a poorly educated and ageing work-force.

Change and development projects in SMEs

While sheer variety in the range of existingSMEs poses a challenge to research thataims at generalisations, this very same char-acteristic means that these companies havethe potential to contribute to the learning

discourse involving companies and businessworld.Their advantage is that they providea wide variety of products and technolo-gies, learning by trial and error, a widerstrategic horizon and a climate of entre-preneurship (Docherty, I 996).The short-comings they display compared to manybigger companies include various barriersto learning such as a lack of training infra-structure (e.g. HRD personnel), negativeattitudes towards formal training amongmanagers and entrepreneurs, the individual-istic nature of SMEs, and inadequate trainingmethods (Gil et al., 1994).

It is therefore the case that competencedevelopment in SMEs tends to take placeon an ad hoc basis, linked closely to variousorganisational changes. Continuous and sys-tematic attention to learning and develop-ment is rare, and the manager is often thecentral player in these processes rather thanthe employee.Typically, change and develop-ment processes in SMEs are largely depend-ent on external competence, consultantsand/or various training providers in the main.As these providers represent a very broadfield and as learning and development inter-ventions have become more common in com-panies, the question of evaluation of theseprocesses has become a central issue in SMEstoo, although so far relatively little addressedin practice. Such an evaluation is a complexprocess (Butler, 2001) and the framework andmethods used for it are important in termsof outcomes.

In a Swedish regional development projectDevelopment of operations and competencein small organisations (2000) various devel-opmental projects in SMEs were evaluatedin terms of success factors.This evaluationshowed that a successful developmentproject needs to be functional on variouslevels; it has to produce affective, cognitive,behavioural, as well as organisational reac-tions.The success factors that were raised inthe Swedish evaluation, summarised below,showed many of the issues covered also inWO R KTOW:

36

It is the organisation, not the consultant, whomust be owner of the change processes.

It is very importantto choose the rightkind of [change] activity, whether its aimto be in adaptation or development.Adaptation is a more common goal.

Theattitudeofseniormanagersisdecisiveas to how the activity is performedwith or without the broad participation ofemployees.

Change with broad participation can onlybe achieved if managers are ready tochange.

The goal of competence development canbe to support the company's immediate,short-term needs, or to support long termdevelopment and expansion.A short-termapproach is most typical.

Competence development takes time.Change requires different types of learning.

Development processes are required thatare organic and not just organisational.

Successful and far-reaching changes oftenrequire changes to the working organisa-tion and an extension of responsibility andassignments.

Daring to participate is closely linked tohow managers view initiatives from staffand their commitment to making changes.

0 Working together in the change processcontributes to a better climate in theworkplace and increases solidarity.

I Clearly expressed equality goals arerequired if the projects are to lead toincreased gender equality

Knowledge, time and resources arerequired to develop competence andachieve change.

Competence and older workers in SMEs

Just as individual employees in SMEs in generalcan have more important and salient status thanin bigger companies, so it is in the case of olderworkers.VVhat is crucial is their competence,not their other qualities as such. More experi-enced workers in small companies can play acrucial role, since they are the conveyors oforganisational memory and history, and possessa broader understanding of the company's loca-tion in the local business environment, and thenetworks of clients and suppliers, etc.Thus,theircompetence development is largely based onthe organisational setting and the learning anddevelopment opportunities it has provided, thenature of their job tasks being a crucial variable.

Nordhaug (1991) has provided a competencetypology, which is highly useful also for exam-ining the competence of older workers in achanging working environment.The typologyis shown in figure 2.

Figure 2 describes competence through twodimensions of competence: task specificityand firm specificity.The former refers to theextent competence can be used to solve alimited or a broad range of work tasks, andthe latter to the degree to which it canbe applied in one or several work organisa-tions (Nordhaug, 1991, p. I 65).While titlesfor domains 11,111 and IV are appropriatelydescriptive in relation to their contents,mew-competence, refers to broadly applicablecompetence across companies and tasks.Nordhaug defines it to represent

a kind of"infrastructurar knowledge, skills, andaptitudes on the individual level that are veryimportant for work. Even though its range ofapplication is difficult to confine, it forms a

Figure 2 A Competence typology (Nordhaug, 1991)

Firm Specificity

Low High

Task specificity

LowMeta-competence

II

Intraorganisational Competence

High III IV

Standard Technical Competence Unique Competence

foundation for work performance in general.The

facts that meta-competences can be utilized

across a large number of work tasks and also

constitute a potential for contributing to the

mastering of future tasks, mark that they arecrucial for both individual and organizationalperformance. (Nordhaug, 1991, pp. 167)

Meta-competence thus refers to a broadrange of competences - for example, analyti-cal aptitudes and skills, capacity to tolerateuncertainty, capacity to master changes, polit-ical skills, skills in handling conflicts, coop-erative capabilities, planning skills, creativity,learning capacity, communication skills, profi-ciency in foreign languages, and reading andwriting skills.

Applied to older workers, with typically longcareers in one workplace, the typology helpsus to analyse the developmental potential intheir overall competence.The existing studiessuggest that their strengths lie in particularlyin domain IV, unique competence (high firm-and task-specificity), and in many areas inmeta-competences (I) and in case of SMEsalso in intra organisational competences (II).The challenges to their competence develop-ment, however, lie particularly in the transfer-ability of skills across companies, in standardtechnical competence with high task specifi-city but low firm specificity (111). However,intra organisational and standard technicalcompetence among older workers dependsheavily on their job tasks and the variety inthem throughout their career. Furthermore,meta-competences, one possible strengthdomain in older workers' overall compe-tence, seem to develop through work experi-ence and through informal and non-formallearning at work and importantly, contributeto flexibility and adaptability both at the levelof employees and organisations (Nordhaug,1 991). Again, however, the outcomes dependstrongly on the quality of work experienceone has gained throughout one's career.

Older workers as learners

Leaming from experience. Older workers tend toview their lengthy job experience as a specialstrength in respect of their professional compe-

tence (Tikkanen,1997).This is not surprisingsince informal and non-formal learning from jobexperience is still the only job-related learningfor a majority of them. In a Finnish Adult Educa-tion survey almost all (90-97 %) employees inall age groups above 30 years of age reportedthat their current job competence was verystrongly based on their work experience, whileless than half attributed it to training (Blonnqvistet al., 1997). Nevertheless, lengthy job-experi-ence, combined with advanced age, is in manycases a problem, not an asset, in current work-ing life.This state of affairs demonstrates theexistence of a gap between theory and practice- or rather the differences in theorising amongdifferent stakeholders. Paradoxically, at the sametime as the interest in and value of experientialknowledge and informal learning has increasedin working life and in adult education (Mulligan& Griffin, 1992), the value of the most experi-enced workers has decreased in working life(Tikkanen, I 998a).There is clearly a need tostrive for more specificity about the value ofjob experience as raw material for informallearning and how that contributes to profes-sional competence.

Self-direction in learning among older adults. Infor-

mal learning at work is often self-directed,like most adult learning.The concept ofself-directed learning, however, is not clearlydefined. Self-directed learning in the world ofwork differs depending on the occupationalcontext and may be perceived differently bythe different people working there (Straka,1997). Further, the usefulness of this approachamong learners with low educational levelsis more problematic than among more expe-rienced learners.Although the competence,which older workers have gained through theirwork experience, has been largely "learnedby themselves", it is an open question howconsciously aware they have been of this learn-ing, and thus how goal-oriented it has actuallybeen. Rather, older workers tend to look backon their careers in terms of work rather thanlearning.Yet, when asked, they are aware thata considerable amount of learning has beenrequired and has taken place in order for themto acquire the competence they possess.

Analysing job performance

Learning and developmental needs andmotivation originate from job performance,whether considered individually or on anorganisational level.Warr (1995) distinguishesthree main components in job performance;a) physical ability, b) adaptability and; c)general work effectiveness.To enable a greaterunderstanding of the strengths and limitationsof older employees,Warr (1995;1998) providesone point of departure. He reports that findingsfrom over 100 studies show that there are nosignificant differences in the job performance ofolder and younger workers. Rather, the primarypractical developmental need is considered tobe the implementation of procedures thatenhance adaptability among older employees.The absence of an overall age effect in thelevel of job performance contrasts sharplywith laboratory evidence of very clear agedecrements in many forms of informationprocessing. It is also inconsistent with awidespread negative stereotype about olderworkers. More knowledge about the processesunderlying these observations is needed, as wellas on how different functions change with age,how these changes interact and how they affectthe lives and the potential of older people.Knowledge at individual level should also be tiedto the context of work, such as, for example, thenature of jobs and organisational factors.

Table 9 below describes multi-level factoreffects on work performance and work-basedlearning.This outline has guided the contex-tual analysis of job performance and learningof older workers in WORKTOW.

This approach to contextual factors broadlycovers national, institutional and cultural char-acteristics as well as issues related to variousoccupational branches and companies aslearning environments. Context is also impor-tant from the point of view of providinglearning stimulus and creating learning needsas well as providing support for learning.As pointed out earlier, most of the researchon learning and older workers has focusedon individual learning and the acquisitionof instrumental skills.There is a need todevelop coherent and comprehensive frame-works for learning, which integrate socio-cognitive development, job performance andorganisational variables and different trainingregimes.A purpose of the WORTOW-projectwas to contribute to this development.

Work processes have been approached fromthe point of view of demands of job tasksand appropriate mental models formulatedon that basis, resulting in specific ways ofperforming the job. Satisfaction in one'sjob performance is central and requires

Table 9 Multi-level factors effecting work performance and work-based learning

Levels Factors effecting work-performance and work-based learning

Context ofwork-basedlearning

Work processes

Individual

Institutional and cultural context: National systems, job organisations, job sectorsand branches).- Support to learning).- Stimulus and challenges to learning and development

Demands of job tasks),-- Mental models of job tasks>- Job performances).- Learning of new tasks

Personal characteristics.- Expertise

Risk taking);- Motivation- Learning strategies

39

both internal and external feedback systemsin the workplace.When tasks are notperformed to one's satisfaction, or whenlearning is externally stimulated, for exampleby introducing new tasks, adjustment will takeplace and over time new skills are learned.

In the following section, we describe brieflyhow work processes and individual character-istics relate to ageing of the workers andtheir work performance.

Work processes

Demands of job tasks. Declines in informationprocessing are most pronounced in complextasks (Salthouse, 1996), performed under timepressure (Craik et al., 1992), and in those pro-gressing though many successive mental opera-tions. However, actual job performance mayrequire different skills for different parts of thejob. For example office workers are not onlycarrying out copying and editing work on thecomputer.They are involved in archival tasks,communication with colleagues or clients andin organising meetings.

When it comes to informal learning andcompetence maintenance and development atwork, studies (van der Heijden, 1998; van derHeijden &Thijssen, 1998) have shown lackof stimulus and support for learning at workfor older workers in the workplace.Throughtheir lengthy work experience job tasks havebecome "overlearned" and highly routinizedand as new, more challenging and demandingtasks are not provided, new learning is nolonger stimulated. Nor do the routinized jobtasks challenge them to demonstrate thewhole range of job-competence they maypossess (Lofstrom & Pitkanen, 1999). In sucha situation, participation in training with theobject of learning new skills or acquiring newknowledge has no point either. Further, thereis a scarcity and, indeed, often a completeabsence of managerial actions designed tostimulate older employees' development, flex-ibility and versatility.

In addition to time pressures, demands atwork increasingly focus on interpersonalskills and other meta-competences. Older

workers particularly have been found tohave strengths in these areas and hence findtheir work less demanding (Kirjonen, 1994;Pursio, 2000; Stenberg, 2000).A study amongengineers and technicians (Rasku, Feldt &Ruoppila, 1997) showed that personal humanresources - feelings of life being coherentand understandable, of being in control andbeing able to make sense of things werestrongest among older workers, and werepositively related to perceiving oneself as acompetent employee.

Mental models of job task. Task performancecan be interpreted in different ways andassimilated into individual preferences andabilities. It seems likely, however, that olderworkers demonstrate different styles fromyounger ones.Thus, we expect to find agerelated strategies developed along the follow-ing dimensions:

Use of routine performance. Experiencedworkers are likely to demonstrate com-plex performance and direct more atten-tion towards higher mental processing.

Elaboration of expertise. The performanceof older professionals may exceed thatof younger colleagues because they havedeveloped a repertoire of domain-specificskills, which also include characteristicssuch as holistic and contextual judgement("wisdom").

Planning procedures and sequencing of com-plex action. In complex task environmentsolder workers tend to reduce mentalload by careful planning and sequencing ofactions.

Use of environmental cues. With increasedexperience workers not only use theirphysical environments as "mental proth-eses" for task performance, but there isan active construction of "tools" that areformalised in the process of adaptation.In non-routine situations previously com-pleted jobs or the layout of the workplacecan be used as models, cues and clues forhow to proceed in the construction ofnew knowledge (Billett, 2001).

40

Individual variables

Expertise, risk taking and motivation. Althougha high correlation is found between expertiseand age, with task experience as a mediatingvariable, there are few studies on how differ-ent types of expertise and age profiles cansupport or hinder the transfer of knowledgeand skills to new domains. In addition, therole of individual differences in risk taking andmotivation is poorly understood.

Learning and learning strategies. Several issuescan be raised when examining the learningof older workers.A major distinction shouldbe made between learning new skills withinthe expert domain of experienced profes-sionals and learning in a radically differentexpert domain.The content of learning is alsorelevant to this discussion. Most studies havefocused on learning of technical-instrumental(cognitive) skills, whereas the acquisition ofmeta-competence (see Figure 2 on page 28),for example social competence, is less wellunderstood. Bearing these reservations inmind, the following issues are central whenaddressing learning in relation to older work-ers.

Low motivation for learning new tasks amongolder workers is frequently reported instudies.This can be attributed to severalfactors: their low levels of formal training,lack of training opportunities, the absenceof a learning culture, employers' or olderemployees' perception of low return oninvestments in training for older employ-ees, attitudes towards learning at an olderage and a lack of self-confidence.

Enhanced motivation with participation intraining. There is evidence that older work-ers taking part in training compare well toyounger workers by becoming more moti-vated towards new learning (Warr, 1998).

Transfer of learning. Some reviewers likeWarr (1998) are rather pessimistic aboutthe ability of older workers to transferskills from training settings into the work-place. Some of these barriers however,could be overcome by proper age-awareor age-sensitive training (see below) andby systematic opportunities for application

41

and extension of skills in work.These quali-ties are linked to the learning environmentin companies. From the point of view ofinformal learning in the workplace "fartransfer" (to a new situation), as opposedto "near transfer", may be a problem innon-routine situations (Royer, 1979). In thiscontext more experienced workers can beat an advantage because they face novelworkplace tasks less frequently than nov-ices (Billett, 2001).

Learning strategies among older workers.

Considering the qualitative differences inobserved task performance among agegroups, there are surprisingly few studiesof learning strategies among older peoplein a professional context.

Age-aware training. Studies (reviewed inWarr, 1998) support the conclusion thatolder employees should be involved inlearning activities that they can follow attheir own pace. Early tokens of successand feedback may boost their self-confi-dence. Different formats for guiding andself-monitoring are recommended (Czaja,I 996).Another strategy, potentially ben-eficial for experienced employees, is tocombine learning activities and practicalproblem solving, for example in organisingproject work, where older workers canextend their expertise to related fields.

Empirical studies

434 4

III Survey on SMEs as learning environments

Companies and employees par-ticipating in the studyA total of 27 companies participated inWORKTOVV.As Table I0 shows, most ofthese were from Finland and England, while thetwo Norwegian partners together recruitedeight companies.Table 10 also shows how theemployees (n=378) and employers/managers

(n=37) who filled in the base-line question-naires in these companies were distributedamong partners.The number of employeesparticipating in the whole study, however, isgreater than the number of returned question-naires.This is accounted for by the fact that inthe returns from some WORKTOW-partners,the learning interventions in the companiesincluded all the employees.

Table I 0 Companies, employees and employers/managers participating in the study by partner

Partner CompaniesN

EmployeesN %

Employers/managersN

Jyvaskyla 7 26 167 44 9 24

Kee le 6 22 91 24 7 19

Lancaster 6 22 29 8 8 22NOVA 2 7 14 4 1 3

WRI 4 16 54 14 9 24

WRI/NOVA 2 7 23 6 3 8

Total 27 100 378 100 37 100

Table I I Description ofthe companies (n=27) participating inWORKTOWas described byemployers/managers (n =37)

Variable N

Type of work Manual 9 8

Service 12 73

Office 6 19

Field Manufacturing 2 6

Construction 1 3

Wholesale, retail 4 IIHotel, leisure, restaurants II 30

Financing, insurance, real estate, business services 4 IICommunity, social and personal services 13 36

Other 1 3

Size 1 - 30 employees 8 27

31 50 employees 7 24

51 100 employees 4 14

101 200 employees 7 24

201 500 employees 2 7

501+ employees 1 4

Characteristics of the companies. Table 11

shows background information about the com-panies as described in the questionnairesby the employers/managers.The majority (73%) of the companies represented service/communication work in the fields of com-munity, social and personal services (36 %)as well as hotel, leisure, and restaurants (30%).There was a strong connection between apartner institute and type of work (x2p<.001).

Most companies with manual workers wererecruited by WRI alone (61.7 %) or togetherwith WRI/NOVA (13.3 %). Service work wasmainly represented in companies investigatedby Keele (40.8 %) and Lancaster (14.1 %), whilealmost all companies/employees representingoffice work were recruited by Jyvaskyla (92 %).

Characteristics of the employees. The mean ageof the employees was 39.4 years. On average

Table 12 Description of employees participating in WORKTOW questionnaire survey (%)

Variable AllN=378

Below 45 yrsn=249

45+ yrsn=129

X2Sig'

Gender Female (n=203) 53.7 53.4 54.3Male (n=175) 46.3 46.6 45.7

Education No VET (n=73) 20.1 18.9 22.5Lower VET (n=143)A 39.3 39.8 38.3Higher VET (n=148) B 40.7 41.4 39.2

Position held 0-2 yrs 44.8 51.1 33.6 44*

3-5 yrs 22.8 24.2 20.36-10 yrs 18.7 19.0 18.0

11-15 yrs 7.5 3.9 14.1

16-20 yrs 3.3 1.3 7.021 - yrs 2.8 0.4 7.0

Other positions held in the company (yes) 34.5 33.3 36.8Applied for other jobs (yes) 18.9 26.0 5.4

Lifetime employment 0-2 yrs 5.6 8.8 41*

3-5 yrs 8.3 12.5

6-10 yrs 14.1 20.4 1.7

11-15 yrs 13.6 20.0 0.816-20 yrs 15.5 20.8 5.021 - yrs 42.7 17.5 92.6

Job contract Full time (n=295) 78.5 77.8 79.7Part-time (n=53) 14.1 13.3 15.6

Temporary (n=1 I) 2.9 3.6 1.6

Agency (n=1) 0.3 0.4Other (n=16) 4.3 4.8 3.1

Partner Jyvaskyla (n=167) 44.2 43.4 44.7 *14:

Keele (n=91) 24.1 26.5 19.4

Lancaster (n=29) 7.7 6.4 10.1

NOVA (n=14) 3.7 0.8 9.3WRI (n=54) 14.3 17.7 7.8WRI/NOVA (n=23) 6.1 5.2 7.8

Type of work Manual 15.9 17.3 13.2

Service 54.5 53.8 55.8Office 29.6 28.9 31.0

'1"1* p<.00 I ;A Max of 2-3 years vocational training; B college or university degree

45 4 6

Table 13 Employees grouped by work type and age (N=378)

Manual- 45 yrs 45+ yrs

Service Office All- 45 yrs 45+ yrs - 45 yrs 45+ yrs - 45 yrs 45+ yrs

Frequency 43 17 134 7211.4 4.5 35.4 19.0

72 40 249 129

19.0 10.6 65.9 34.1

they had held their current position in theircompanies for 5.2 years, whilst they had beenemployed during their lifetime for an averageof 18.9 years.Table 12 shows a descriptionof the employees' data, separately for theyounger (below 45 years) and older (45 andabove) workers. Close to one out of five hadapplied for other jobs, but younger workerssignificantly (p<.001) more often (26 %) thanolder (5.4 %)

On describing the results in thisreportDescription of the results in this report Theresults of the employee data have beendescribed following the WORKTOW criteriafor selection of the companies in the study.Hence the results have been describedby comparison of six groups, two agegroups (younger/older) representing threework types.Table 13 shows how the employ-ees were distributed to these six comparisongroups.

Younger service workers formed the biggestgroup, counting for 35 % (n=134) of allparticipants, and older industry workers thesmallest group (4.5 %).

ResultsOrganisational context for learning ofolder workersThis part of the description of the results isbased on employers' and managers' descrip-tions of their companies regarding what kindof context they provide for workplace learn-ing for employees.

Age-structure

Table 14 shows the age structure asdescribed by managers (involves all employ-ees) in the WORKTOW-companies for menand women separately for the three differentwork types.Women were over-represented inthe youngest age group, while the proportionof older workers was the same among men

Table 14 Age-structureandrecentchangesinitintheWORKTOW-companiesbytypeofwork(%)

Industrial Service Office Total

Age/gender -structureFemales 16 30 years 25.9 32.7 6.4 26.3

31 44 years 17.7 37.5 29.7 33.545 65 years 6.7 19.0 27.1 19.7

Males 16 30 years 19.3 22.3 13.7 19.8

31 - 44 years 38.3 18.6 45.9 29.045 - 65 years 25.3 13.4 32.0 19.8

Changes in age-structure 100 73 33 67

Nature of age-changesYounger average age * 14 100 25

Older average age * 86 75

* Missing data

41746

and women. Female employees were young-est in industry and services and oldest inoffice work. In the latter 27 % were above 45years of age.Among men the majority of theoldest were also found in office work (32 %)but close to that in industry too.

Changes in age-structure were most commonin industry (reported in all companies), butalso in services (73 %).The nature of thesechanges was different in different sectors sothat whilst in industry and services, the aver-age age had increased, in information workthe tendency was towards younger workers.

Recent major changes in companies

Major changes had been most common inindustrial companies. Most typical changeshad been increased investments in training(especially in services), development of qualitysystems (most pronounced in industry), andchanges in product and market (especially inoffice work).An impact of these changes spe-cifically on older workers was reported onlyin industry, while a majority of employers/managers representing other work types feltthat the changes had had no impact on olderworkers, or else they were unable to say.

HRD and trainingIn personnel development and training therewere considerable differences between theWORKTOW-companies, as Table 15 shows.Companies in the service sector had thebest-developed systems in this area. Most typ-ically the training provided by the companywas carried out as on-the-job training, and

trainers used were company staff.

An older worker. According to management/supervisors, employees were considered tobe older workers in these companies on aver-age at the age of 50 years.The age limitexpressed in manual work was the highest,55 years, and almost the same in informationwork, 53 years, while in services it was 48years.

Too old to learn. A majority of the managementthought that there were no age-limits as towhen the (non-managerial) workers would beconsidered to be too old to learn new skillsin the company.This opinion was expressedmost strongly in the service sector work (91

%), whereas a half of management in bothindustrial and office work thought there wereno age-limits. In industrial work those who

Table 15 HRD and training in companies by type of work (% yes)

HRD/training element in a company Industrial Service Office Total

A training budget 33 83 43 70

A written training plan 33 88 14 68

A mentoring system 50 14 38

A written commitment to developing all the employees 67 54 57 56

One person, who has strategic responsibility for training 33 88 67 79

A written policy of equal opportunity for all age groups 33 61 29 51

Training provided by the company carried outmainly on-the-job 50 37 57 43

mainly outside the work place 16 11

off the job, but on company premises 10 7

evenly among all the alternatives 50 37 43 39

Trainers the company uses (% often or always):company staff 67 92 86 89

trainers from local training institutions 33 33 27

customers or suppliers 33 32 40 33

experts from consulting agencies 33 14 20 17

other experts 25 50 30

474

expressed an age-limit described it as 55years, and in office work, age limits of 55 and60 years were given.

Employees' views of SMEs as learningenvironmentsThis chapter shows how employees describedWORKTOW companies as learning environ-ments.

Work complexity and learning opportunities

Table 16 shows how the employees inWORKTOW-companies described the com-plexity of their work and the stimulus andopportunities it provided for their learning.There were major differences with regard tomost aspects among the six groups underconsideration here.These differences werepartly separate age- and work type -effectsand partly joint effects of these two.

Work load. Work situation was most oftenreported to be hectic in office work, whilstin industry and services it was rather similarand reported less than in office work.The differences found between these groupswere between sectors, but not age groups(ANOVA p<.01). Regardless of the hecticpace of work the experiences of stresswere less common, most typically to a littleor some extent. In office work stress wasreported somewhat more often than in theother two types of work, but the differencewas not statistically significant.Again differ-ences were most pronounced between sec-tors, but not by age groups.

Pace of work. Deadlines, customers and fixedroutines were most often found to be con-trolling the pace of work. However, majordifferences were found by age and worktype.Work type, but not age, contributed

Table 16 Work complexity and learning opportunities by work type and age group (Means), N=378

Manual- 45 yrs 45+ yrs

Service- 45 yrs 45+ yrs

Office- 45 yrs 45+ yrs

Sig' All2 (Sig)- 45 yrs 45+ yrs

Work complexitySo much work thatwork situation is ...hectic 2.8 2.8 2.9 2.9 3.3 3.3 *lc 3.0 3.0

...stressful 2.5 2.4 2.5 2.5 2.7 2.7 n.s. 2.6 2.5

Pace of work is controlledby ...deadlines 3.6 3.5 2.7 2.7 3.5 3.7 ,I=I* 3.1 3.1

...colleagues 2.9 2.4 2.9 2.5 2.5 2.4 )14=ic 2.8 2.4(**)

...customers 3.0 2.3 3.4 3.3 3.3 2.9 :r.i* 3.3 3.0(*)

...machines 3.3 2.5 2.4 2.0 2.4 2.0 :14=i, 2.5 2.1(*n

...management 2.8 3.1 3.1 3.0 2.5 2.3 *4* 2.9 2.8

...repetitive tasks 3.1 3.0 2.8 2.7 2.7 2.4 n.s. 2.8 2.7

...fixed routines ° 3.2 3.4 3.1 3.0 2.7 2.6 :i.oic 3.0 2.9

Learning opportunitiesNew problems andchallenges in job 3.0 2.4 2.8 2.9 3.3 3.4 '14* 3.0 3.0Use of computer 2.5 1.5 2.4 2.6 3.8 3.5 4°Ici` 2.9 2.8Possibilities for partici-pation in major decisionsaffecting one's job 2.7 2.4 2.5 2.5 3.0 3.1 *OK 2.7 2.7Participation in decisionmaking 3.1 3.3 2.8 2.7 3.0 3.1 n.s. 2.9 2.9

' ANOVA Sig *<.05,**<.01,4*4'<.00 I; Scale used: I= Not at all, 2 = To a little extent, 3 = To some extent, 4 =To a large extent; 2ANOVA between age groups Sig **<.01,*44<.001

49 48 BEST COPY AVAILABLE

to most of the differences in control bydeadlines, management, and repetitive tasksand routines.Whilst manual and office workwere highly controlled by deadlines, in servicework, customers and management, but tosome extent also fixed routines were thestrongest controllers.

Compared to younger workers, older onesreported, in general, less control by variousfactors listed in the questionnaire, the differ-ence being most notable in manual work.As shown in table 16, age differences weregreatest concerning control by machines(p<.001), colleagues (p<.0 I ), and customers(p<.01 ).There were joint age - work typeeffects so that control by machines wasmost strongly experienced among the youngmanual workers (mean 3.3) and least byolder workers in services and office work.Further, in control by customers the differ-ences were greatest among older workersrepresenting different work types, the leastin industry (mean 2.3) and most in services(mean 3.3).The differences in control byfixed routines were also greater acrossthe work types and among the older thanyounger workers.

Learning opportunities. Overall, employeesreported that their jobs provided learningopportunities on average "to some extent"(Table 16).Whilst there were no direct ageeffects in how work was considered toprovide these opportunities and possibilitiesfor participation in decision making con-cerning one's job, major differences werefound depending on work type, but someresulting also from the joint effects of ageand work type. Employees in informationwork reported these opportunities to bethe best. However, it was not they butthe employees in manual work, who mostoften participated in decision-making in theirworkplaces.These differences, hiwecver,were not startistically different.The differ-ences were greater among the older work-ers than among their younger colleaguesacross the different work types, in particularin the use of computers.

job competence

In general, a majority of the employees (57-91%) rated the possibilities of using and devel-oping their competence in their job as strongor very strong.The only exception was theoverall opportunities to participate in educa-tion and training (37 %).The strongest pos-sibilities were to use their experience-basedcompetence in their job (91 % strong or verystrong).The results are shown by age andwork type in table 17.

Older workers tended to view these oppor-tunities somewhat more optimistically thanthe younger workers did, but the overallage-differences were not statistically signifi-cant.The differences by work type and jointeffects of age and work type were strong,especially for some possibilities.The age-dif-ferences were smallest within service workand the greatest within manual work.

Training opportunities and the opportunityof developing professional skills in the areasone wishes were reported to be the leastof all possibilities mentioned.Although theywere particularly low for some groups thiswas only concerning overall possibilities forcontinuing vocational education and training(CVET). For necessary training and develop-ing professional skills in areas one wishes, theage-differences were most notable in manualwork (49 % of younger vs. 73 % of older) butalso in office work. Another difference con-cerning these possibilities and in contrastto the general tendency mentioned earlier- was that younger workers estimated theirpossibilities of obtaining necessary training tobe much better than the older workers did(difference 36.6 percentage units). Similar* inobtaining advice and counselling and CVET,younger workers, especially in manual work,reported much better possibilities than theirolder counterparts.

Time it takes to learn one's job tasks. Mosttypically (27.8 %) the time the respondentsrated it would take for a new worker witha required basic training to learn one's job,was a few months or a few weeks (21.6%).There were no statistically significant

Table 17 Possibilities of competence use and development in one's job(% 'strong' or 'very strong'), N= 378

Possibilities to...

...use the competencegained through educationand training...use the competencegained through workexperience...develop professionalskills in the areas one wants...get advice and coun-selling when working withdifficult tasks...get the necessary trainingto perform one's work toone's own satisfaction...participate in education

and training (overall)

Manual- 45 yrs 45+ yrs

Service- 45 yrs 45+ yrs

Office- 45 yrs 45+ yrs

X2Sig' All- 45 yrs 45+ yrs

68.3 93.3 70.3 73.3 83.3 77.5 n.s. 73.8 77.0

90.3 93.8 87.0 90.0 97.3 95.0 90.6 92.1

48.7 73.3 62.9 62.1 41.6 55.0 54.3 61.2

82.9 64.2 68.5 67.6 69.0 60.0 71.7 64.8

70.0 33.4 71.5 70.2 42.2 55.0 4:124` 62.6 60.6

44.5 33.3 43.3 54.8 17.9 23.1 soio: 35.1 41.3

' *<.05,**<.01,""i'<.001; Scale used: 1= Not strong at all, 2 = Not very strong, 3 = Strong, 4 =Very strong

age differences, but gender differences andthose between the three work types wereclear (both at x2p<.001). Males reportedthat it would take a longer time thanwomen did, so that 40 % of the former and15 % of the latter thought the time wouldbe from one to several years.While almosta half (46 %) of the women responded thatit would take a few weeks at the most tolearn their job, only 18 % of the males didso.

Employees in service work rated this time tobe the shortest: 23 % a few days at most,younger workers even more so (27 %) thanthe older workers (17 %).The respectivepercentage in manual work was 5.1 and inoffice work only 1.8. Of the office workersalmost a half (44.5 %) thought it would takefrom one to several years to learn theirjob, the older workers even more so (49%).The respective percentage in manualwork was 22 % and in service 15.7 %, butunlike in office work, in both of these sec-tors younger workers more often assumed alonger period of time.

Participation in training di trainingconsequences

Participation rates. Table 18 describes participa-tion of employees in different forms of train-ing in WORKTOW-companies.A large major-ity of the employees (78 %) had participatedin some form of training during the last threeyears. Participation was most common in on-the-job (46 %) and formal (45 %) training.Overall, younger workers had participatedsomewhat more than the older (81 % vs. 73%, p<.05).With regard to different forms oftraining, statistically significant age-differenceswere only found in formal training (50 % ofyounger vs. 34 % of older, x p<.01).

Participation varied again between the dif-ferent work types and as a result of thejoint effects of age and work type (table18). Employees in manual work, in both age

groups, had participated almost only in formaltraining, and in this form of training theirparticipation rates were the highest of allthe three work types. Interestingly however,these differences in formal training participa-tion were most pronounced among younger

50

Table 18 Participation (%) in formal, non-formal and on-the-job-training (N=378)1

Form of trainingManual

- 45 yrs 45+ yrsService

- 45 yrs 45+ yrsOffice

- 45 yrs 45+ yrs

x2sig2 All cesigy- 45 yrs 45+ yrs

Formal education/coursesParticipation (%yes) 58.1 35.3 51.5 33.8 43.1 34.4 * 50.2 34.4(41Employer paid (%yes) 66.7 100 68.2 79.2 65.5 57.1 67.2 75.0(*)

On own initiative (yes) 76.2 33.3 81.1 66.7 75.0 100 79.5 66.7

Length (mean, weeks) 39.4 3.6 17.4 10.7 14.4 3.3 20.4 7A(*)

Less than a week 13.6 25.0 13.1 13.0 10.3 18.2 12.5 15.8

1-9 weeks 36.4 50.0 37.7 43.5 48.3 36.4 40.2 42.1

10-39 weeks 4.5 19.7 13.0 24.1 45.5 17.9 21.1

40 weeks 45.5 25.0 29.5 30.4 17.2 29.5 21.1

Non-formal & non-creditcourses

Participation (%yes) 12.8 0.0 47.4 51.5 37.5 35.0 *I* 38.9 39.5

Employer paid (%yes) 75.0 84.4 94.4 66.7 92.9 78.9 94.0(*)

Length (mean, weeks) 0.0 0.0 1.2 2.3 1.0 0.4 0.9 1.3

Less than a week 75.0 37.0 23.3 42.9 46.2 40.5 30.2

1-9 weeks 25.0 53.7 63.3 52.4 53.8 51.9 60.5

10 weeks or more 0.0 9.3 13.3 4.8 0.0 7.6 8.2

On-the-job trainingParticipation (yes) 27.5 0.0 44.0 52.2 64.3 42.5 42.7 42.3

Length (mean, hours) 15.9 0.0 22.0 7.2 13.9 6.2 18.3 5.7

1-7 hours 16.7 53.8 44.4 20.0 37.5 35.3 41.9

8-14 hours 0.0 23.1 18.5 25.0 18.8 22.4 18.6

15-35 hours 33.3 15.4 29.6 37.5 31.3 27.1 30.2

35 + hours 50.0 7.7 7.4 17.5 12.5 15.3 9.3

' Details of participation shown as a percentage of those participated; 2 *<.05,**<.01,***<.001;3Between age groups Sig 4cic<.01,4**<.001

workers, whereas among the older they werevery small.

Major age-differences in participation werefound in all forms of training in manual work,only in formal training in services, and only inon-the-job training in office work. In all casesthe younger employees participated more.However, in services, older employees hadparticipated somewhat more in non-formaland in-formal training. Cross-sectoral differ-ences were most pronounced in non-formal,but also in formal training.

In formai training participation rates wereabout the same for older workers acrosswork types, but varied somewhat foryounger workers. Furthermore, compared to

older workers the participation rates amongyounger employees were higher, being highestamong the manual workers (58.1 %) andlowest among the office workers (43.1 %).

Participation in non-formal training varied bywork types and was lowest among manualworkers (Table 18).Among the latter, onlythe younger workers had participated (12.8%). In service work, the opposite to whatwas the case in formal training was found. Innon-formal training it was the older employ-ees who had participated more than theiryounger counterparts.There were no age-differences in office work.The level of partici-pation was highest among the service sectoremployees, and highest of all the groupsamong the older service workers (51.5 %).

51

Of all the three forms of training, participa-tion in on-the-job learning activities was mosttypical in the office sector. Of the youngeremployees close to two thirds (64.3 %) hadparticipated in this during the last 12 months,but less than half of the older ones (42.5 %).In service work, as in non-formal training andalso in on-the-job learning, the older employ-ees had participated more than the youngerones. In manual work, participation was verylow (12.8 %), and again none of the olderworkers had participated during the previous12 months.

Training provided by the employer. Employershad provided most of the formal (77 %)and non-formal (84 %) training (Table 18). Ingeneral, compared to younger workers, train-ing was more often paid for older workers(p<.05), especially non-formal training (78.9% vs. 94 %). Formal training was most oftenprovided to manual workers (74 %), especiallythe older ones, which may at least partlyexplain their higher participation rates shownabove. Non-formal training instead was mosttypically provided for employees in servicework, again especially for older workers.

Comparison of the age work type groupsshowed some differences, although statisti-cally significant (p<.05) only in regard to non-formal training (table 18). In manual work,employers had paid for all the formal trainingfor older workers. Employers had providedtraining more often for younger workers alsoin service work (79.2 % of older workersvs. 68.2 % of younger employees). In officework, however, it was the opposite, so thattraining was more often provided for younger(65.5 %) than older (57.1 %) employees. Innon-formal training, employers had providedalmost all the training for older workers inservice (94.4 %) and office work (92.9 %).

Length of participation. Length of participationvaried depending on the form of training.In general, one to nine weeks was a typicallength for formal (40.7 %) and non-formal(54.9 %) training, although 37 % of the non-formal training had lasted less than a week.On-the-job learning activities had most typi-

51'

cally (38 %) lasted a maximum of one day (1-7hours), although in office work 15-35 hourswas the most typical length.

However, notable differences can be observedwhen the effects of age and work type aretaken into account (Table 18). Firstly, formaltraining was longest among the youngermanual workers (an average of 39.4 weeks).Secondly, compared to younger workers, par-ticipation of older workers had been ofshorter duration (p<.01) in all types of work.Non-formal and on-the-job training had beenlongest in service work.Whilst in services,these non-credit courses had typically takenbetween 1-9 weeks, in office work they hadbeen more evenly divided between thosetaking less than a week and those taking1-9 weeks. Similarly the length of on-thejob-training had a more uniform pattern inoffice work (mostly 1-7 hours), while in officework learning activities varied more by dura-tion. On-the-job training was relatively rare inmanual work, but it tended to be longer thanin services and office work.

Consequences of participation in training. Most ofthose who had participated in training (62.8%) reported some effects in the workplace.However, these effects depended strongly onage and work type. In addition, the higher thetraining background in the group in question(manual low - office work high), the fewer theconsequences reported from training partici-pation (control for training weakened this rela-tionship notably, although it still remained sta-tistically significant). Most training effects werereported by manual (76.6 %) and service (69.1%) workers, in particular by the younger ones,while less than a half (46.3 %) of the officeworkers did so (x2p<.01). Of the latter, only athird of the older employees reported somekind of consequences from their training par-ticipation. Most typical training effects werenew job tasks and increased professionalresponsibility.

Learning culture

The results showed that learning culturecould be characterised in a fairly positivemanner in the WORKTOW- companies (table

52

I 9).With regard to all issues except feedback,a majority of the employees in almost all ageand work type groups agreed with the mostlypositively formulated statements concerningthe organisation's learning culture. Further-more, when it comes to the learning of olderworkers, the situation in SMEs appeared to befairly positive.

In general there were statistically significantdifferences only with regard to feedback (x2between the three work types at p<.01) andthe success of older workers in learning (x2between the three work types at p<.05). Inmanual work more than 70 % of both theyounger and older employees reported thatthey were given enough feedback in the com-pany to perform their job adequately, whileless than a half in service and office workdid so. Compared to younger workers, olderworkers thought more often that their suc-

cess in the learning they had undertaken wasas good as that of younger workers (olderworkers around 80 % and younger around 70%). Generally speaking, older workers tendedto view the various aspects of learning culturemore positively than younger workers. How-ever, in manual work this was not the casewith regard to encouragement to come upwith nerw ideas

Learning organisation. Most typically (25.4 %)the respondents considered their companyto be as much of a learning organisation asother companies in the field.About one fifththought their company to be either more orless of a learning organisation. However, therewere more than 30 % of those who couldnot express their opinion.There were statisti-cally significant differences between the sixgroups (x2p<.01) so that in manual work andin services the most typical response was

Table 19 Descriptions of the companies' learning culture by work type and age group(% 'agree' or 'strongly agree')

In this company... Manual- 45 yrs 45+ yrs

...employees are givenenough feedback toperform their job adequately 70.0 73.3

...we are encouraged toasking questions 48.7 56.3

... we are encouraged tocoming with new ideasabout work 65.8 60.0...the training of olderworkers is consideredas important as the trainingof younger workers 67.6 93.8....the success of olderworkers in learning undertakenis as good as that of youngerworkers 68.4 80.0...older workers havedifficulties in learningnew skills required innon-managerial iobsA 61.6 68.8

Service- 45 yrs 45+ yrs

Office- 45 yrs 45+ yrs

x2 Sig' AII2 (x2 Sig)- 45 yrs 45+ yrs

45.9 46.7 47.7 51.3 n.s 52.0 52.5

54.1 60.9 47.8 66.7 n.s 50.6 62.4

60.8 63.0 62.7 74.4 n.s 62.6 67.0

79.7 68.1 83.3 68.4 n.s 78.5 72.3

74.3 87.2 70.1 82.1 * 71.5 82.4(1

60.8 70.5 72.7 84.6 n.s 65.3 75.8

*<-05; I Between the six groups; 2 Between the age groups; Scale used: I = Strongly disagree,2 =Disagree, 3 =Agree, 4 = Strongly agree (A scale turned so that the percentages indicatedisagreement or strong disagreement)

53 5

`cannot say' (around 50 % in manual workfor both age groups), whereas in office workit was 'about the same'. However, we wantto point out here that we did not define"a learning organisation" in the questionnaireso that we had no control over what organi-sational aspects the employees had in mindwhen rating their company.

An older worker? In general 41 % respondedthat no fixed age-limits could be given toindicate when a worker can be considered an"older worker".The percentages were highestin office (56 %) and service work (42 %).Thus, those who mentioned age-limits wereoften employees from the manual sector andthey most typically referred to 50, 55 or 60years of age. No statistically significant age-dif-ferences were found.Amongst all the employ-ees, 23 % could not express their opinionwith regard to this.

Self-directed learning

On the basis of the results, the employees canbe characterised as relatively self-directed in

their learning and job-related problem solving(Table 20). Of all the employees, a totalof 70 % responded that they prefered tofind solutions themselves rather than askingothers first. Rather than overall age dif-ferences, we found statistically significantdifferences across the work types amongthe younger workers (x2 p <.0 I), especiallybetween manual and service work. In thelatter sector, the preference for finding solu-tions oneself was lower (56.6 %), while in theformer it was higher (87.7 %) than in anyother groups.

Most of the employees (74 %) often tookinitiatives to update their job competence.Whilst taking the initiative was as commonamong the older and younger workers inservice work (78.9 %), it was reported lessoften among older workers in manual (50 %)and office (65 %) work.

Ways to update one's competence. Those whosaid they took initiatives to update their com-petence did it most typically by asking col-

Table 20 Descriptions of the companies' learning culture by work type and age group(% 'often' or 'very often')

Manual- 45 yrs 45+ yrs

Service- 45 yrs 45+ yrs

Office- 45 yrs 45+ yrs

X2 Sig' All (x2 Sig)- 45 yrs 45+ yrs

Prefer to find solutions byoneself rather than askingothers first 87.7 76.5 56.6 72.5 78.6 72.5 4°1' 68.3 73.0Take initiative in updatingone's job competence 72.1 50.0 78.9 78.9 70.0 65.0 n.s. 75.1 70.9

Woys to update......ask colleagues 77.5 46.2 81.5 82.5 75.0 64.I 78.8 72.2...ask superiors 48.7 35.7 72.4 59.7 47.2 28.2 :444: 60.9 46.1M...talk with experts inthe field 35.1 53.8 50.4 48.3 52.1 63.2 48.5 54.1...use the Internet 8.3 0.0 8.9 19.1 31.0 7.9 15.7 12.8...read manuals andinformation from suppliers 52.8 46.2 60.8 55.6 73.6 80.0 * 63.5 62.9...read professional journals 24.3 30.8 42.3 48.3 64.8 79.5 *** 46.3 57.1...attend courses andeducation/training programson one's own initiative 2.8 8.3 33.6 32.6 32.8 23.2 ** 25.4 30.3...other ways 0.0 0.0 50.0 62.5 80.0 80.0 n.s. 63.9 36.1

X2*<.05,**<.01,*+*<.001; Scale used: I =Never, 2 =Rarely, 3 =Often, 4 = Very often

SS 54

leagues, by reading manuals and informationfrom suppliers and by reading professionaljournals.There were however statistically sig-nificant differences between the age and workgroups with regard to most ways of updating,as is shown in Table 20. In manual workyounger employees mainly relied on collegialhelp (77.5 %), while for older workers themost typical method was to talk with experts(53.8 %). In service work collegial support waspreferred above other forms in both agegroups, but additionally, the younger employ-ees particularly also often asked for helpfrom superiors (72.4 %). In office work col-legiality was more important to younger thanolder employees in this respect.The latterpreferred reading and some other ways (notmentioned in the questionnaire) when updat-ing competence.Attending training on one'sown initiative and using the Internet werethe least used means, in particular in manualwork. Not unexpectedly, using the Internetwas more typical of younger workers,although in services, older employees used itfor competence updating more than twice asoften as younger employees.

Summary and conclusions

Altogether 27 SMEs involving 37 employers/managers and 378 employees from threecountries participated in the WORKTOWsurvey. Most of the companies represented theservice sector.A quarter of the companies hada maximum of 30 employees, another quarterbetween 31 and 50 employees, and three hadmore than 200 employees.Two thirds of theemployees were below 45 years of age. Morethan a half of them (54 %) were service work-ers, a third (30 %) office workers and 16 %were from the manual sector.

In the survey we requested information frommanagers about the organisational context ofSMEs for Iearning.The results showed thatmajor changes had been made in almost allcompanies, most commonly in the industrialsector. (eg. development of quality systems).These changes were reported to have animpact on older workers only in the industrialsector but not in services and office work.

55

There were also considerable differencesbetween companies in HRD and training.Thisarea was best developed in service sectorSMEs.Training was most typically carried outas on-the-job training, trainers being companystaff. Management rated an employee as anolder worker at an average age of 50 years.A majority of the managers, especially in serv-ices, did not consider there were age-limits todefining a worker as being too old to learnnew skills in a non-managerial job.

From employees, subjective assessments ofthe characteristics of the SMEs as learningenvironments were requested.These resultsshowed that SMEs as workplaces offeredan environmental framework for learning atwork.The work situation was often reportedto be hectic, but feelings of stress wererare. Differences were found between sectorsbut not between age groups.Work type butnot age also contributed to most differencesfound in the control of work by deadlines(manual and office), customers, managementand repetitive tasks and routines (service).Generally speaking, older workers reportedless control to their work by various factors,the differences being the greatest withinmanual work.Work provided learning oppor-tunities to some extent.Again there wereno direct age effects but rather, effects bywork type and joint effects of age and worktype.The opportunities were rated the bestin office work. Differences found in learningopportunities were greater among the olderthan the younger workers across sectors, inparticular in computer use.

Possibilities of using or developing job com-petence were rated strong or very strong,with the exception of the overall possibilitiesof participating in education and training.Older workers tended to view their pos-sibilities as somewhat better, especially inthe manual sector. In manual work especially,older workers saw the possibilities of devel-oping professional skills in the areas theywished to be much better than those foryounger workers, whereas with regard to thepossibilities of obtaining necessary training,the opposite situation prevailed.

A majority of the employees (78 %) had under-taken some form of training during the lastthree years, mostly on-the-job (46 %) andformal training (45 %).The employers providedolder workers with more training, but theyparticipated less than younger colleagues, espe-cially in formal training. In addition, the trainingthey undertook tended to be shorter in dura-tion than among younger workers. In formaltraining participation there were differencesacross sectors but only among younger work-ers. In the manual sector, employees had par-ticipated almost only in formal training. In theservice sector, it was the older workers morethan younger ones who had participated innon-formal and informal training.

Most of those who had participated in train-ing reported some effects in the workplace,although this was dependent on age and worktype.The higher the training background ofan employee, the fewer the consequencesreported. Manual and service sector employ-ees, especially the younger ones, reported themost training effects (about 70 %), and olderoffice workers - the least (about 30 %).

The notion of a learning culture was charac-terised in a fairly positive manner in SMEs, andnoticeably, among older workers.The onlyexception was in obtaining feedback, althoughmanual sector employees tended to be satis-fied with that also.

That learning and problem solving whichtook place in SMEs was relatively stronglyself-directed. No age-differences, but rather,cross-sectoral differences between manualand service work were found. Service sectorworkers preferred the least to find solutionsthemselves, but tended to ask for helpfrom colleagues (especially the younger work-ers), whereas manual sector employees weremost self-reliant in this respect. Most of theemployees often took initiatives to updatetheir job competence, albeit older workersless so in manual and office work. In general,the most common ways to update one's com-petence was asking colleagues, reading manu-als and information from suppliers, as well asreading professional journals.

A conclusion that can be made on the basisof these results is that age differences inhow employees view SMEs as learning envi-ronments are relatively small, and in manyrespects non existent. Instead, cross -sectorialdifferences were often significant.The onlyexception to some extent was participationin formal training. Further, strong joint age-sector effects were found in many cases,showing differences only between one agegroup but not in the other, or only in somecases.This suggests that, when aiming toadvance opportunities for learning and devel-oping an environment for learning in theworkplace, the starting point should prefer-ably be the specific attributes of the particu-lar job sector and occupational branch inquestion. In addition, the local circumstances,rather than the age of the potential partic-ipants (employees) in the SMEs should betaken into account.

Another conclusion is that more attentionshould be paid to the outcomes of training.Highly experienced workers especially andthose with higher education should bothfind participation in training rewarding andmeaningful in the workplace context.This islikely to set a challenge to training providersas well as to managers and employers inSMEs.

5657

IV Case studies on learning interventions

WORKTOW interventions focused on map-ping the learning environment in general,including the opportunities for participationin learning situations, attitudes towards olderworkers, perceived competence and theinvestigation of individual learning styles andpreferences for learning.The rationale, themethods used and the subjects involved inthe various project sites varied, whilstthe goal was shared ie to improve oppor-tunities for learning among older workers.Some partners chose to focus solely onolder workers, whilst others adopted an inte-grative approach involving all workers.Theseapproaches resulted in five different learninginterventions but each was designed to real-ise the common goal:

Learning Interventions as Individual Reflection

on Learning Styles (Kee le)

Learning Interventions Based on Employee

Development. Schemes (EDS) (Lancaster)

Learning Interventions as Action Research

with a Broad Developmental AssessmentOyvaskyla)

Learning Interventions as Evaluation and DataFeedback of Dialogic Practices and Career

Development (NOVA)

Learning Interventions as Participatory Analysis

of Learning Practices and Career Patterns(WRI)

The differences in the approaches partnersadopted were partly due to the different con-texts for working life across the WORKTOWcountries as well as to differences in profes-sional interests amongst the research groups.Originally a company was agreed as a unit ofstudy, but eventually, the different approachesfocused on different levels. Only one inter-vention, the learning-style study at Keele, hadan exclusively individual level approach In theNOVA intervention, focusing the study on

57

the individual level of learning processes wasnot allowed in project companies.All partnersactually did collect individual data, but theinterventions were, for most partners, basedon group activities, for example workshops,where aggregated individual data from thefieldwork was fed back to the organisationfor discussion. Mapping individual learningneeds among employees by use of the EDS inLancaster could also be seen as operating atthe individual level, but the feedback processtook place at organisational level.

The partners agreed on three criteria forselecting the companies for the interventions.

Firstly, the companies were to be small ormedium sized, later adjusted to be consist-ent with the national criteria for SMEs.

Secondly, they were to cover three worktypes: manual, communication (service),and information (office) work.

Thirdly, they were to have older workers,defined as employees aged 45 years andabove, among their staff.

The main methodology involved both quanti-tative and qualitative methods for data col-lection.The overall learning environment, asdescribed through a survey conducted inthe 27 WORKTOW companies selected, wasdescribed in part three (III) of this report foreach three work types, separately to olderand younger workers.Various forms of dia-logue were crucially important in all the inter-ventions made. Emphasis varied from a basicinstrument to investigate and enhance theunderstanding of one's own personal learningstyle, via understanding differences in percep-tions and attitudes, communicating learningand development needs among staff, to ana-lysing interconnections between careers andlearning and the development of organisations.

Learning interventions as individual reflectionon learning stylesAlexandra Withnall, Kee le University

Rationale

In presenting the rationale for this study thefollowing points seem important:

There is a gap in our knowledge aboutadult learning styles in general and thoseof older people in particular. The genderdimension is also often neglected.

Empirical research on learning styles hasbeen carried out extensively in the USAbut largely with children and youngerpeople.

Differences in learning styles are rarelytaken into account when instructionalmethods are considered.

In the literature on learning styles modelsthe work of Kolb (1976) and Honey & Mum-ford (1986; 1992) were those most frequentlyused in a practical context in the workplacein the UK. Honey and Mumford suggest thatmost adults use a blend of four learningstyles, which shape an individual approachto learning (activists, reflectors, theorists andpragmatists).This model was rejected infavour of one based on instructional prefer-ence, which mainly attempts to measure theindividual's preference for environmental con-ditions in a learning situation rather than thepsychological processes involved.

Method

An extension of a learning style inventory byRundle & Dunn (1999), Building Excellence (BE):the Learning Individual Programme, was utilised.This Learning Style Inventory (LSI) specificallydesigned for use with adults is a 118-itemself-completion instrument, which measurespreference factors reflecting key variables:

Perceptual elements

Psychological elements

S. A

Environmental elements

Physiological factors

Emotional factors

Sociological elements (including preferredleadership style and group interactionprocesses)

Information derived from the Building Excel-lence Inventory is most important when anindividual is developing new skills, masteringnew information or solving complex prob-lems. It is less important when an individual isengaged in a familiar routine work.

In addition a booklet was devised for indi-vidual use consisting of material and exerciseson individual skills, learning from experience,good and bad learning experiences and ideasfor a personal learning plan. ("This is YourLife").These were originally to be used withina workshop environment (see below).

In addition to the data obtained throughthe workshops and the completed booklets,pilot interviews were conducted in two com-panies (6 women between 40 and 61 years).The WORKTOW-questionnaires were admin-istered in five companies.

RecruitmentSelection of research sites was carried outin accordance with the criteria laid down inthe original WORKTOW proposal. In view ofon-going changes in the nature of the labourmarket, it was decided to focus particularlyon what is sometimes considered to be 'wom-en's work'.This suggested some areas wherewomen would be concentrated ie caring, tour-ism and leisure and training and development.

Methods for recruiting companies who mightwish to participate included:

58

Mail shots

A press release

Contact with different Chambers of Com-merce and employers' organisations

Personal contact by telephone and letter

Recruitment was found somewhat difficultin that it often depended on the goodwilland availability of a particular individual. Shiftworking, especially among nursing home staff,also meant that the timing of the interven-tions had to be carefully planned.

Implementation of the LIThe BE Adult Learning Style Inventory wasdelivered in a workshop environment in threeof the participating organisations - two nurs-ing homes and a training agency. During theworkshops, efforts were made to provide acomfortable and non-threatening situation forthe participants.

Employees from a pottery retail outlet and ahotel completed the inventory in their owntime and posted it to the researchers.A totalof 10 women participated in the three work-shops and a further 16 completed the BELearning Style Inventory.

Results from the Kee le-study

I. Dimensions on the Learning Style Inventory

Perception. "Tactile" (external kinaesthetic)was the most preferred means oflearning new information whereas emo-tional involvement was the least preferred.

Psychological elements. Most of the responses

were neutral, then a preference for a sys-tematic approach in contrast to a globalapproach whereas there was roughly thesame score for reflective decision makingcompared with an impulsive approach.

Environmental elements favouring learningfor these respondents were well-lit, warm,informal and quiet environments.

Physiological elements. No strong prefer-ences in relation to eating or movingaround in learning situations showed up inthe material. Preferred time for learningwas late morning and early afternoon.

Emotional elements. Slightly more favour-ing internal above external motivation, butmany expressed no preference.A distinctpreference for non-conformity, but quite afew preferred more structure.

Sociological elements. A preference for lessauthority, less variety and smaller workgroups.

2. Booklet answersThe booklets were completed in workshopsor individually.The following is a categorisa-tion of good and bad learning experiences.

Good learning experiences may stem from:

A degree of learner control over the learn-ing environment

The opportunity to participate in a non-competitive environment

An informal setting

A prior degree of interest in the topic ormaterial

A comfortable atmosphere

A calm teacher/lecturer who is patient,well-informed with a sympathetic approach

Conversely, bad learning experiences tended to be

largely the result of what were perceived as poorteaching or instructional methods:

Teachers who lacked imagination, wereboring or presented material poorly

Teachers with an unsympathetic or intimi-dating attitude

A competitive learning environment

3. Follow-up interviewsFor the final stage of the project, it wasplanned to carry out in-depth semi-struc-tured interviews with at least a 50 % sampleof the 26 women who completed the LSIand/or took part in the workshops. Unfortu-nately, there were no volunteers for the pro-posed interviews, so this part of the interven-tion was therefore abandoned.

4. Evaluation of the interventionTo evaluate the impact of the "This is YourLife" pack and the individual feedback pro-vided on the LSI, a confidential questionnaire

59 8 0

was mailed to 25 participants.The themeswere related to recent learning events andpersonal learning plans, feedback on the LSI,relevance and usefulness of the pack.Only 2 responses were received, and a brieffollow-up questionnaire was despatched tothe 24 non-respondents to try to uncoverthe possible reasons for this non-response. 6responses were received indicating that theydid not find the project interesting, relevantor enjoyable.These responses are obviouslymuch too small in number to draw on anydefinite conclusions. However, coupled withthe overall lack of response to the requestfor interviewees, it seems that the womenwho had participated were either too busyto respond and/or did not find the idea ofunderstanding their personal learning stylesor indeed anything connected with learning asrelevant in their present environments.

Discussion of the Keele study

In relation to the aims of the Keele interven-tion, the following comments can be made.

General observations

The decision to focus mainly on "women'swork" meant that many of the participantswere employed in low skilled jobs, ofteninvolving part-time or shift-working arrange-ments. The fact that time was cited asa factor for non-response to our ques-tionnaires and may also account for thegeneral disinterest in further participation inthe project suggests that, for many olderwomen, work is firmly intertwined with issuesof family and other relationships which implydemands and responsibilities that have to beconstantly juggled with work commitments.

Evidence that learning was not a priority forthese participants has already been seen inthe earlier fieldwork when a general lack oftraining opportunities accompanied by a lackof concern about this situation among bothemployers and employees was found. Inaddition, problems experienced with securingand maintaining the participation of SMEsin the project and furthermore, in arrangingthe workshops and interviews, suggests

RI

that neither employers nor employees sawany immediate relevance in furthering theirknowledge about learning and about howtraining might best be delivered in theworkplace. Neither participants nor theiremployers seemed aware of any needto change, let alone sure of how toprogress.There was little recognition of agediversity in the work place.

Accordingly, little importance was attached toobtaining knowledge of employees' learningstyles or indeed, to providing any planned andstructured training opportunities for them aspart of company policy. In general, thereappeared to be reliance by both employersand employees on pre-existing skills or onskills developed outside the work place.Thesemight have been gained in a domestic situa-tion, in the course of previous employmentor through self-initiated training and learningexperiences.The only exception was in thosework places, such as the nursing homes,that are subject to statutory regulation andthus to periodic inspection by social serviceDepartments and where nursing and carestaff are required to undergo certain trainingassociated with, for example, safe proceduresfor lifting of residents.

Specific observations

The BE Learning Style Inventory. It is oftenassumed that all older workers learn in aparticular way that is somehow different fromyounger people. However, learning styles atany age are necessarily individualistic althoughsome connections between learners can bemade. The patterns revealed were specific tothis group of respondents. However, it wasthe case that the BE Learning Style Inventoryin this form proved too complex to usewith women who were mainly in low statusjobs and for whom the idea of learning wasalien.

In theory, a simpler user-friendlier instrumentcould offer better insights into how an under-standing of employees' learning styles couldbenefit both individual learners (of any age)and influence HRD policies and training prac-tices in a range of different SMEs. Riding

60

and Rayner (1998) demonstrate how individu-als develop a variety of learning strategies fordealing with the learning tasks especially thosethat they perceive to be incompatible withtheir preferred learning style.They suggest thata specific scheme of work aimed at the teach-ing of learning strategies could form part ofa workplace-training programme as a way ofunderpinning workplace development and con-tributing to the processes of lifelong learning.

In a broader context, it is apparent that use ofa learning style inventory casts the educator/trainer/HRD specialist in the role of psycho-diagnostician and facilitator of other people'slearning. However this diagnostic approachshould include the broader social and culturalcontext in order to understand the workroles of older women workers that are intrin-sically bound up with their roles and respon-sibilities in non-work contexts.

The exercises in the pack (This isYourLife) did indicate some of the individualand environmental constraints that may inhibitolder employees from learning, many of whichappeared to be the result of poor teachingand learning management in the compulsoryphase of education. However, it appears thatmost of these participants were in the "pre-contemplation" stage with regards to learning.This is described as the "stage in which peopleare unaware of having problems or for otherreasons are not thinking seriously about chang-ing" (Prochaska and Di Clemente, 1994, p.24).Research into behaviour change would suggestthat, if action is forced at this very stage, drop-out rates are often over 50 %. Studies haverevealed that those in the contemplation stageof change are most open to both feedback(information based on the personal experi-ences of the individual) and education (infor-mation regarding external events) a processof change that Prochaska and Di Clementeterm "consciousness raising". If participantshad been at the stage of contemplation, someof the workshop pack would have been highlyappropriate, being designed to encourage dis-cussion of problems, and providing useful infor-mation to help resolve some of the issues thatit was expected would be raised.

Completion of the LSI and use of the pack atthis stage did, however, reveal some more posi-tive pointers for teaching and training deliverythat could be used to empower older (female)employees as learners in future and to informtheir work practices. Participants were providedwith information about their personal learningpreferences; they were made aware of the lifecourse factors, which had influenced their atti-tudes to learning and analysed what, for them,constituted a good (or bad) learning experi-ence.They were therefore armed with somesources of individual guidance about the kindsof learning environments in which they are mostlikely to flourish.This kind of self -awarenesscan also be empowering as a first step toincreasing effectiveness at work through a rec-ognition of their own strengths, an understand-ing that others may learn in other ways andmay have complementary strengths and forworking in a more collaborative mode espe-

cially important for those women working incare settings and for non-work contexts.Thewomen who participated can therefore referback to their packs in future if they are requiredto undergo training or are employed in anyother work contexts. However, this aspect ofthe intervention does not lend itself to immedi-ate evaluation of its effectiveness; any impact willbe long-term and may not be apparent for sometime.

It is clear that ideas about the importance ofolder workers in the labour market and theirtraining needs are not yet at as advanced astage in the UK as in some other Europeancountries, notably in Scandinavia.Through theintervention, managers' attention was drawnto impending changes in UK governmentpolicy in respect of lifelong learning andthe necessity to focus more immediately onissues concerned with the development ofolder employees' knowledge and skills as partof any HRM change (Current relevant devel-opments in the UK have been discussed ear-lier in this report, pp. 5, 17, 23). In this sense,the intervention may have a further long-termoutcome not susceptible to evaluation at thisstage.

Conclusions

The Kee le intervention was originally basedwithin six SMEs. Because of the general lackof interest in the training of older workersin the sectors investigated and the difficultiesencountered in recruitment, the focus of theintervention changed to individual level.Theintervention showed that, in some sectors,mainly those involving low skilled workersin low status jobs and these are usuallywomen there is still a long way to goin encouraging employers and older workersthemselves to recognise and acknowledgetheir importance in the workplace and toaccept the need to ensure that they haveaccess to learning and training opportunities.However, with the increasing emphasis onlifelong learning at European level and therecent discovery of the potential value ofolder workers in the UK, this may graduallychange.An understanding of learning styleswill then assume a new relevance. In thissense, the intervention was innovative inthat it introduced a new and more focusedmethod of analysing individual learning stylepreferences to Europe. It also showed thevalue of developing a biographical approachto understanding older workers' attitudestowards undertaking learning and their peda-gogical preferences. Such methods have con-siderable implications for human resourcedevelopment practice and ultimately for thepromotion of lifelong learning across Europe.

63 62

Learning interventions based on EmployeeDevelopment Schemes (EDS)Peter Ward, Lancaster University

Rationale

The Employee Development (ED) Schemeswere introduced in the UK in 1989 with abroad and optimistic educational philosophyunderlying: learning is viewed to be desirablefor all employees of a company. Studies (Beat-tie, 1997; Firth & Coffey, 1997) on effects ofED schemes have shown a range of benefitsfor companies as a result of introducing theseschemes. In the Lancaster area, a consortium,the Lancaster Employee Development Consor-tium, was established in 1997 by the two part-ner institutions the Department of Continu-ing Education at Lancaster University and theAdult College at Lancaster with grant sup-port from the Department for Education andEmployment. (This has now been renamed theDepartment for Education and Skills).

The main aim of the Consortium was to setup ED schemes in companies in the localarea, with the following objectives:

to increase learning opportunities avail-able to employees of local companiesto increase participation in learningactivities by employees of local com-panies, particularly "non-traditional learn-ers" (adults who are under-represented ineducation and training)to help local companies work towardsNational Training and Education Targets,and thereby increase local and nationalcompetitiveness.

There is a broad and optimistic educationalphilosophy underlying the ED schemes in theUK according to which learning (vocationalor non-vocational) is seen to be desirablefor all employees of a company. Increasedparticipation in education, training and learn-ing opportunities may, it is claimed, eventuallyand directly or indirectly benefit a company'sskill levels and competitiveness.

(0 Lk 63

MethodA significant feature of ED schemes is thepartnership between employer and employee- both parties benefit and both parties con-tribute in kind.The employer may develop ascheme that offers and provides:

An annual financial entitlement toemployees to encourage participation in alearning programmeCourses (of a non-work or work-relatednature) on work premisesTime off work for course attendanceImpartial guidance (through an educa-tional guidance counsellor) about learningand career opportunities

The employee for her/his part invests her/hisown time in the learning programme, maymake a financial contribution (perhaps partialtowards the full cost of a course), and can beexpected, in return, to offer the employer asense of commitment and loyalty. In this way,the scheme can be seen as mutually beneficial.

ED schemes can encourage participation inlearning activities by 'non-traditional learners'(including working class adults, middle-agedmales, adults who left school at the earliestopportunity without formal qualifications)who are under-represented in other formsof education and training. By encouragingand supporting employees to return to aformal learning situation, barriers to participa-tion can be overcome and progression pro-moted.Whatever the learning activity (workor non-work related) employees can be re-introduced to the requirements, discipline andrewards of a structured learning experience.

Company recruitmentContact with a sample of SMEs (by size andsector) was attempted through a mailing to

500 organisations in the region (north-west purpose of the project and the commitmentEngland). Possible SMEs were identified via: and support required of SMEs/managers.

consultations with local organisations suchas the Chamber of Commerce

an economic development unit

the Training and Enterprise Council

direct contact (usually by telephone to anamed contact) with SMEs in the light ofadvice offered by the organisations above,information gained from company directo-ries, and from local knowledge and con-tacts.

Initially the WORKTOW Project was to beconcerned with SMEs with up to 200 employ-ees. Subsequently, this was raised to 500when project partners experienced difficultyand delay in recruiting SMEs.

Essentially, the Lancaster intervention com-prised three phases once contact was estab-lished with an SME and senior managersdecided to support the project

phase one: training needs analysis involvingone-to-one meetings with all or a sampleof employees,

phase two: establishment and developmentof an ED scheme, including the delivery ofeducation/training opportunities,

phase three: evaluation of interventionfrom the perspective of employees (bya further round of one-to-one meetings),managers, and the organisation as a whole.

This intervention 'package' would, therefore,require senior managers to make a significantcommitment to the project in terms ofemployee-time and cost, especially for timeaway from work to take part in the one-to-one meeting(s). In addition, it would be neces-sary to consider the cost of providing coursesfor training needs identified in the meetingsand the cost of providing an annual education/training allowance for each employee to useas they wish.

In the mailing, and particularly in direct con-tact with senior managers by telephone, itproved a challenge to describe succinctly the

65

Results from the Lancaster-study

Four of the six organisations in the Lancastersample introduced ED schemes, and allschemes have made a positive impact on bothemployees and the organisation. Older work-ers have benefited in terms of:

help to identify and clarify education andtraining needs

provision of career and educationalguidance

take-up of cash allowance for education/training provision of their own choice

growth in confidence/personal develop-ment

increased participation in, and commitmentto lifelong learning

enhanced commitment to the organisation

introduction to information technology(IT) and commitment to, and confidence inits use

In the two non-ED scheme organisations,HRD policies and provision are well estab-lished, and older workers are benefiting fromthe relaunch of the open learning centre andIT-training in one company and from the wideranging provision in the other.

It was evident from the one-to one meetingswith a total of 75 employees aged 45 yearsand above, that older workers generally bringa range of knowledge, skills, experience andpositive attitudes to their work.Age was notseen as an issue with regard to the type ofwork or to the organisation. Indeed manyinterviewees emphasised the value of experi-ence both for their work and for the organ-isation. From statements made during thecourse of the project, it was apparent thatmanagers recognise the valuable contributionolder workers make to the organisation.

Most older workers adopt a flexibleapproach to their work and are adjustingto, and coping with the gathering pace of

64

change and the need for new learning withinthe workplace.This has been brought aboutby eg the introduction of new machinery,methods and systems; increasing workloads;and the impact of change as a result ofnew legislation and new theory and practice.Overall, the majority felt they could contrib-ute more to the organisation based on theirknowledge and skills, though there were nospecific cases where older workers felt theywere marginalised or excluded due to theirage.

Many older workers are interested in the pos-sibility of promotion and/or other jobs. Nomajor concerns about job hopes and plans wereexpressed though there was general concernabout work pressures, constant change, andpossible job loss.With regard to retirement,approximately equal numbers in the samplewere interested in early retirement or in work-ing to the official retirement age. The findingthat half the sample is interested in early retire-ment, if possible and financially viable illustratesthe extent to which this expectation is nowfirmly established in the workplace.

Of the older workers gave the impression ofcommitment to and interest in their workand the organisation. With regard to makinga stronger contribution, the issue for manyolder workers is not a lack of learning opportu-nities, nor feelings of being undervalued and/orexcluded. Most concern is due to the quantityand pressure of work, the lack of time to workeffectively, and the constant change imposedboth internally and externally. It is apparent thatthere are barriers to participation in educationand training, largely relating to the lack of timeand pressure of work, including shift and over-time working, and changing patterns of work.Employees cited examples of middle managersobstructing participation in training sessionsbecause of the pressure of work.

Almost all the older workers had taken partin formal education/training in the year priorto the meeting, largely in courses providedby employers or by using the education allow-ance in the ED schemes. All employersmade `mandatory' provision e.g. health and

safety, basic food hygiene, thereby reflectingthe growth of mandatory/formalised trainingrequired by UK government legislation, aswell as training (e.g. Care courses in thoseorganisations caring for people with learningdisabilities) required by funding agencies (e.g.local government). In addition there was aconsiderable amount of IT training, usually atbasic/intermediate level, reflecting the wide-spread introduction of IT in the workplace.Work-related and personal development ben-efits were reported from participation in alltypes of formal provision.

In addition to formal provision, older workerstook part in a range of non-formal and infor-mal learning activities in order to keep abreastof new developments both internal and exter-nal to their organisation.These learning activi-ties included attendance at seminars and meet-ings, reading (often in out-of-work hours) ofwork-related books and journals, and use ofthe Internet. Other examples included learningfrom suppliers' staff about the operation ofnew machinery during on site installation.

Where ED schemes have been introducedand an annual allowance (e.g. £30 or £50)made available for staff (of all ages) who wishto take education/training courses of theirown choice, there is evidence of involvementby older workers leading to enhanced com-mitment both to the organisation and tolifelong learning. Some older workers usedthe allowance for introductory IT courses,thereby ensuring both personal and work-related development.

ED schemes also provided a range of basiccourses (e.g. English/communication skills, math-ematics, IT) and these have attracted a rangeof employees including older workers and `non-traditional learners'.Again there is evidence ofpersonal and work-related development.

Evaluation of the research interventionIn order to complete the project activitywithin the organisations a questionnaire wassent to a senior manager contact in fiveorganisations. The intention was to discover

whether the project research and reportsinformed the view managers have of olderworkers and whether they influenced recruit-ment, and training and development policiesand practices. In addition managers wereinvited to comment on the value of thereports with regard to the provision of infor-mation and views from the sample of employ-ees on the day-to-day running of the organisa-tion.

Older workers are viewed 'very positively', as`a valuable part of the workforce who applytheir experience/maturity to their job in away which benefits the company'.Age is notregarded as an issue or a problem although inone company, older workers 'tend to go offsick more'. For one manager, older workers`often bring a period of longer-term reliabilitywith them because their lifestyle is more set-tled'.

Given the positive view managers had ofolder workers, the research findings generallyconfirmed existing views.As a result of theresearch, one manager now sees older work-ers 'as a more valuable asset ... (I am) moreaware of the potential value of older work-ers'.

Recruitment, and training and developmentpolicies and practices were reinforced bythe findings and remain relatively unchanged.With regard to training and development,one organisation will 'fine tune' some of theirapproaches in the light of the findings, particu-larly where there 'have been some misunder-standings'.

The findings covered the views of interview-ees on additional topics requested by manag-ers, and on the day-to-day running of theorganisation. In one organisation the findingswere put to the management team for con-sideration, and in another 'we have certainlyconsidered the issues raised and this hashelped us to determine which areas to focuson i.e. staff appraisal, communication, consul-tation'.

7

Discussion and conclusions

The findings of the Lancaster interventionrelate to the WORKTOW-objectives asfollows:

Objective I ... Older workers bring a rangeof knowledge, skills, experienceand positive attitudes to theworkplace, and many considerthey could contribute more tothe organisation.

Objective 2... Learning by older workers inthe workplace was undertakenthrough formal and mandatoryprovision of courses, and bynon-formal and informal learn-ing activities.

Objective 3... Lifelong learning opportunitiesfor older workers have beenfacilitated in the four organisa-tions in which ED schemes hadbeen established (and in thetwo non-ED scheme organisa-tions, where HRD policies andprovision are well-established),and the schemes strengthenedthe contribution of olderworkers to the organisation.

Objective 4... Managers regarded the diver-sity of the workforce as a pos-itive feature of organisations,especially for those in the Carefield.

Objective 5... ED schemes place emphasisupon personal development aswell as the development ofvocational and non-vocationalskills, often with emphasisupon the needs of 'non-tradi-tional learners', and thereforecontribute to the flexibility andproductivity of workers of allages, to social cohesion, andto the improved functioning ofthe labour market generally.

66

The Lancaster-study has been able to identifyinnovative ways of making older workersparticipate in learning activities. ED schemesare a means by which:

SMEs can invest in all their employeesincluding older workers and non-tradi-tional learners, and thereby make gains interms of commitment to the organisationand greater efficiency and productivity.

older workers can be encouraged to par-ticipate in learning activities, with EDschemes overcoming barriers to participa-tion, re-engaging individuals in the processof formal learning, and providing a boost toconfidence and personal development.

the knowledge, skills, experience and atti-tudes of older workers can be recognised,valued, utilised and strengthened.

SMEs can develop a learning culture.

SMEs can carry out skills audits/trainingneeds identification across the organisa-tion.

(68

Learning interventions as action research with a broaddevelopmental assessmentTarja Tikkanen, University of Jyvaskyla, Norwegian Institute of Adult Education (NVI)

(VOX commencing 1.1.2001)

Rationale

In Jyvaskyla we did not select older workersor their career development in the com-panies as specific targets for Lls. Rather,our approach can be defined an integratedone.We wanted to emphasise two particularaspects of the conceptualisation and practice

of adult education and training (AET) withinthe framework of lifelong learning. Firstly,participation is not usually limited by the ageof the participants, neither conceptually, norin providers' practices. In spite of the lackof these explicit age-limits in the latter, how-ever, it is often the case that various 'age-

Table 21 Summary of the main characteristics of the WORKTOW Learning Interventionplanned in Jyvaskyla

Learning focus Central contents Levels covered Goals

Concepts

Attitudes

Practice

Provision &SME support

Knowing, knowledgeLearningJob competenceLearning organisation

Towards learningTowards ageingLearning climate & culture

Informal learning modelsand approaches(new and old)

Training models andapproaches(traditional vs. "modern")

Options availableCompany-based focusSupport for learning &development in SMEs

IndividualOrganisational

Individual(employees)Organisational(management/supervisors)

IndividualOrganisationalFormal training

IndividualOrganisationalLocal

Broader views of knowledge,learning and competenceA concept of a learning organisation

Individual and organisational intro-spection into attitudes their natureand effects

Monitoring, identifying and utilisingthe existing competence in companyin a better way Examining/findingeffective ways to arrange in-companylearning, by e.g.- recognising the most competentmentors or learning facilitators(internal "teachers")- examining how senior-juniorcompositions could be deliberatelyused for effective learning- examining how management couldbetter support in-company learning- mapping the various obstacles(structural, attitudinal, or competence-related, etc) for more effective learning- improving in-company transfer oflearning and competence

Local knowledgeNetworkingSustainable practice (development)and cooperation

segregating' practices easily develop amongparticipants. Secondly, in the theory and prac-tice of AET, experienced workers are in manyways viewed as learning resources for other,less experienced workers, and thus, also as acompetence resource for companies.

Table 21 summarises the main characteristicsof the WORKTOW Learning Intervention inJyvaskyla.We defined four focus areas toexamine learning and training in companiesand to target interventions. Firstly, with cen-tral concepts we wanted to focus on theunderstanding and meaning of 'knowing' and'knowledge' as well as of 'learning', 'compe-tence' and learning organisation in the SMEs,among management and employees of vari-ous age. Secondly, we studied stereotypic think-ing of the age-learning and age-competencerelationships by focusing on attitudes.Thirdly,with the focus on practice of learning ouridea was to compare the "old" and "new"approaches to learning and learning methodsapplied in work-based informal and formaleducation and training.The fourth focus wason examining awareness of SMEs within thelocal education and training market The inten-tion was to expand the learning focus fromsolely within the companies to encompasslocal circumstances.All of these four focusareas were covered equally in all companies.

In addition to enhancing and stimulatingthinking on lifelong learning in work settings,

our main idea was to develop a model forlearning interventions in and for SMEs, basedon local network cooperation. The typicalapproach to training and interventions incompanies is a reactive (need-driven), highlytargeted and tailored, consultation-orientedintervention models and training approach,based on organisational problem definitionand problem solving. However, in Jyvaskylawe aimed at a broader and more proactivemodel.A proactive model would enhance andstimulate organisational and individual learn-ing and development more generally, andwould recognise both the need for and theactual reality of continuous learning. It wouldalso be based on reciprocal and interactiveinitiatives, stimulus, and support for learning,between the actors in the companies onone the hand and between the companiesand other relevant actors locally on theother.With the latter approach, the purposewas to bridge local practice, and thus tobuild sustainable and developmental network-ing locally.

Design and methodFigure 3 shows the overall design of theintervention in Jyvaskyla. It consisted of threephases: Learning Environment Analysis (LEA)based on questionnaires, interviews, learningworkshops and a local networking seminar.Additionally, LI and project evaluation wascarried out at the end of the project.

Figure 3 Learning interventions developed in University of Jyvaskyla

I Phase II Phase III Phase (Local Cooperation)

LearningEnvironmentAnalysis (LEA)in SMEs

Lls:

Learningworkshops

Local TrainingInstitutions (CET providers)

SMEs

Local Employment andEconomic DevelopmentCentre (EEDC)

LEAs (Phase I)

In LEAs we took the WORKTOW joint ques-tionnaires for managers and employees as astarting point.We also planned a guide forinterviews to approach issues that were rathertoo complex to be examined through question-naires. In spite of these plans, documentary datawas not collected. Besides CVs on projectexperience kept in one engineering company,issues related to learning and competence werenot recorded and documented in these SMEs.

The local issues added to the jointWORKTOW approach were:

Learning at work - learning skills, moti-vation, ability & practice in sharing one'slearning

Stronger focus on learning culture in SMEs

Job competence definition & needs, rec-ognition and maintenance, sources, use andpotential reserves

Information technology use, effects (onjob, work environment & workplace cli-mate), problems (a sub-project reportedseparately')

Experience, age and professional compe-tence experiences with and withoutlearning potential

Attitudes toward learning and ageing

Flexibility in working life flexibilityrequirements, rate of flexibility

Views on future future of a company, ofthe staff & of the staff aged 45+.

LEAs were conducted during the spring of1999 in all companies.The LEA results wereanalysed and reported back to the companiesas brief company-wise summaries betweenlate spring and early autumn the same year. Inaddition to company reports, a joint compara-tive summary report was written following arequest from the managers in some SMEs.

Learning workshops (Phase II)

Based on the results from the LEAs, learningworkshops were designed.The feedback

from the researchers was presented and dis-cussed in small-group sessions with employ-ers and/or employees. In practice, phases Iand II overlapped somewhat because, in somecases, the group interview sessions of phaseone turned into lively discussions on learningand competence in the SME in question.In these "learning workshops", however, noresearcher feedback element was present.Learning workshops took place betweenspring and autumn 1999.

Local Networking Seminar (Phase III)

The main goal and target for the local net-work seminar was to support learning anddevelopment in SMEs, while the aim was tobridge local practice and to provide condi-tions for more sustainable development inthese companies.A local network seminarwas a compromise we were forced to makein relation to our original idea of building athree-pillar - SMEs, CET providers, EEDC (seefigure 3, p. 65) local cooperation network.This was because the governmental agency,EEDC, refused cooperation with the projectin the beginning.Their argument for not join-ing in was that there was no need for thiskind of cooperation beyond the work theyalready did. However, this agency became will-ing and did join in towards the end of theproject when requested again later.

Before the actual seminar, likely need for, andinterest in participation were requested fromboth SME managers/owners and the repre-sentatives of local training institutions and theEED Centre.All these parties thought such aseminar was a good idea. However, finding timefor participation was reported as a problemamong employers/managers. Eventually only 43% (3/7) of the employers/managers were ableto participate in the seminar, together with five(5) representatives from the local CET provid-ers, one representative from the EED Centre,one Project Manager from a relevant EuropeanSocial Fund SME development project, and thelocal research group.

4 For a list of publications see endnote I of this partner chapter.

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0`141 41

Table 22 Summary of the characteristics of the companies involved in Jyvaskyla

Branch/Company Type of work Size' Autonomy Natural Learning Interventions

Production/Nursery

Manual 34 (-60) Independent IT into communication and productionsystems. Formal training in IT use & in betterclient service.

Bank Service 30 Independent New ITC-technology.Formal training in use of new ICT.

Pharmacy Service 3 I Independent unit, New ITC-technology.but a part of a Continuous training by the pharmacy trainnational chain headquarters (concerning new products)

Engineeringcompany (SA)

Information 30 Independent No

Wooden Manual 2752 Independent unit New HRM with a new personnel manager

production (Information) Introduction of communication technology

Engineeringcompany (MET)

Information 38 Independent Communication as a part of the IT system

Engineeringcompany (2K)

Information 40 Independent Result-based reward system. Internal trainer.Rather intensive cooperation with localtraining providers (company also sellingspecial courses)

' Number of employees in the company; 2 Only the white-collar workers (e.g. planning engineers andadministration staff) participated in our study, due to the wish of the manager.Thus, these employees weredefined to represent information work.

Recruitment of the companiesIn Jyvaskyla, the companies were recruitedaccording to the criteria set jointly by theWORKTOW consortium. Existing databases(catalogues and lists) of local companies wereused in recruitment, because they also con-tained the necessary background information(e.g. size of the company).A total of seven (7)companies were recruited.A summary of thecharacteristics of the participating companiesis shown in table 22.

Results from the Jyvaskyla study

An overview of the situation in the SMEsat the start of the project

The seven SMEs exhibited some commoncharacteristics.We were faced with a ratherturbulent business environment when beginningwork with the companies. Many of thefactors causing this turbulence concerned

SMEs' external environment or the boundarydomains (e.g. external communication andinformation flow in and out of the company)and were related to their location in abroader business-systemic environment (e.g.client-relations, competitors, rules & regula-tions, etc.). On an organisational level, reflec-tions from the macro level situation becamemost visible and concrete in everyday situa-tions with regard to changes in technologyand its use.At the same time, these latterchanges were enabling even greater changesto take place.

At the time of starting our fieldwork, mostof the companies had entered the secondwove of computerisation. All the companieshad recently, or were currently, launchingcommunication technology and had extendedemployees' access to net-based informationsources.Thus, more hardware in terms ofnumbers of PCs and more powerful software

had been introduced.The use of PCs hadbroadened both in terms of the functions forwhich they were now used and the number ofstaff having access to them.Therefore, even ifthe older workers were already familiar withcomputers and their use, a giant step wasnow being taken towards a much broaderuse of them in terms of various tasks andpurposes. Some companies provided sharedPCs for employees to enable them to practiseits use, even if it was not necessary for theirwork tasks as such.After this step, in mostcompanies it actually was not possible tomanage one's work without having informa-tion and communication (ICT) skills at leaston some level.

Management in many companies had acknowl-edged the challenge, which the ageing of theworkforce was posing to their company. Onthe one hand, they were somewhat uncertainabout what action to take in relation to 'local'demographic development and its inevitableconsequences for both retirement planningand the manpower situation in the company.They had neither the competence nor thewherewithal to deal with the situation. Onthe other hand, in relation to the themeof our study, older workers were, generallyspeaking, not considered a problem in thesecompanies on the contrary, they were seenas highly competent workers.

Taking these issues further, we sometimesobserved a kind of déjà vu related to thefirst wave of computerisation in the 1970sand 1980s. For example, the uncertainty andworries expressed in the face of the new technol-ogy (la-competence) were similar to thoseexperienced during the introduction of firstwave computerisation.As then, the worriesnow were how to cope with the change,whether one can learn to use the new tools,how the work overall will be affected bythe new tools, who will get what kind ofhardware and software, changing responsibili-ties and new or changing job tasks.The latterresulted from the fact that not everybody ina company received equal treatment whennew hardware was purchased in the companyand new ICT possibilities launched (reported

in Tikkanen, 2000c). In addition, regardlessof how overwhelming the new computerisa-tion was, some differences still remained inhow these changes affected various groups ofpersonnel.Accordingly, in traditional industrialbases, the more highly educated employeeswere all involved, whereas the less well edu-cated were given less access to computers(e.g. a shared computer in a productionhall, mainly for learning purposes). In serviceindustries, these changes more often involvedthe less well-educated workers. Furthermore,the coming of the Internet meant more prob-lems with language than before. One problemwas related to understanding foreign lan-guages, but other issues related to under-standing coded computer language as wellas sometimes information in a printed formas has been described in earlier studies(Edwards, 1998; Hein, 1998; Kananoja, 1993).These worries relating to technology andappropriate levels of competence were morepronounced among older workers, but werealso discerned among younger workers withless formal education.

Human Resources Development. Table 23below shows a descriptive summary of thehuman resources in the SMEs and trainingpossibilities.

Learning Environment Analysis (LEA)Survey-based LEA-data from Jyvaskyla wasinvolved in description of the results in part IIIearlier in this report5.This chapter, therefore,describes mainly those LEA aspects that werenot included in the joint WORKTOW survey.

Learning at work

Learning motivation and skills were generallyrated good among the employees. Motivationand skills, but not age, were viewed to havedirect impact on learning ability ('if one wantsto learn something one will also succeed').Personal characteristics were rated as moreimportant to learning motivation, learningskills and even learning ability than age.

Age and learning. The results both supportedand contradicted common stereotypical

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Table 23 Personnel characteristics and training possibilities in SMEs (N= 167)

Companies Human resources Training possibilities and provision in the company

Nursery (n=28) Young staff, 24-54 yrsFemale dominated,Low educationYoung statuseslShort careers

Age-balanced staff, 24-48 yrsMale dominated, High educationYoung statuses, Balanced careers2

Engineering SA(n=23)

Bank (n=12)

EngineeringMET (n=18)

WoodenProductionsite A (n=25)

WoodenProductionsite B' (n =29)

Pharmacy(n=12)

Engineering2K (n=20)

Older staff, 33-57 yrsFemale dominated, High educationBalanced statuses, Long careers

Age-balanced staff, 25-59 yrsMale dominated, Low educationYoung statuses, Balanced careers

Age-balanced staff 30-55 yrsGender balanced, High education'Young statuses + some diversityBalanced careers

Young staff, 26-51 yrsMale dominated, High educationYoung statuses, Balanced careers

Age-balanced staff, 25-59 yrsAll females, High educationBalanced statuses,Balanced careers

Age-balanced staff, 27-62 yrsMale dominated, High educationYoung statuses, Balanced careers

The staff provided formal training programmes related toIT (Internet & e-mail) and client service.

Not good possibilities for training, except in highestpositions.Management mainly on-the-job training, provided by staffand suppliers/clients.

Extensive training provided for the staff during thecompany reorganisation.The last one was a course on

e-mail.

Employees: not good possibilities for trainingManagement training mainly provided by staff,suppliers/clients and consultants.

Employees: not good possibilities for training.Management & staff in higher positions: good trainingpossibilities mainly provided by staff and consultants.

Employees: not good possibilities for training.Management & staff in higher positions: good trainingpossibilities, mainly provided by staff and consultants

The staff participate regularly in new product-relatedtraining, provided by the pharmacy chain headquarters.Some tiredness among staff with regard to trainingreports the manager.

The company has an in-house trainer. Cooperation withlocal training institutions so that this company also actsas a provider for courses in their special competence areas.

'Refers to total length of job-careers among the employees; TBalanced careers' refers to a balance in thelengths of employees' careers;'short/long careers' refers to short/long dominated careers in the company;3Inthis company only the white-collar workers participated. 'This site only participated in the base-line survey,but not in further interventions.

thinking about the effects of age on learning.On the one hand, age was viewed as a highly'personal' and individual matter that doesnot therefore have a commonly recognisedimpact on learning. On the other hand, agewas also viewed as having a dual effect onlearning skills and abilities. On the positiveside, an individual was seen as becoming moremotivated to learn and receptive to new factswith advancing age. Learning was also seen

to become easier due to improved judgementconcerning important/less important issues(one knows what one needs to learn moreabout), and through improved selectivity andprioritisation. An individual would also pos-sess broader background knowledge againstwhich new knowledge could be assessed. Onthe negative side, age was also viewed asmaking it more difficult to break routinesand habits, to affect memory in a negative

'There is a complete final report available in English from the WORKTOW study carried out in Jyvaskyla. Forfurther requests contact the author (see contact information at the end of this report).

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way making learning a slower process, andto make it more difficult because of distant/fewer experiences of learning.

Employers mostly agreed with employees thatage is not important, but were generallysomewhat more reserved and emphasisedmore individual variety than employees.

"Teaching"skills. Employees rated their skills forsharing knowledge ('mentoring' or 'teaching')as rather good and improving with age. Oneexception among the companies was the METengineering, where considerable improvementswere needed according to the owner-manager.Important issues, which were mentioned ashaving an impact on the practice of sharingcompetence in a workplace, were work expe-rience, ability and the courage to ask questions(admit one's limits), organisational climate(secure, supportive, open), and the organisingof work to make internal 'teaching' possible(related e.g. to the pace of work).

Employers were again somewhat morereserved in their views and emphasisedindividual differences. Some of them alsoreported that experience is beneficial in help-ing others, but also that those who mighthave something to share with others are notalways able to achieve this.

Job competence

Competence and a competent employee

Competence defined. Being analytic about and

able to evaluate one's competence waseasy and 'obvious', but also very difficult,requiring the existence of external (includingcollegial) and internal feedback systems, aswell as awareness of and continuous sensitivitytowards these systems. More experiencedworkers were more analytic than those withless experience. In some respects, it was easierto define the competence of a co-worker:employees and employers seemed to have afairly clear pre-concept or mew -level understand-ing (cognitive map or criteria) and could exer-cise appropriate judgement as to when some-one is or is not a competent worker.

When making judgements about one's owncompetence or that of co-workers, observa-tion of one's own success in managing one'swork as well as various environmental clues(indicators) in the workplace was used.Whenit was observed that an individual's work wasgoing well and the company's business wasalso doing well, high levels of individual andorganisational competence were inferred.Thisrequired analytical skills from the employees.As environmental clues of competence, var-ious feedback mechanisms and informationrelated to one's work and to the intra- andinter-organisational environment, were alsoused.Therefore, it was necessary for anemployee to (i) be familiar with what envi-ronmental clues to observe, (ii) be sensitivetowards these clues and observe them atleast periodically if not continuously, (iii) beable to read and understand them, thatis, to analyse, interpret and process them,and finally (iv) to develop initiatives directedtowards appropriate changes if necessary.

Competence was viewed as complex, dynamic,and temporal in terms of capability and exter-nal demand for it.This complexity extendedbeyond one's own job tasks and areas ofresponsibility and acknowledged various levelsof competence: individual, social or collective,job tasks and company level activity involving acompany's external relations.Thus, being awareof one's own competence and its strengths andlimitations, was only one aspect of a broadview of competence.The employees, especiallyin the service sector, pointed out that it wasjust as important to be aware of the compe-tence of one's co-workers.An important partof one's broad, total competence was knowl-edge of the workplace and work organisationin the sense of what kind of material, socialand cultural resources were available there.Temporality in competence was mainly relatedto project type of work among engineers.Thusa person could be defined "competent" atone time, but "not competent" at another, forexample, when there is no demand for one'scompetence6.

Sources of competence. Competence wasmuch less related to formal training (although

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the pharmacy emphasised basic training) thanto work experience and learning from work,as well as to personal characteristics. Employ-ees valued job experience even more highlythan did employers, whilst employers valuedpersonal characteristics as the most impor-tant source of job competence.This latter dif-ference was most pronounced between olderemployees and employers.Table 24 showsthese differences as they were revealed intasks given to employees and employers ininterviews.

The task we gave to employees was to definetheir total (100 %) job competence so thatit reflected the three (given) main sources ofcompetence training, experience, and per-

sonal characteristics in their 'right' propor-tions in one's work.The instruction was tothink of one's current job competence and allthe training and experience gained through-out one's lifetime. Correspondingly we askedthe employers and management to evaluatethe competence of the employees in theircompany.Table 24 shows the results by ageand work status.

As Table 24 shows, job experience was ratedas the most important among the employees,

contributing with an average of 44 % tothe total competence. Personality was ratedsecond in importance (32 %), while formaltraining contributed to only approximatelyone quarter of total job competence.Therewere slight differences between the compa-nies, so that in the three engineering compa-nies training was rated the least importantsource of competence (range 19-22 %), whilethe nursery (greenhouse), the company withleast formal education background amongthe employees, rated it highest of all compa-nies (28 %). Job experience was rated mostimportant in the three engineering companies(range 47 51 %) and least in the pharmacy(34 %). Instead, the latter rated the signifi-cance of personal characteristics highest of allcompanies (41 %).

No statistically significant differences werefound between older and younger employees.Nor were there differences between theviews of the employees and employers con-cerning the significance of formal training,although employers tended to value trainingeven less than the employees. Instead, therewere major differences between them in valu-ing experience (ANOVA p<.01) and personal-ity (p<.001) as a source of competence.While

Table 24 Sources of competence by age and status, N=57 (%)

Personalcharacteristics Experience Training TOTAL

Employees (n=47) 29.2 46.2 24.7 82.5

-45 years 29.1 44.7 26.2 63.0

45+ years 30.0 48.0 22.3 47.0

Employers (n=10) 43.3 35.8 20.8 17.5

-45 years 41.7 41.2 16.7 30.0

45+ years 44.0 33.3 22.6 70.0

Range by company 29 - 41 34 - 51 19 30 0 -70

TOTAL (N=57) 32.0 44.0 24.0 100

-45 years 30.3 44.4 25.3 57.1

45+ years 34.3 43.7 22.4 42.9

6This is actually what happened to older workers towards the end of the 1990s.Whereas they had beenhighly valued competent workers just a while ago, change of skill demands in working life, rather than of theiractual skills, resulted in defining them as less competent than the IT-skilled younger workers.

75 c0

the employees thought job-experience to bemost important to overall job-competence(46 %), the employers valued personal charac-teristics highest (43 %).This difference waseven more pronounced between the olderemployees and employers than between theyounger groups respectively.Thus, there was ajoint age and status effect on these ratings.

How can individual competence bedeveloped?

The fact that training was hardly ever involvedin discussions about competence also meantthat reflections on competence developmentscarcely referred to employers and manage-ment and their role in it, that is, for example,through training provision.Typically, there wasno long-range planning - financial, substance-related or strategic - of training and develop-ment in companies.Training provided by theemployer was typically very narrow (tailor-made) and reactive (needs-driven).

Instead of training, individual activity and initia-tive, motivation and responsibility, as well asinformality - highly personality-related charac-teristics - were emphasised in this context.Themost important teachers" were considered tobe the work itself and colleagues. In the samevein, most employees were aware of their ownrole as teachers and in providing in guidancewhen needed. Many "teachers" also pointedout that "teaching" often also resulted in one'sown learning.Thus, competence maintenanceand development at work appeared to behighly social activity in the SMEs. Other meansmentioned were self-directed study and learn-ing by reading information from suppliers, pro-fessional journals and other literature.

Competence vs. age and experience

One of the main findings in Jyvaskyla's studywas that competence based on mature workexperience was highly valued in the SMEs.

The results from the interviews supportedthe positive value attached to job experience.The employees reported several general andcompany-specific positive consequences fromjob experience to competence:

Professional competence is mainly built onthrough experience.Training only offered"basic" knowledge.The necessary socialand communication skills in customerservice develop through experience, andare influenced by personal characteristics.In planning work (working with informa-tion) a broad understanding of the totalproduction process can only be obtainedvia solid experience.

Experience makes one more certain andsecure concerning one's competencemakes work easier to manage

Experience makes learning new thingseasier and faster because one already hassome knowledge on which to build furtherand because that improves understanding

Experience makes decision-making and find-ing new knowledge easier

Experience helps to know the "house"(workplace) and thus where to look forhelp and information when needed.

In one engineering company (2K) the employ-ees also pointed out a negative consequence:when one has learned enough through accu-mulated competence, one may become lessexited about new knowledge. However, thiswas related to the rewards system, i.e. to thelimited possibilities in SMEs to provide formore challenging job tasks as a result of newlearning.

Accumulation of an amount of experiencewas not, however, seen directly to addcompetence.The employees mentioned var-ious factors, which distinguish any experi-ence from a learning experience.As existingliterature has shown (e.g. Ellstrom, 1999;Engestrom, 1994), a common denominator ofthese experiences was that they were not"easy", that is, non-routine.They were posi-tive or negative, but not automated (novelsituations or rarely faced); they involved con-flicts and contradictions; and they were fol-lowed by debriefing, processed individually orin a group.The older engineers, however,pointed out that after decades of acquiringjob experience, they rarely faced totally newor difficult situations. Rather they describedtheir work as one of "organising old bricks

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in new ways", according to the wishes of theclients. Further, when faced with a problem,finding a solution was not the biggest prob-lem:"when you have done planning work for20 years, in every problem situation you cansurely come up with ten different solutions"(Engineer, 47 yrs). In these cases, the challengewas more about choosing the best solutionto the problem at hand (more of this issue inTikkanen, 200 I ).

Employees' evaluation of how age impactson competence revealed some differencesdepending on the age of the evaluator him-orherself.Younger employees reported bothmore and clearer age-effects than the olderworkers did.Again among employers, therewere somewhat more variation in how theimpact of experience was viewed with regardto competence.The positive value was fairlyclear, but more emphasis was given to per-sonal characteristics and individuality.

Competence reserve?

The existence of a competence reserve -unused or underused skills and knowledge -was confirmed by the interviews, especiallyamong the employers. Differences were foundbetween companies and branches.

Most employees thought they could fully usetheir competence in their work, whilst mostemployers and management thought therewas a competence reserve among the staffin their company.According to management,the latter was a result of various factors:project-type of work (competence demandsvary), no systematic monitoring of existingcompetence (not all competence is known inthe company), and less intensive use of com-petence among more experienced workers(less need to 'show' all of one's competenceas the younger workers typically do). In thiscontext the employees often referred to thepace of work, claiming they could use alltheir competence in their work. In one of theengineering companies, however, the oppositewas pointed out, that is, that the pace ofwork is so strict that it is not possible touse all of one's competence. In client service,the employees sometimes felt that they could

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not use all of their competence (in woodenproduction A and in the bank). In the bank,the views of the employers and employeeswere most strongly contrasted and in theengineering MET most in agreement.

Flexibility in working life

Questions about flexibility were drawing fromthe frequently stated claims that peoplebecome less flexible through age and that thiswould be a specific problem and disadvantageto older workers in working life compared totheir younger counterparts.

There should be more flexibility, but withregards to what?

Requests for more flexibility were mosttypically related to flexibility in workingtime, holidays included. Part-time work andpart-time pensions were also an indicationof this kind of flexibility, at the same timeas increasing flexibility demands from otherworkers in the workplace. Flexibility interms of working load and time was gener-ally not a problem in the companies. Onthe contrary, in some companies, seasonalflexibility was very much liked among theemployees.

Job-task and competence-related flexibility werementioned but much less often than workingtime. Flexibility in job tasks was viewedambivalently; pride in one's well-managedwork was weighed against broadening of skillsand increased appreciation for the work ofcolleaguesjob rotation was not systematicallyadopted in any of the companies.The woodenproduction company A had tried it earlier, butit had resulted in a lack of clarity concerningjob responsibilities and in general uncertaintyof who does and knows about what.As anadvantage of shifting job tasks, the employeesmentioned that it increases their appreciationof the work others do. Companies variedwith regard to flexibility requirements, theemployers in the nursery being most deter-mined and demanding.The guiding principlefor them was that 'everybody must be ableto do everybody else's job and whenever itis needed'.

7g

Employers, but not employees, also men-tioned the need to develop flexibility in pay.In none of these companies were wages flex-ible, but flexibility in working time (extrahours) was typically compensated by leisuretime.

Is there flexibility in this company?

According to the managers and supervisors,the employees had been very satisfied withthese flexibility arrangements and they hadbeen well internalised. Regular seasonal varia-tions in the wooden production company A,for example, had become a practice specifi-cally warmly welcomed among the employ-ees.

Causes for some dissatisfaction among theexperienced employees were that employerswere somewhat less flexible towards themin return, especially in project-type work.Another issue was that demands for flexibilitywere not required equally from all employ-ees. Instead, there were persons or sections,which were or had to be, more flexible thanothers.The manager in the bank also men-tioned that the trade unions were restrictingflexibility, especially with regard to wages.

Management and employers considered olderworkers with fewer family responsibilitiesto be somewhat more flexible than theiryounger counterparts.

Future perspectives

The questions on future perspectives wereinspired on the one hand, by activity theoryand the concept of a zone of proximaldevelopment. On the other hand, the pooremployment situation in Finland and therelated somewhat discouraging climate inrespect of older workers was considered rel-evant to views on learning and competencedevelopment.

Future of the company. Most employees viewedthe future development of the company in apositive light. As a minimum, continuation of astable situation was anticipated. Reasons givenfor such a viewpoint were related to the qual-

ity of products and to competent employees.Nevertheless, the employees were well awareof the vulnerability of small businesses as wellas the unpredictability of project-type work.

In the nursery particularly, the managementhad various visions and plans concerning thecompany's future development, and in thebank, a growth of volume was expected. Chal-lenges mentioned for the future in theseSMEs were the development of client service(pharmacy) and the development of a man-agement culture oriented towards less cen-tralised direction and more employee par-ticipation (engineering 2K). One engineeringcompany (2K) clearly reflected the intercon-nectedness of the personal situation of theowner-manager and the company. The man-ager thought that the company was sufferingfrom some kind of lack of stimulation and newvision in the stabilised situation following theestablishment of the company and the sevenyears of its existence.At the same time,the interviews showed that the manager him-self lacked any views concerning his ownfuture prospects and career development. Hecommented that he had considered changingback to being an "ordinary, hired engineer-employee".

Future of employees of various ages. Views held

among the employees and employers concern-ing the future of workers of different ages inthe SMEs varied from no changes to positiveor negative anticipation.The variation wasmost pronounced between the companiesrather than within a company. Employersand management emphasised that personality,rather than age impacts on future prospectsof an employee. In client service, employersemphasised the importance of maintainingbroad age-structures among the staff to matchthe demands from the clientele. In some com-panies some differences nevertheless wereanticipated to develop because:

the older workers were thought to bemore oriented towards retirement (engi-neering MET) or because the company hadadopted a positive view of early pensions(pharmacy)

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the status and value of older workers wereconsidered to improve because of the lackof younger workers willing to enter thefield (engineering MET)

older workers were considered to havebetter prospects because their jobs weremore diversified and more responsiblethan those of younger people (engineering2K).

One's own future. Employees were mainly con-fident concerning their own future in thecompany. Concomitant with their views con-cerning the future of the company, they antici-pated that their overall employment situationin the company would stay the same ordevelop in a positive way.Yet many anticipatedchanges in their job tasks due to future devel-opment plans in the company (nursery, bank)or to changes in equipment for working (allengineering companies). Employees wishedthat quieter business periods, which werealways anticipated to follow better times,would be used for training and development.However, employers/ management pointed toa dilemma facing SMEs this sense - whenthere is money for investing in training anddevelopment, there is no time, and vice versa.

A summary of workplace learning in SMEs

The following is a summary of our obser-vations concerning work-place learning inSMEs in general and SMEs as learning envi-ronments:

Systematic attention to learning in theworkplace and monitoring of job compe-tence was almost non-existent.

Hence, in workplace development, enhanc-ing learning and developing supportivework environments for learning were typi-cally not an issue.

Documentation of individual and collectivecompetence in SMEs did not exist.Thisinformation however, was considered toexist to a sufficient degree in the headsof the managers concerning their subordi-nates.

Employees and management held some-what different views about how well

employees' competence is known and putto use in SMEs (employees more posi-tive).

Attitudes towards learning and trainingwere generally positive.Age differences inattitudes were very small. However, employ-ees and management held systematically dif-ferent views concerning attitudes to learn-ing and training among employees (employ-ees more positive, employers emphasisedindividual differences).

Learning culture in SMEs was rated to befairly positive, especially among the olderworkers, with little variation between com-panies. However, obtaining feedback fromone's work, and support and encourage-ment for participation in learning activitieswere considered problematic by a majorityof employees.

Senior-junior compositions were fairlycommonly used in competence devel-opment in workplaces. However, theseroles and the work done among theolder employees were typically taken-for-granted, rather than specifically credited, orrewarded.

Management support for workplace learn-ing was, in most companies, rather poor,other than for the targeted training pro-vided. Management's attitude was based ona rationale according to which employeesneed to be active and take the initiativethemselves in order to get support. Inother words, management did not considerit necessary for them to make the firstmove. One company (the nursery ) wasan exception, with strong managerial visionand a push towards learning and develop-ment.

Attention was rarely paid to any transfer oflearning from formal settings (courses) tothe workplace.

Employees and management rarely definedtheir companies as more of a learningorganisation than other SMEs in their field.In fact, thinking of one's company in rela-tion to notions of learning was somewhatdifficult.

" 0

Local Networking SeminarThe local networking seminar (LNS) wasarranged by the local WORKTOW group. Itwas attended by managers from the SMEsparticipating in the project, representatives ofvarious local training providers (each gave apresentation of their training provision avail-able to SMEs), an EEDC representative, anda Project Manager from a relevant EuropeanSocial Fund SME development project pre-senting experiences and results from theproject.

The idea of local networking was generallyacknowledged to be very useful and certainlyneeded. However, the actual participation rateby management was relatively low, the mainreason given being time pressures at work.Thus, for many employers/managers, favour-able reactions to the idea of networking weremore likely to remain in the realm of wishfulthinking than in actual practice. Many wouldlike more opportunities for them to partici-pate (appropriate networks and informationabout them would be required) and wishedthat they had more time for this kind ofactivity.

A major argument in favour of local network-ing among managers was that it would pro-vide support to the otherwise lonely enter-prise of running an SME. Other importantreasons were competence needs, effectiveinformation flow, high learning potential innetworks and the broader options that thiskind of activity provides to small business.The main requirement for the success of suchnetworking was to have the right kind ofconsortium in terms of business in order toavoid "intra-net" competition.

Local training providers reported that theseminar was the first of the kind they hadattended.According to their feedback, theexperience was very good and encouraging.Needs for more joint local forums like thiswere expressed to meet the needs of smallbusinesses.

Information packages provided by trainerswere highly appreciated by managers attend-

ing the seminar.The managers reported theyare facing an enormous flow of trainingmarketing/ advertising, and feel they aredrowning under it. Therefore, they expresseda wish that a service could be providedwhereby ranked information about localtraining provision could be compiled.Thiscould be produced in the form of comparableinformation concerning the quality and usabil-ity of various types of training relevant totheir needs and purposes.

The most popular type of training providerswith whom the managers in SMEs wishedto be involved in these networks werethe continuing vocational education andtraining institutions. Their attitudes towardscooperation with university institutions anddepartments was much more hesitant andreserved.

Results from the local networking seminarextended to various levels, depending on theparticipant/company and its experience in thisline of activity. Some participants started dis-cussions about communication and coopera-tion between the local actors (SMEs, trainingproviders and EEDC). For some, it strength-ened their views concerning the importanceof this kind of activity, and others becameinspired about the value of initiating suchlocal cooperation.

Evaluation of the research-basedlearning intervention in JyvaskylaEvaluation or follow-up of the LI in Jyvaskylawas conducted as thematic interviews withthe managers of the SMEs.The broad devel-opmental approach we adopted to learninginterventions meant that we extended theevaluation interviews to cover the effects ofWORKTOW beyond the specific networkbuilding and included all the field activity inthe project.The LNS and its effects weredescribed in the previous chapter.Thereforethis chapter describes the results relative tothe goals a company had set for WORKTOW-cooperation and to the overall possibilities ofSMEs for participation in research-supporteddevelopment.

80 5)

Effects of the WORKTOW intervention

Overall impact. In all the SMEs, at the end, itwas primarily used as a tool for the manage-ment. Employees were much less involved. Inseveral companies they were, in fact, passivelyexcluded from the project after the initial datacollection.A summary of the most importantimpact or impression from WORKTOW tocompanies is shown in Table 25.

According to the feedback from the man-agers,WORKTOW had provided systematicnew knowledge to management, in particularon views and attitudes towards learning andtraining. On that level the interventions hadworked well and had improved motivation inand enthusiasm for the work in HRM.Theywere also considered helpful when planningHRD in the future in these companies.

However, the managers and other contactpersons or the HRM personnel in thecompanies had mainly kept the LEA-resultsand -reports. One company had provided ashorter version of the main results in aninternal information bulletin. Some companieshad circulated the LEA-report, but there hadnot been a follow-up to this, beyond coffee-time discussions. Some managers expressed awish that the researchers would come andpresent the results to the employees. Insome companies the result was that olderemployees became an issue.That is, attentionwas paid specifically to them and their sit-uation in the company for first time, thusincreasing their visibility. In some cases, man-agers started to reflect upon their ownageing.

Table 25 Management's views about the main impressions from WORKTOW intervention inthe SMEs

SME WORKTOW left the company with...

Nursery ...attention now paid to older workers and their learning etc. which not thought of before...local networking seminar was excellent...not much to employees...project offered a discussion partner to the management concerning HRD...new strength & believe in and support to HRD development

Engineering SA ...uncertainty concerning the concrete target of the project...quite a lot of information, but difficulties in seeing how to utilise it...confirmed the understanding of the manager about the situation and attitudes among thestaff in the SME...some new knowledge concerning the employees' views on learning and development

Bank

Woodenproduction A

Pharmacy

Engineering 2K

...little concrete with what to do with HRD

...systematic knowledge on the learning, training, attitudes and HRD in the company

...useful comparisons with other companies

...information on employees' positive attitudes towards new technology and learning

...new information on that the training provided does not always match the desires of

the employees...information about positive attitudes toward ageing and learning among the older workers...different knowledge and contributions, but have not been possible to share it with theemployees...no concrete actions

...contented feeling concerning the attitudes of the employees, especially of those amongthe older workers...little very concrete

Note:The engineering company MET did not participate in evaluation interview because the manager was ona 2.5 months leave at the time the interviews were made.

Management did not find it all uncomplicatedto put the knowledge, which WORKTOWprovided and which they defined as 'general',to concrete use in companies.The manager ofthe company in wooden production describedthat "next phase and real new things will followas this new knowledge will be put into thepractice in the company". However, there wassome variation between the companies. In thetwo engineering companies (SA & 2K), themanagers reported that the results offered noreasons for new action or initiatives in theircompanies, but instead, as in 2K the managerpointed out,"The results did set his mind atease and reassured him with regard to theattitudinal atmosphere and learning climate inthe company".

Effects vs. expectations. Most managers hadmade the decision to participate in the studywith an open mind and without specificexpectations.This was because for all SMEs,this was the first time they had participated inresearch cooperation and/or with a 'general'goal setting.The comments on 'little concrete'could, however, be interpreted that manage-ment had had expectations of concrete guid-ance and actions to be implemented in com-panies.

Perhaps due to low expectations, severalmanagers described the results and the over-all experience of participating in the projectas positive and stimulating or that theyexceeded expectations ("was not a typicaluniversity 'paper' study"). More precisely themangers pointed out that:

they had wanted more knowledge on theviews of the employees and they hadreceived this (wooden production A), aswell as new knowledge to support thecompany's HRD and practice (pharmacy)

although it was not directly obvious howto utilise the results in a concrete way,they had tried to concentrate on thinkingabout how that could be done in practice(engineering 2K)

the interaction and close communicationbetween the researchers and the company

8 2

were experienced as positive, although itwas not expected (used to more passiveapproach from university researchers)(engineering SA)

they expected concrete help for HRD inthe company, but although did not exactlyget it, they experienced the project overallas positive, because of frequent communi-cation and contacts with the researchers(bank)

they felt that university was runninganother ('traditional','not up-to-date') par-adigm (social work & humanism) ratherthan what is prevailing in reality inworking life today ('teamwork','sportsspirit') (bank)

the timing of the project was good withregard to the company HRD developmentwork, because training was being planned(nursery )

SMEs and their possibilities for participa-tion in research-supported developmentprojects

None of the companies had previously par-ticipated in research concerned with learningand training, or in a study with such 'general'goals as WORKTOW had had. Some com-panies, however, had participated in otherkind of studies and development projectswith clear business- or technology-relatedgoals (e.g. e-business, marketing surveys, socialmedicine, client surveys).

Research cooperation impacting on companydevelopment. The overall approach to researchcooperation was mainly very positive, as wasindicated by the initial willingness by the SMEsto participate in WORKTOVV.The possibili-ties for SMEs to participate in research coop-eration were seen to be good and to serveworking life well, when it comes to products,HRD, client service, marketing, etc. Severalarguments were given to support this line ofactivity.The following examples explicate themost important ones of these:

HRD is a difficult area in SMEs, but it canand should be supported with this kind ofresearch project.This kind of cooperation

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should be the direction in which workinglife should be developed (nursery ).

Development of working life is as difficultan area as research cooperation is; how-ever, very important and needed (bank).

Being involved in a research process isoften of utmost importance because itinspires one's (management's) own thinking(bank).

Research cooperation provides systematicknowledge to build on in the company, andsmall companies usually do not themselveshave the competence to provide that kindof systematic knowledge (wooden produc-tion A).

Training and motivation for developmentare among the companies' utmost secretsnowadays, so concrete and practice- ori-ented research in this area is highly wel-come (bank).

These examples show how managers in SMEsfeel inadequate with regard to their owncompetence concerning development in ahectic and turbulent working life, and howthey feel that research and knowledge fromoutside the company, but further cultivatedin cooperation inside it, could be of help.Although research as such, then, was experi-enced as valuable, the attitude the managersheld was not totally uncritical either. Rather,research in general was too often blamed asrigid and unable to meet the reality of thecompanies/working life.The two engineeringcompanies (2K and SA), in particular, wererather reserved in their opinions concerningthe usefulness of research cooperation ingeneral.They did not totally deny the valueof this line of activity, but pointed out thenecessity of having a concrete focus for it.Concrete in this context referred to useful-ness to the company.The general focus - aswas seen to be the case in WORKTOW - wasnot totally excluded,"but it loses its meaningif it is continuous activity" (2K).

Besides time and pace of work, having a"concrete" focus in the research and for itto thereby serve specific needs in the com-pany was a highly important framing faL;:or formost companies. General academic research

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was considered less desirable and even awaste of time. Some examples of the pre-conditions for research cooperation were asfollows:

Main criteria for such a cooperation is thatthe focus is very concrete and the results aremeasurable (preferably in cash) immediately(engineering SA)

Cooperation should be concrete and tar-geted, general academic research is lessdesirable but not too practical & con-crete either, somewhere in between (phar-macy)

Needs- and impacts-oriented trainingresearch would be needed, fulfilling a spe-cial function in relation to people (trainees,company staff) and training provision, toensure a match between training and needs(pharmacy)

Focus of studies should be clear, limitedand needs-driven - research projects with ageneral focus are of less interest (woodenproduction A)

"Paper" ("purely" academic) research isless interesting and maintains barriersbetween research and practice (nursery )

As a project,WORKTOW has beenuseful and interesting due to continuousand frequent communication between theresearchers and SMEs during the process(nursery).

Discussion and conclusions

On the basis of the results from the Jyvaskyla-data, the following conclusions relative toWORKTOW-objectives can be made:

Job competence - Recognising, valuing andutilising the knowledge, skills, experience, andattitudes of older workers in work and learn-ing situations.

The competence of older workers wasgenerally appreciated and consideredstrong rather than problematic. Exceptionswere individual cases, underlining thegreater importance of personal character-istics rather than age.

Thus, the negative attitudes towards olderworkers, generally reported, did not getsupport from the results of this study.

Competence is by and large taken forgranted in SMEs, with relatively little atten-tion paid to it, certainly not systematically.This is perhaps even more the case withregard to more experienced workers thanthose with less experience.

Learning at work - Learning ofolder workers within work settings:

Personal characteristics were consideredvery important to learning and compe-tence, not age as such. Employers andmanagement especially, seem to emphasiseindividual differences in learning and com-petence among the employees.

Very little attention is paid to learning atwork. Support was provided for workplacelearning and development for youngerworkers, often by more experiencedsenior workers. However, attention wastypically not paid to learning and com-petence development among the latter,nor was their work as mentors or in-company 'teachers' specifically accreditedor rewarded.

Transfer of informal learning is workingwell and is confirmed in learning and teach-ing at work. However, attention is not paidto transfer from more formal training set-tings beyond tailoring and narrow targetingof courses provided.

HRD and lifelong learning for productivityand against exclusion

WORKTOW succeeded in providing moresystematic information and knowledge con-cerning the situation in the companies aroundthe themes in focus: learning, training, com-petence and its development, HRD, ageing.New thought processes and reflection amongemployers and management around theseissues was enabled during the project.

HRD in SMEs was typically not an issue, andnot taken as a central activity area (cornpara-

ble to productivity and success in business)and employees were not seen as the mostimportant resources relative to the otherareas (e.g. products, clients) and to a competi-tive business environment. Management didnot have the experience, nor the competenceon how to deal with the type of knowledgeprovided in WORKTOW in this area. It wastypically defined as 'general' in SMEs, asan overview-type of knowledge, ratherthan central to the company's agenda.Thus, we conclude that employers and man-agement in SMEs need external support andresources (related to competence/knowledgeand financing) both to develop awareness inHRD and to develop practice in companiesin this area. Furthermore, in studies like this,a longer follow-up period for more concreteactions in these SMEs is needed.To provideanalysis and new knowledge is only the firststep. Employers and management in SMEs donot necessarily have the competence to inter-pret and put such knowledge into practice,but need support and guidance in doing this.

However, companies varied in this regard, sizeand age of the company being central factors.Bigger companies were more aware of theimportance of HRD.A good example of theimportance of age was the bank. In theirrecent major reorganisation process, trainingand competence development had been pro-vided for the entire company personnel -among whom the average age already wasrather high rather than excluding the oldestemployees on the basis of obsolete compe-tence.

Internal communication and information flowin SMEs can and should be improved.Themanagement/employers typically consideredthe knowledge on learning and HRD pro-vided in this study, as new to them, indicatingthat communication on these issues internally,even with small number of employees, is low.

In R&D-oriented work in SMEs, it is notsufficient to provide analysis and knowledgefrom the situation concerning learning, atti-tudes and competence development (`general'knowledge). Equally important is to provide

o s'

follow-up and to help the management andemployers to put the knowledge into prac-tice.Therefore, a further conclusion is thatthe new learning imperative (Gavigan, 2000)in working life obviously challenges the com-petence of the management in a whole newway. Management need to develop their owncompetence in how to deal with the new areaof learning support, competence develop-ment, and development of working environ-ments from the point of view of learningenvironments.This involves new skills in howto communicate and cooperate with variousexternal training provides, as well as analyticskills concerning monitoring of the situationin companies and among various groupsof employees (poorly/highly educated, age-groups, different jobs and vocations, etc.).Developing new, easily manageable measuresfor the latter would be very useful.

Future time-span is relatively short in mostSMEs, especially the smallest ones, makinglong range planning and investments in per-sonnel development problematic.The conse-quences are most severe in relation to invest-ments in training and development.

Diversity of workforce contributing tolearning organisations -

Employees were well aware of the need fordiversely competent employees in terms ofquality and quantity to guarantee the bestpossible productivity. Similarly, the employersand management generally also emphasisedthe value and importance of diversity ofemployees, not least because of the diversityof the clientele.The latter was especially thecase in service companies. However, thinkingin terms of learning, and not just in terms ofworking, was somewhat new in SMEs.There-fore, thinking of workplaces in terms of learn-ing environments and learning organisationswere also new issues, only just beginning toemerge.

ENDNOTE:I. List of publications to IKAOPPI-subproject.Supportet by The Ministry of Health andSocial Affairs. (Learning at work in IT-intensive

environments):

Kenni-Lehtonen,T. 2000a.Tyontekijoiden kokematmuutokset tyossa uuden informaatioteknologianmyota. [Changes at work following IT changes asexperienced by the employees] A paper presentedat the Nordic conference on Adult Education, For-skning i Norden, 25-27.5.2000. Nordens FolkligaAkademi, G6teborg, Sweden.

Kenni-Lehtonen,T-M. 2000b. Uudeninformaatioteknologian kayttoonotto kandessacase-yrityksessa. Kasvatustieteen pro gradu tyti (Mas-

ter's Thesis in Education). University of Jyvaskyla, Fin-

land.

Tikkanen,T. 2001. Learning at work in technologyintensive environments. In Proceedings to the IIIntl Conference on Researching Work and Learning.26.-28.7.2001. Faculty of Continuing Education, Uni-versity of Calgary,Alberta, Canada, pp. 493-500.

Tikkanen,T. 200 I. Learning at work in technology-intensive environments. Presentation in the AnnualNordic Conference on Adult Education Forskning iNorden, Oslo, Norway, 28.-30.5.2001.

Tikkanen,T. 2000a. Experiencing the changes broughtby IT and their consequences in SMEs. In S.Tosse

et al. (Ed. Committee) Reforms and policy.Adulteducation in Nordic countries,Trondheim:Tapir, pp.161-182

Tikkanen,T. 2000b.Teknologia siivittal tyossaoppimista pk-yrityksissa (Change in technologylending wings to learning in SMEs). Hyva Ika

Kansallisen ikaohjelman tiedotuslehti, 3-4/2000,p. I I . (Information Bulletin of the National AgeProgramme)

Tikkanen,T. 1999. Education and training forolder workers. In Proceedings from a Conferenceon Active Strategies for an Ageing Workforce.Research and Development Centre, Social Insur-ance Institution, Turku, Finland. Ch. 23.

Tikkanen,T. & Kenni-Lehtonen,T-M. (forthcoming).Ikaintyvien tyontekijoiden tyossa oppiminen.IKAOPPI- projektin loppuraportti. (Final Report)

Learning interventions as evaluation and data feedback ofdialogic practices and career developmentKolbein Lyng, Norwegian social research (NOVA)

Rationale

The basic method used in this interventionwas surveying perceptions of competence,age and learning, and using the data fromthese studies as feedback for discussionsof how and why the relationships betweencompetence, age and learning are perceivedin the way they are.These discussions canform the basis of measures designed toenhance learning opportunities for olderworkers. This approach can be used at twolevels:

Group level. A basic assumption is thatnegative attitudes among older workerstowards their own competence is rein-forced by common "implicit" theoriesabout ageing and performance forexample, by older workers avoidinglearning situations and thus confirmingstereotypes through a self-fulfilling proc-ess.

Individual level. The learning processinvolved at this level can be summed upbriefly as follows:

(i) Problem solving related to a new skill inlearning computerised work involves a proc-ess of redefining the problem. Redefinitionis a multidimensional phenomenon involvingmotivation and self-image.

(ii) Knowledge from others (here educatorand researcher) can support a process ofredefinition (as a zone of proximal develop-ment) and enhance motivation.

In the dialogue (with the "master"), theproblematic definition of the older workerhas to be elucidated and the researcheras educator has the role of facilitatingthis process and co-constructing alternativeperceptions.

Selection procedures and researchprocess

Four companies that had been throughmajor technological or organisationalchanges in recent years were part of theinvestigation.The design and content ofthe interventions were adjusted to fit theneeds of each company.The focus wason the organisations as a whole, and theaim of carrying out interventions at theindividual level proved to be difficult.Thecompanies selected were mainly obtainedthrough branch organisations.

The aims of the selections were to samplecompanies with work types that woulddiffer in relation to the advantages of longexperience and hence the importance ofage for performance.

The intention was to conduct the NOVA-specific interventions as parts of a jointproject with the Work Research Institute,where WRI would cover the organisationalcompetence and NOVA the more specificageing issues.The first period of the field-work and interventions took place as jointactions with the WRI.Two of the com-panies (industry and vocational training),the fieldwork and interventions were con-ducted separately.

The intervention consisted of a feedback proc-ess where perceived changes in work compe-tence with age were discussed. Data on howwork competence was perceived to be influ-enced by age was collected and indexes werecomputed for six different dimensions of per-ceived work competence.The six dimensionsof work competence were:

social competence

professional competence

creativity and learning abilities

Table 26 Overview of NOVA companies

Branch Type of work Size' Autonomy Natural Intervention

Graphic design Informational/ manual 16 Independent New technology

Insuranceand downsizing

Informational 29 Subsidiary Organisational restructuring

Vocational training Communicational 40 Independent New goals and change instructure

Process industry Manual 450 Part of multinationalcompany

New technology

' Number of employees in the company

basic skills

work morale

productivity.

The findings were fed back into the organisa-tions through meetings with managers andrepresentatives from the Unions.The com-pany profile on these perceived dimensionswere, when possible, presented in comparisonwith data from other branches.The com-parisons allowed for discussions of how theconcrete work organisation contributed toindividual development by comparing alterna-tive work and organisations.The questionsasked in these meeting were:

How could the findings be interpreted?

What could they tell us about opportuni-ties for development?

What could they tell us about the condi-tions for older workers?

The researchers' most important role inthese meetings was to facilitate the discus-sions and summarise points of view.

The intervention was not carried out in thegraphic design company because the contactwith the company terminated.This was alsothe case in the insurance company althoughdata for feedback was collected. In this com-pany, use was also made of a work stress scalebecause this was one of the issues broughtup in the fieldwork.These kinds of data were,however, not used in the feedback processbecause they were not considered relevant bythe researchers.

In the vocational training company, the feed-back had to be delayed for more than a yearbecause of Union protest against the project.In the manufacturing company, feedback tookplace in a meeting with management and rep-resentatives of the Unions.

Analytical methods and toolsWithin the framework of action research theinterventions were analysed in the followingway:

Quantitative analysis ofWORKTOW-questionnaires.

Qualitative analyses of personal interviews.

Re-analyses of data collected through self-perception and attitude scales.

Table 27 gives a summary of the fieldworkand interventions across the companiesstudied.

Results

The main results from the NOVA-study areas follows:

The fieldwork showed a common evalua-tion of how competence is related to age.Social competence and professional com-petence together with work morale wereall considered to improve with age. Basicabilities were considered to decline.A sim-ilar tendency towards decline was per-ceived also in relation to creativity andproductivity.

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Table 27 Overview of fieldwork,"natural" and research-initiated interventions, and follow-upstudies

Company Field Work Natural Researcher InterventionIntervention

Monitor. Follow-uping

Graphic design Interviews, Changes inquestionnaire, technology andobservations products

employees.

Insurance Interviews, Radicalquestionnaire organisationalrestructuring

Vocational Interviews, New goals andtraining questionnaire. changes in

organisation

Processing Interview and Technologicalindustry Questionnaire changes

Planning meeting with manager Noneand employee representativesand feed back session with all

Meeting with management group None

Feedback to organisationalmanager

Feedback to managers andunion representatives.

None

None

Meeting withmanager andemployeerepresentative

Meeting withmiddlemanager

Meeting withorganisationalmanager

Meeting withmanagers andrepresentatives

The clearest differences in perceptionsbetween the companies were seen for cre-ativity and productivity.The impact of ageon the dimensions of creativity and pro-ductivity where evaluated differently fordifferent types of work.

Explanations given for these differenceswere sought in different opportunities forlearning within the specific work done andwithin the organisation.

Although a number of suggestions weremade as to how work and work organi-sations contributed to opportunities forlearning and how age was perceived, fewsuggestions came up as to how these couldbe changed.

8 0 88

Learning interventions as participatory analysis of learningpractices and career patternsLeif Lahn,Work Research Institute (WRI)

Rationale

The interventions that were planned by theWRI-researchers could be divided into an"inductive" strategy and a "structural one"(figure 4).The former was inspired by a dia-logical or participatory approach to actionresearch (Schon, 1983; Gustaysen, 1992)whereas the latter is rooted in socio-culturaltheory (Engestr6m & Middelton, I995).

Inductive strategy

The "inductive" strategy is a strongly modi-fied version of a dialogical approach, sinceit was reformulated to fit the projectdescription and the thematic orientation ofthe WORKTOW-project. In addition, severalpragmatic considerations were taken intoaccount, such as the interest of participatingcompanies in our key issues and their experi-ence with research collaboration. Neverthe-less, there are some specific characteristicsof this type of intervention that are worthmentioning.

Inductive strategy:

The focus is on collective and organisationallearning.The key concept of dialogue refers toan arena of communication where local partici-pants are taking part in open discussions ofissues of shared interestThe idea behind sucha construction is to promote a culture of publicdiscourse at the work place and create a socio-technical infrastructure for innovative achieve-ments. It may be useful to distinguish betweenthree phases in this intervention strategy:

Anchoring. The learning intervention has toaddress problems or concerns that areexperienced as important by the membersof participating companies. Sometimes out-side researchers have a useful role inmaking explicit what is more or less takenfor granted (Argyris & Schon, 1996) Anissue such as older workers and learningis usually not given attention in the dailyactivities of work places or in local discus-sions of human resource development. Ithas to be put on the agenda by others andin our case, both management and employ-

Field work Local Company based Follow-up(intensive) reports workshops and action studies

Structural strategy:

Cultural-institutional Focused field Local Focused Follow-upunderstandning ofan issue (activitysystem)

-+ work(extensive)

I> reports workshopsand action

studies

Follow-up interviews of participants ("learners") in the vocational trainingprogrammes

Figure 4 Inductive and structural strategies of learning interventions.

89 90

ees' representatives in the participatingcompanies had to show some interest inthe questions addressed.Also a deeperunderstanding was obtained through acombination of descriptive studies fed backto the members of the companies, and ajoint discussion of interpretations, analysesand measures to improve the situation.

Project development By organising a participa-tive analysis of the descriptive studies wetried to improve the quality of our data andto involve the local members in discussionsof actions to be taken. Even more importantis the idea that they should learn methodsand familiarise themselves with organisational"tools" that enable them to handle new chal-lenges, such as lifelong learning, in a construc-tive and innovative way.As will be describedbelow, this kind of broad mobilisation of thecompany did not take place in any of ourcases.At best, some of the activities fromthe workshops and meeting where our find-ings were discussed were followed up bymanagement with support from employees'representatives.

Institutionalisation of changes. By involving

management and employees in develop-mental projects the organisation as a wholeshould be able to "learn to learn", andthis capacity is reinforced by a socio-techni-cal infrastructure. In our project, we neverexpected to arrive at this stage of thelearning process since the issues of olderworkers and learning was not crucial to thecompetitive survival of the companies, andsince the time-limit of WORKTOW (2-3years) did not allow us to design a full-scaleprocess of organisational learning.

Structural approach

The structural approach to learning inter-ventions is inspired by socio-cultural theoryand activity theory.A key concept is "zoneof proximal development" (Vygotsky, 1978)in the sense that outside support fromresearchers should be an input to innovativeactions taken by groups and organisations.These actions are made possible by the con-struction of new social tools such as a system

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of apprenticeship for adult workers.The roleof external agents and researchers is toengage in a process of joint exploration andexpansive understanding of the new practices.One of the assumptions is that a more com-plex model will make it easier to differentiatestrategies and to learn from their implemen-tation. In the WORKTOW-project, this kindof model-construction was only begun andit has been difficult to follow this processthrough on a longitudinal basis.

Some modifications were made in the Lls duringthe research process. In both cases the issueof older workers and learning was only oneof the themes brought up by the researchers.However, the inductive strategy is more "naive"in the sense that the agenda is to a largeextent defined by the local companies ormore precisely by the questions that are discov-ered during the fieldwork.The similarity withethnographic research is evident and it thusrepresents an intensive approach (many vari-ables, few units).The reports that are fed backto the companies describe the organisations associo-technical systems and learning communi-ties.The follow-up studies have a holistic orien-tation by mapping all the important changes thatoccurred in the companies after the workshopsor feedback sessions.Also any effects of ourlearning interventions were to be documentedduring the follow-up meetings.

In the structural or socio-cultural approachto learning interventions, the unit ofresearch is the activity system in this casethe Norwegian vocational training schemefor adults.Although our fieldwork was"grounded" in the participating companies,we intended to describe a system thatincluded other institutions like vocationalschools, public training authorities andbranch organisations. New ways of coop-eration between the educational institutionsand industry could be seen as a case of"boundary crossing" and "horizontal learn-ing" (Engestr6m, 1996). In the WORKTOW-project, the interest is in finding out howthese innovations might include the needsof older workers. Compared with the eth-nographic approach, the structural is more

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focused on the training system and theissues of age differences. In addition, thefeedback sessions and the follow-up studiesare addressing questions related to thisactivity system rather than more generalissues of organisational culture and learningenvironment.An important difference is thatin the studies of vocational training pro-grammes, their effects on individual learningand development were assessed though re-interviewing two or three times in relationto specific events (start up, exams, programevaluation).

Company recruitmentTheoretical sampling.Table 6 shows that allthree types of work set as criteria forWORKTOW cases are covered by the WRI-sample, but there is an overrepresentation fromthe industrial sector (manual/informational).The size of the companies varies considerablyalthough they all fall within the range ofcommon definitions of SMEs. Some of them areintegrated on the basis of business and market-ing strategy with larger units, but all of our casesare independent production units with distincthuman resource policies.

Continuous and pragmatic sampling. One of thecriteria for selecting companies was the iden-

tification of a natural intervention or a trans-formation in the companies that we assumedwould affect the situation for older workersand the learning environments. We had con-tact with several branch organisations andwithin the nutrition and the technical andprinting industries, the recruitment processfollowed three paths. The printing companieswere chosen through a combination of directdiscussions with the managers of the compa-nies and with representatives of the branchorganisations, whereas the hotel and theinsurance company were recruited solely onthe basis of discussions with the local manag-ers.The manufacturing plant and the woodenproduction company were selected througha more systematic search process wherewe actively used overviews of companiesinvolved in vocational training for adults andtelephone interviews with managers, branchrepresentatives and providers of training.Animportant criterion was to include caseswhere older workers took part in the pro-grammes or had left them without sittingfinal exams.

Implementation of the LIFigure 5 gives an overview of relevant interac-tions in the WRI-material. Not all the vari-ables were used in each case.

Figure 5 An overview of background variables, learning interventions, "dependent" variablesand baseline observations. In many of the case-presentations background and base-line observa-tions are integrated.

Background variables

Age/sexLearning environment

ComplexitySkills requirementsClimateLearning processes

Learning interventions

Vocational training for adults

Feedback and group discussions

"Natural" change processes

Base line observations

Participation in training and learning situationsSkill levels and mastery of new work tasksLearning systems and practicesOrganisational climate

Output

Individual levelProfessional skillsLearningSelf-confidenceMotivationCareer opportunities

Group levelCooperationCollective learning

Organisational levelParticipation in learningLearning practicesManagement attitudesClimate

Table 28 summarises the main characteristicsof the WRI-interventions as they were carriedout in each company.

Results of the WRI-study

The biographical data suggest that the WRI-cases represent a mix of small and medium-sized companies and a range of age distribu-tions. We omitted those sectors such ashealth and social care where female workerspredominate and also companies with aprofessional profile, such as a law firm.

In the majority of cases, no dramatic changesin technology and work organisation hadtaken place in recent years, but one of theprinting companies and the insurance officehad been going though radical "turnarounds":

In the former, this was as a result of develop-ments in graphic tools and in the latter, as afunction of organisational redesign.

A major contingency when considering thework place as a learning environment is theextent to which work tasks and skills arespecialised or integrated and shared amongseveral workers. In the management litera-ture of the last decade, the trend has been toadvocate team based production and overlap-ping experiences (Nonaka, 1996). We saw asimilar development in the service sector andthe high-tech graphic company, whereas thiskind of restructuring was slower in traditionalindustrial plants.

In most of the companies, skill requirementswere undergoing a change eg the develop-

Table 28 An overview of fieldwork,"natural" and research-initiated interventions and follow-upstudies

Company Field work Natural ResearcherIntervention Intervention

Monitoring Follow-up

Printing Interviews,questionnaire,observations

Graphic Interviews,design questionnaire,

observations

Insurance Interviews,questionnaire.

Hotel Interviews,questionnaire.

Metal manu- Interviews,facturing questionnaire,

observations.

Woodenproduction

Interviews,questionnaire.

Changes intechnology

Changes intechnologyand products

Radical

organisationalrestructuring

No majorchanges

Vocationaltrainingprogramfor adults

Vocationaltrainingprogram foradults

Meeting with manager and Noneemployee representatives toplan a workshop with allemployees.These ideas weredropped by management.

Planning meeting with manager Noneand employee representativesand feed back session with allemployees.

Meeting with management Nonegroup.

Meetings and feed backsession with managementgroup.

Meetings with humanresource manager and afeedback session withmanagement, instructors,apprentices and unionrepresentatives.

Meetings with managementand feedback session withthe health, environment andsecurity committee.

None

Re-inter-viewing ofapprenticesand HRD-manager

Re-inter-viewing ofapprentices

Interviewwithmanager.

Meeting withmanager andemployeerepresentative

Meeting withmiddlemanager

Meeting withtop manager

Meetings withhumanresourcemanager andapprentices.

Meeting in thecommittee forhealth, security,

environment

Table 29 A summary of WRI-cases in relation to main themes in the study

Themes Printing

Employee Small firmprofiles Old

MaleSkilled

Production Gradualsystem changes

technology Specialised

Changesin skill

Graphicdesign

Insurance Hotel Manufacture Woodenproduction

More skills incomputerised

requirements work andcontact withcustomers

Learning Access toopportunities necessary

courses

Small firmYoungMixedSkilled

RadicalchangesOverlapping

More skills incomputeriseddesign andcontact withcustomers

New productsand technology

Individual Working with Working withlearning and new machines new machinestraining and coaching and contact

with customers

The situation Managementof older loyal towardsworkers the older

but uncertainfuture.

Contextualeffects

Inter-ventionaleffects

Stable andlarge clients,but morecompetitionahead

Gradualadjustmentsto newcontext.Shift inmanagementand towardsa more openatmosphere,but noimprovementfor olderworkers

Young cultureand newtechnologymade olderworkers quitthe company

New clients,new products,new techno-logy and image

A flatterorganisation,direct contactwithcustomers.Informalmeetings.Our projectsupportedthese localinitiatives.New manage-ment styleexcluding olderworkers

Small firmOldMixedUpper secondary

RadicalrestructuringOverlapping

More skills inroutine contactwith customers/deskilling

Communicationwith customers/deskilling process

Contact withcustomers andshorter courses/new products

Older workersout of worklife throughradicalre-structuring

Turbulence inthe financialsector affectingthe local unit

Developmentinto anintegratedsales-organisation.Radical downsizing andexclusionof olderemployees.

Medium-sizeYoungMixedUnskilled/skilled

Stable

Overlapping

No majorchanges.

Trainingnewcomers,participatingin projects,feedback

Instruction/learning fromothers andtaking partin projects

Older workersin managerialpositionslearn inexternalprojects

Relativelystable situation

Our projectpointed outthe negativeaspects ofhigh turnoverfor collectivelearning.Moreattentionto theseeffects amongmanagers.

Medium-size30-40 yearsMaleUnskilled

Small changes

Specialised

Minor changesinto moreoverview of thewhole process

More attentionto trainingneeds andcertification.

Workingwith moreexperienced.Program ofvocationaltraining (§20)

Older workersspecialising inold technology,few taking partin training.

Certificationnecessary andrecruitmentproblems

VocationaltrainingprogrammequitesuccessfulOur projecthad the effectof putting theissue of olderworker in focusand to makemanagementthink in termsof integratedproduction

Small firm30-40 yearsMaleUnskilled

Small changes

Specialised

More skills inerror detectionand overviewof the wholeprocess.

Strongmanagementinterest intraining andlearning.

Workingwith moreexperienced.Program ofvocationaltraining (§20)

Older workersintegrated innew produc-tion, manytaking part intraining

Certificationnecessary,recruitmentproblems,nationalcompetence-reform

Vocationaltrainingprogrammevery success-full with apriority givento the trainingof olderworkers.Our projectsupportedthe initiativesof themanagers.

ment of skills in the use of computers,in communicating with customers and inunderstanding the whole production process.From the management questionnaire for allWORKTOW-cases, it can be seen that aslight majority of the managers expect ahigher level of formal education among theemployees in the near future. The WRI-datado not differ from this overall picture.

The learning opportunities vary considerablyfrom one company to the other. In theservice sector the challenges are related toso-called "horizontal" learning when workingwith customers or involving themselves inprojects. In the industrial sector the pushto support training activities comes fromoutside forces (quality requirements, educa-tional reforms, labour market) or technologi-cal innovation. From the questionnaire mate-rial we see that almost all managers areexpecting a rise in investments on training,and these results stand for all three countries.

Roughly three patterns could be differentiatedin the learning processes at the work places:

The situation for older workers differed inthe companies observed even within thesame branch.Age was not an issue in theservice companies, but in the one example,this group of employees left during the radicaldownsizing process. In the hotel sector, latecareer is associated with managerial posi-tions, and newcomers seem to leave the busi-ness at an early age. From our observationsin the manufacturing plants we conclude thatthere is a growing appreciation of those intheir fifties as an asset to the company. Theywere consequently invited to take part inprograms of vocational education, but onlyvery few accepted the offer.

In the printing branch, the changes in market,products and technology were so rapid thatolder experts were not believed to be capa-ble of coping with the challenges. Thus theywere expected to stick to the old technology.

The contextual framework of our learninginterventions was not characterised by corn-

panies coping with turbulent changesexcept for the rather dramatic restructuringof the insurance company. Major influenceswere externally created by requirementsfrom customers, the national competencereform, initiatives to attract youth and newtechnology.

The effects of "natural" events that we couldobserve during our project, were of differentkinds:

No spectacular changes were observed.With reference to our hotel case, themanagement group tried to reduce turno-ver, and the small printing company wasfacing several challenges, but maintainedthe status quo.

The companies were pioneering vocationaltraining programs for their employeespartly as a response to external demandsand a progressive strategy of humanresource development.

Both the repro company and the insuranceoffice went through change processes thatin very different ways excluded the olderworkers from "learning ecologies" in work-ing life.

Our own interventions seemed to have a smalleffect when the situation was very stable as inthe first cases above or when the companieswere reorganised or reorienting themselvesas in the final cases. Consequently, our inten-tions and design were achieved more fully inthe companies that wanted to something withtheir own learning environment.

Analysis and evaluation of learninginterventionsAnother way of presenting the aggregate datais shown in figure 6.The relationships arenot given any value, and many contingenciesare not indicated. Here we will underline thefollowing "effects".

New technology causing exit of older workers.

This was most clearly seen in the twoprinting companies, but in both cases, theemployees at a late stage of their careerswere offered the requisite training.

94

New technology creating new learning commu-

nities. In the case of the repro company wesaw how new electronic tools and a com-pany in the process of restructuring mayhave occasioned the creation of a learningarena that excluded the oldest employees.A different picture can be seen in the caseof the wood production company sincesome interest was stirred up by the oppor-tunities of using creative computer assisteddesign for wooden products.This part ofthe curriculum was not job related, butit gave the candidates a better understand-ing of construction and could be used forhobby purposes.

Vocational training bringing about learning to

learn and an improvement in self-confidence.This was a general finding in the two com-panies that organised vocational trainingfor adults.There were many statementsfrom the candidates indicating that they

took great pride in completing the pro-gramme and some said they would vol-unteer for more.

Vocational training improving teamwork andsocial climate.The formation of a learninggroup in the wood production companyseemed to spread enthusiasm and newideas to other employees.

Vocational training as organisational learning.

In both the companies that were involvedin the §20-provision, both employers andemployees emphasised how the pro-gramme gave the candidates an overviewand a better understanding of the wholeprocess and indicated that it would con-tribute to the team building processes.

Vocational training to combat age barriers.There is strong evidence in both the metalproduction company and the wood pro-duction company that a more positive view

Figure 6 Relationships between background variables, learning interventions and output on

aggregate level

Bacground variables andbase line observations

Manual work, male employees.Low vocational education(skilled workers)Few years of employment

Specialised work in dindustry,integrated in service.

New requirements and pro-fessional skills

Learning by doing, "horisontallearning" and training.

Fairly good organisational cli-mates.

Negative attitudes towardslearning ability amongemployees/positive amongmanagers

0" Learning interventions

Technological changes

Learning interventions

Vocational training for adults

Learning interventions

Feedback and work shop/meeting

95

NJ.

Output

Individual levelLearned helplessness/

resignationNew professional skillsSelf-confidenceCertificateMotivation or exhaustionLearning to learn

Group levelCohesionSocial climate

Organisational levelSystematisation of trainingLearning practicesHuman resource manage-

mentCulture

Learning ecology of olderworkers

Learning opportunitiesParticipationAttitudes

of older workers was expressed in meet-ings during the feedback and follow-up ses-sions than in the early communication withthe companies.This was especially true inthe metal production case where the atti-tudes were the least positive at the outset.

Reflexive interventions as waste of time. In theinsurance company, the turbulence was sostrong that our feedback and reports werehardly noticed. Of course, parties in inter-nal struggles could have used our observa-tions as weapons used against each other

but we did not observe this kind ofoutcome.

Reflexive interventions as a confirmation ofpolicies. In most cases, our feedback wasaccepted and used to confirm the prolon-gation of a change process that was set inmotion by managers or a combination ofmanagers and employees.

Reflexive interventions as reframing. In somecases such as in one of the printing com-panies and in the metal production plant,a new understanding of older workersseemed to have been achieved through ourintervention

9796

A summarising comparison of the learning interventions

Learning interventions comparedTable 30 presents a summary of the charac-teristics of the Lls developed and/or used inthe WORKTOW-project.The table shows themain theoretical frameworks from which thelearning interventions were constructed, theintervention methods and target-levels of theinterventions (individual, group, organisational

or inter-organisational levels). Finally the tableshows a distinction between the strategicfocus of the interventions, defined as learningactivities in a life-project or as activities thatare important for work performance.The cat-egorisations are only suggestive, since, in real-it); there is considerable overlap.

Tabell 30 WORKTOW learning interventions and some of their characteristics

Learninginterventions/partner

Theoreticalbasis

Interventionmethod

Level Strategicfocus

Individual reflection on Experiential learning Group discussions

learning styles of inventory-Building Excellence (BE): profilesthe Learning IndividualProgramme /Kee le

Employee development Humanistic adultschemes (a governmental learningcompetence developmentprogramme)/Lancaster

Evaluation and data feedback Socio-culturalof dialogic practices and psychologycareer development /NOVA

Vocational training as a dualsystem of schooling andworking /WRI

Feedback and broaddevelopmental assessment/Jyvaskyla &WRI

Local learning network/Jyvaskyla

Distributed learning

Action learning anddialogical actionresearch

Network learningOrganisationallearning

Individual Life

Financial support Individual Life

and guidance of and workparticipants inthe schemes.Focus on olderlearners.

Redefinition ofproblem byworking withmore experiencedothers

Individual/Group

Lifeand work

Training programs Group Workfor adult workerscombining theoryand practice

Participation & analysis. Group/ WorkProactive evaluation Organisationof researchers'observation and ownexperiences.

Sharing of experience Organisation/ Workand practice and Inter-viewing opportunities organisationfor co-operation

97 92?

Table 3 I WORKTOW learning interventions and some of their characteristics

Learninginterventions

Results of interventions Evaluation of intervention methods

Reflection onlearning stylesPartner: Keele

EmployeedevelopmentschemesPartner: Keele

DialogicalproblemsolvingPartner:NOVA

Vocationaltraining as adual system ofschooling andworkingPartner:WRI

Feedback andbroaddevelopmentalassessmentPartner:jyU,WRI

Local learningnetworkPartner: jyU

Older female workers in low-skilledjobs may be in a "pre-contemplationstage" with regards to learningreflecting low opportunities for workplace learning.

Older workers benefited from EDSPositive view on the competence ofolder workers among managersInterest in early retirement not relatedto lack of learning opportunities orfeeling of being undervalued, but to workload and pressure - and constant change.Benefits from participation in courses,IT-training and informal learning.

Professional and social competence ofolder workers positively evaluatedLower rating for adaptive skillsExperience essential in vocationaltraining companyType of work limit learning in industrialplant

Vocational training programme quitesuccessful Developing learning to learnand self-confidence Improving socialclimate and team workSupport of organisational learning.Combating age barriers

New technology at the work placecreates learning opportunities ormarginalises older workersRadical changes in organisations maylead to learned helplessness.

Agreement among participants tocooperate and improve the localinteraction between SMEs and CVET-providers

Inventory too complex for women in lowstatus jobs. Time-pressure and little interest inlearning processes among participants.Instruments should take the broader social andcultural context into account.Promising in analysing learning style and matchwith H RD-policies and practices. Innovativeresearch in introducing a more focused methodof analysing learning style and in developing abiographical approach to older workers andlearning.

Scattered evidence of benefits from interventionto managers and workers more positive viewof older workers and a more focused approachto HRD.

Issue of older worker put in focus.Supporting an age-aware HRD-policy.Advocating integrated production and learning.

Rated valuable by managers; supported HRD inSME, with which an entrepreneur usually israther alone.Knowledge provided rated "general"; helpneeded in how to concretely apply it. Increasedawareness towards older workers.Encouraging comments from employeesconcerning the themes of the study.Interest in the companies on older workersreflected growing public attention.

Intervention rated as useful both by employersand CVET providers. Low participation rateamong employers signalise about scarceresources, towards broad competencedevelopment in particular.

98 99

Comparison of the results ofthe WORKTOW learninginterventionsIn table 31 we have given an overview of thesubstantial results from the interventions andwhat new knowledge about older workersand learning is generated through our studies.Also some experiences with the interventionmethods are assessed.

Summary of the effects of theresearch-based interventions

In many cases, our interventions werecredited with putting the issue of olderemployees and learning on the agenda.Some found support for existing or newsolutions in our observations. However, itwas sometimes the case that our feedbackwas hardly read or listened to.

An important effect was demonstrated bythe Kee le-intervention in the sense thatit identified contextual and personal con-ditions for "consciousness raising" amongolder workers when learning styles arethe focus. Similar effects were also foundin Jyvaskyla's intervention, and not onlyamong, but also on older workers, amongmanagement in particular.

In Jyvaskyla, the intervention effects weremainly seen at managerial level, so that onthe whole, it was utilised as a tool for themanagers in helping them to obtain sys-tematic information on the situation con-cerningWORKTOW-topics and for fur-ther planning of HRD in their companies.While the original goal was to includeemployees too, an important lesson hereis that for a wider impact, it is necessaryto involve the employees more intensively

in the core-communication groups (con-tact persons in the SMEs), and for thispurpose it is not a good solution to leavethis group-formation up to the companiesthemselves, as was done here.

In relation to programmes such as theEmployee Development Schemes in theUK and the vocational training provisionfor adults in Norway, our research wasadopted as a kind of evaluation of thesystem and of current practices and

a more differentiated discussion of experi-ences could take place.

The evaluation of the intervention in Fin-land showed that the use of a universityas an initiator of a developmentally ori-ented intervention into SMEs is still a newand somewhat alien concept. Managementis still less familiar and less at ease in deal-ing with human resources as as importantissue for organisational development thanwith other issues, such as production mat-ters or clientele. This seems to be par-ticularly the case in relation to research-supported development efforts. Managerswho are somewhat more familiar withthe issues seem to think of organisationaldevelopment in cooperation with othertraining institutes, and to consider researchas something academic and as such, ratherobscure and lacking any practical value forSMEs. For most SMEs participating in thestudy in Finland, this was the first involve-ment ever with a research cooperation andin particular, with one with such a "general"orientation. However, the more intensiveorientation adopted here was warmly wel-comed by management, since it had a clearfocus and observable greater immediatepractical value.

91. 0 0

IV Conclusions and policy implications

Summary and conclusions rela-tive to WORKTOW objectivesThe WORKTOW objectives related to fiveareas, ie: job competence (knowledge, skills,attitudes), learning at work , HRD and lifelonglearning, diversity of the workforce and learn-ing organisations, and case studies demon-strating the flexibility and productivity of theolder European workforce and their signifi-cance in the discussion about social cohesion.

Each of these five objective areas will bediscussed separately, albeit with considerableoverlap between them. Finally we will brieflydiscuss the WORKTOW project from amethodological point of view.

Recognising, valuing and utilising thejob-competence of older workers inwork and learning situations

Positive attitudes towards older workersand their job competence

One of the main findings from WORKTOWwas that the situation of older employeesin SMEs appears to be relatively good. Man-agers and employees who participated inWORKTOW had a positive perception of,and favourable attitudes towards the knowl-edge and skills of older workers.We observedno major problems related to or reportedby older workers in the different workplacesacross the companies or countries. In fact,partners' findings lent support to the percep-tion that considerable value is often placed onthe experience-based competence of olderworkers. Qualities such as loyalty and stabilitywere highly appreciated, as were the valueand competence of experienced workers asworkplace "teachers" or mentors contribut-ing to competence development among lessexperienced employees.

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The pros and cons of taking older workers'job competence for granted

Little evidence of poorer job competence amongolder workers. In most cases, the competenceof older employees was taken for grantedwithin the SMEs.This conclusion has bothpositive and negative implications. On thepositive side, it was generally the case thatthe frequently quoted, supposedly stereotyp-ical thinking concerning obsolescence andlack of competence among older workerswas not supported by our findings.Thatis not to say that older workers wouldhave been excluded from developmental chal-lenges related to their job-competence toany greater extent than other groups ofemployees. Rather, individual differences wereemphasised much more than age issues assuch, especially by the employers and by man-agement.

The results from Finland also showed thatjob experience and personal characteristics assources of job-competence were more highlyvalued than formal training undertaken duringthe life course. From this point of view, theconsiderable appreciation of younger, morerecently trained employees may not necessar-ily be grounded in their job competence, anymore than the poorer appreciation of anddeficit approach to the competence of olderworkers is to be found in the lack of, or obso-lescence of, their formal training. Rather, thisfinding suggests that value judgements madeconcerning the competence of both of thesegroups within the labour force are based onother qualities and are largely socially con-structed (Ellstronn, I 996b). Further-more, inFinland some signs already exist that suggestthat the advantages and rates of return gainedfrom new training are notably lower in thecase of older rather than younger workers.Since our data does not allow us to confirm

.100

this hypothesis, further studies should exam-ine value judgements concerning occupationalcompetence more closely. However, we sug-gest that the positive value of older workers'job competence observed here should beconsidered against the possibility of selec-tion-effect (Salthouse, 1996). Our data doesnot give direct evidence as to whether thoseemployees with the weakest competence hadalready left or been excluded from the SMEsthat participated in our study. Nevertheless,indications of this effect were observed indi-rectly in the difficulties experienced, in somecases, of locating companies with sufficientolder employees to participate in the study.

Little attention to job competence in SMEs.On the negative side, the taken for grantedapproach to competence meant that littleattention was paid to monitoring, mappingand documenting it.Accreditation or rewardsaligned to job-performance were also rare;they were most commonly found inproject-type work. Individual competenceassessments were rarely conducted beyondself-evaluation in developmental discussionsin some larger SMEs.This situation, however,not only concerned older workers but allemployees. Nor did it necessarily mean thatthe job-competence of older workers wasnot recognised or valued. Indications of in-company awareness of the competence ofemployees among employers and manage-ment were clear, as was the correspondingcollegial-awareness among the employees.However, rather than being monitored sys-tematically, this awareness or knowledge wasgained informally in everyday work andtended to be retained by individuals, partiallyreflecting organisational-cultural competence.Thus, it was part of 'tacit' organisationalknowledge on the one hand, and reflectedthe experience-based competence of man-agement on the other.As suggested by Erautet al. (1998) this type of competence cansometimes only be identified in a smallnumber of individuals in the workplace (oftenjust one individual) whilst other types ofcompetence may be firmly embedded inorganisational activities.The former type ofknowledge is naturally highly subjective and

relative and therefore susceptible to variousenvironmental and situational influences, notnecessarily related to the competence of theindividuals concerned.Therefore, value judge-ments based on the perceived competence ofan individual employee or a group of employ-ees tend to put the individual or the groupin a vulnerable position through use of thisnon-objective type of evaluation.

Considerable strengths in competence, butchallenges in new instrumental-technicalskills

High levels of skill in many areas of meta-compe-tence. In addition to older workers' "unique"competence (high task and firm specificity)and expertise in intra-organisational compe-tence (low task and high firm specificity),our findings provide evidence of a particularstrength in their job-competence in the areaof 'meta-competence' (Nordhaug, I991).Asdescribed earlier in this report, the latterrefers to the infra-structural competencein work organisations and is considered asa foundation for work performance ingeneral, comprising a broad range ofcompetencies (Nordhaug, 1991). Older work-ers themselves assessed their competencedevelopment through their accumulatedexperience ("compared to when I was young/starting my career...") with characteristicsreflecting a range of meta-competencies.Agreat many of these characterisations indi-cated the strengths that older workers pos-sess concerning communication and otherinter-personal skills. Other examples wereseen in analytic aptitudes and skills as well asin planning skills (e.g. in engineering work),capacity to tolerate uncertainty and skills inhandling conflicts (e.g. in client service), coop-erative capabilities, and ability to make judge-ments (e.g. prioritise various tasks under highwork-pressure). This kind of personal com-petence was also highly valued by manage-ment who emphasised considerable individualvariety in these characteristics.These charac-teristics also underline the power of learningfrom experience, and accentuate the limita-tions of the formal vocational training system,at least in its traditional forms, in respect ofbuilding this kind of central competence.

1011

ICT-competence the biggest learning challenge.

Paradoxically, the biggest developmental chal-lenges to the competence of older workerswere often found in the area of infra-struc-tural competence or meta-competence.Thisindicates that defining what counts as totaljob competence, and in particular in its mostsubtle, though powerful domains (e.g. tacitknowledge), is not easy and is likely to escapeexhaustive and all-encompassing categorisa-tion.The main challenges for older workerswere certain forms of communication, moreprecisely foreign languages and technical read-ing-skills (Kananoja, 1993) or media readingskills (Edwards, 1998) related to informationand communication technology (ICT). Studieshave shown that older workers in particular,can easily get lost in net- and symbols-basedIT where existing job experi-ence is of no use (Rantanen & Lehtinen,1998).

In most companies, especially in SMEs in Fin-land, methods of internal and external com-munication and information exchange werein the process of being changed in orderto make use of recent ICT developmentsinvolving the use of a personal computer.Older workers' inexperience in using codedlanguage and sometimes more generally inworking with information in a text-form (e.g.reading and understanding manuals or pro-ducing reports) can result in direct problemsin managing everyday work. It can also haveindirect consequences as a result of the atti-tudes and expectations of management andco-workers. Our data showed little in the wayof actual problems, however, but developmen-tal needs in this area were considerable inall age groups. In particular, in industry, IT-related learning needs were strong in bothage groups - four out of ten reporteda strong need for development. However,younger workers and management expressedrather less belief in the capacity of olderworkers to learn new ICT. Whilst this levelof belief among younger workers was moregenerally related to older people, manage-ment emphasised strong individual differenceswithin this age group.

The data showed clear age-differences in theuse of computers in daily work only withinindustrial work (older workers used themto a significantly less degree), while other dif-ferences found were across sectors (highestin office work) rather than age differenceswithin sectors.These findings are in line withexisting studies (Parjanne, 1999; Rantanen &Lehtinen, 1998), which indicate that althoughuse of IT is already fairly high in workinglife (e.g. 60 % on average in Finland in 1996)and increasing all the time, its use is directlyrelated to the educational background of anemployee.

We found clear cross-sectoral differences inthe use of computers, but these were morepronounced among older workers. However,the age differences that disadvantaged olderworkers were greatest within industrial work.Additionally, there was notable variety amongthe SMEs in relation to problems of age-related technology-competence, the mostdramatic example being an insurance com-pany in Norway. However, a contrasting casewas identified in a small bank in Finland whereno age-differences in technology-related com-petence was found. In the latter case therewas a strong belief in the competence ofsenior employees among management andwas possibly due to extensive investment intheir training and development in the organi-sational transition process.

Older workers' learning in worksettings

Changing working life and learning at andfrom work

The changes taking place in working life andin their workplaces provided employees withboth continual learning challenges and opportu-nities. Older workers were included in changeprocesses and restructuring no less than theiryounger colleagues, so workplace learning wasalso common among older workers.

With regard to the pace of work and learningopportunities in daily work the age differenceswere generally small. In line with findings from

103 102

earlier studies (Kilbom, 1997; Lahn, 1999;Paoli, 1997), older workers reported less con-trol by machines, colleagues and customers.Existing literature has indicated that olderworkers suffer more stress and react moreto the hectic pace of work than youngerworkers (James, 1996; Delgoulet, Marquie &Escribe, 1996), but our data showed no agedifferences in this regard.

Older workers rated the possibilities fordeveloping their professional skills to besomewhat better than what the younger onesdid, but these differences were not statisti-cally significant on a general level. However,in industrial work, the older workers ratedthe chances of obtaining the necessary train-ing to be lower than those of their youngercolleagues. An intervening variable mentionedearlier might be the degree to which employ-ees are facing innovations requiring up-skill-ing, that is, to what degree the everydayenvironment offers the stimulation and chal-lenge of new learning.

Further analyses of the data (Tikkanen, forth-coming) have shown differences in how learn-ing opportunities have been rated betweenemployees and management and between thethree countries.The management tended tovery systematically rate SMEs to provide forbetter learning opportunities than what theemployees did.The differences in these viewswere the biggest in Norway, where the ratingsof the management were most positive ofall countries. Employees and management inFinland rated the learning opportunities theleast positive of all countries, while these twopoints of view were the closest in the UK.

In the UK, Finnish and Norwegian casesmanagers and employees attributed little orrestricted participation in training to inten-sified work pressure e.g. tighter dead linesand heavy amounts of work.These observa-tions are in line with the Third EuropeanSurvey on Working Conditions 2000 (Merl lie& Paoli, 2000) and national studies (Grimsmo& Hilsen, 2000).We found no clear indicationthat these trends vary with age.Yet they mayhave an adverse effect on the learning envi-

ronment of older workers in many ways. Forexample, the time for active learning in dailywork may be reduced, there may be feweropportunities for reflection as new practicesare created, more standardised teaching maybe provided and little follow-up of formallearning sessions organised in the work place.

There is evidence in our study that olderworkers in branches experiencing turbulenceare resisting learning opportunities since theyrequire some personal investment, but theoutcome is quite uncertain and possibly nega-tive. For example, the senior employees inthe radically restructured Norwegian insur-ance firm said older workers gave up when apositive trend was reversed. More likely how-ever, is a slow process where older workersare not encouraged to commit themselves toinnovative activities and gradually their self-efficacy is lost.

We found evidence of some age-related var-iation in change-related learning in work-places, so that some older workers tookadvantage of the learning potential offeredby these changes, whereas others experi-enced a 'learning fatigue'. Some varietyin engagement in learning was also foundacross companies. In some cases, low levelsof confidence in individual learning abilitywere observed among older workers whowere involved in repetitive job tasks andwho possessed poor basic skills. From apurely psychological perspective, low levelsof involvement in change processes and lackof recognition of the learning potential itprovides can result in active change resist-ance on the part of an employee (Gilhooly,1998). Our data did not explicitly focus onchange resistance or its relationship withage of employees, but many employees,older and younger, described how, in an IT-transition period, technology overly domi-nated their work and work processes, eitherthrough repeated problems or because oftheir unsatisfactory IT-skills.As a result, formany people, the basic criteria for job sat-isfaction, feelings of job control and auton-omy, became threatened by IT-changes.Thiskind of development has been suggested to

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"1 nit

reflect some of the aspects in the culture ofa learning organisation (Kuittinen & Kekale,1996).

The variety in our findings across companiesconcerning the outcomes of change-learningcausality support the line of thinking,commonly found in developmental workresearch (action research) that workplacelearning is highly contextual and situational.This suggests that the common rhetoricconcerning the challenges posed by workinglife changes to workplace learning is toogeneralised and too vague to form a basisfor a study of these issues.An example ofthis type of thinking is the study by Launisand others (2001) focusing on work-placecommunities during the transition periodfrom old to new practices.

Another explanation for variety in learningapproaches and effects resulting from work-place changes is offered from within the moregeneral tradition of sociocultural constructiv-ism (Billett, 2001; Billett & Boud, 2001). Herethe argument is that workplace practicesand other factors shape the attractivenessof opportunities offered in the workplace, andthereby also impact on how individuals electto engage with the workplace and the variouspractices in it.This view underlines that theopportunities for workplace learning and par-ticipation are not symmetrically distributed.Our data does not allow us to draw definiteconclusions as to whether the age of anemployee might be a factor directly influ-encing how strongly opportunities offered byworkplaces are experienced and interpretedfrom the point of view of learning. In fact, pos-itive learning motivation and attitudes as wellas perceptions of learning capabilities amongolder workers, suggest that chronological ageas such would be of less importance. Rather,we should focus on workplace practices andother factors and actors (e.g. management),which together with individual issues forma more complex approach to the study ofworkplaces as learning environments (see dis-cussion on Diversity of workforce and learn-ing organisations later in this chapter).

Learning attitudes, skills, motivation, andability rated as good, though with indi-vidual differences

Learning attitudes, skills, motivation and abilitywere generally rated to be good and evidenceof significant age-differences was lacking. Bothemployees and employers stressed that thevariety discerned in relation to these issueswas not related to age but to individual differ-ences. It was implicit in the responses that theolder the target group under evaluation, themore were individual differences emphasised,in particular by the management. Single exam-ples from colleagues at positive and negativeends of the spectrum were often taken up indiscussions. However, the most positive viewswere more prevalent among older employeesso that attitudes towards the learning capac-ity of older workers were significantly morepositive among this age group.A similar ten-dency has been found in other studies (Lyng,1999). However, some of our managers andemployees displayed somewhat less positiveattitudes when the issue of age and learningof new technology was raised.

The success of older workers in learningnew skills in the workplace was generallyrated as being as good as that of youngerworkers with older workers rating them-selves even more positively than the youngeremployees rated them.The favourable atti-tudes expressed towards older workers'learning were often supported with measurestaken by managers and employee representa-tives. Examples can be seen in the imple-mentation of the Employee DevelopmentSchemes in the UK for a range employees,including older workers, the granting ofpriority to the oldest workers when admit-ting employees to a vocational training pro-gramme in Norway (wooden production), andin the involvement of all older workers inan extensive training programme in a majorcompany reorganisation process in Finland(bank). However, we also found situationswhere the ideas articulated were contra-dicted in practice by ageist beliefs.Again, inmany cases, this discrepancy was most nota-ble when questions of new technology andlearning were addressed.

ICT driving learning forward in the work-places

The driving force for learning in most of thecompanies was the result of launching newtechnology, sometimes to match the demandsand needs of the clientele. According to ourfindings, however, learning related to new ITwas a two-edged sword in many respects.On the one hand, the drive it created fornew learning was considered stimulating, posi-tive, and motivational. On the other hand,technology and its management often beganto dominate the actual work tasks and theway in which they were managed.This wasnot only because of the on-going learningrequired, but also because of the practicalproblems to be faced when the technologywas not working properly. Feelings of controlover individual work were in many casesthreatened.These situations resulted in rec-ognition of "impossible tasks" in work,described as problems in everyday workwithout real solutions that would be underthe control of the employees themselves(Launis, Niemela, Engestrom & Kanto la, 2001).These kinds of situations lead to variousforms of 'bypassing' the actual problems andthe development of sheer survival strategiesin the everyday work environment.The engi-neers who gave an example, admitted thatnew software, or updated versions, was beingintroduced at such a rate that there was nochance of learning to use it properly beforea new version was launched.These problemswere usually coupled with time pressures,resulting in additional worries that there wasno chance of exploiting the full potential ofthe new tools in order to improve the qualityof what was being produced.

Regardless of the fact that ICT was proving tobe even more of a learning and developmentalchallenge to older than to younger workers,a conclusion that can be made on the basisof our findings is that older workers seemto manage reasonably well with ICT in theworkplace. In fact, in many cases they werecoping rather better than the usual stere-otypes would generally allow us to assume.For example, in the Finnish engineering com-panies, the young engineers pointed to the

difference between them and older workersonly in relation to the settings where thelearning of ICT skills had taken place - theyoung engineers at school and the older engi-neers at work but they had not observedany differences from themselves in older engi-neers' actual management of PCs in everydaywork practices.We anticipate that withina 5-10 year time span, fears about olderemployees' capabilities with regard to learningto use ICT in workplaces will prove to havebeen groundless indeed, the current sit-uation is similar to that experienced withthe coming of first wave computerisationduring the 1970s and early 1980s (for lit-erature see Beauchesne-Florival, 1990; Char-ness, 1990; Haarotyan, 1990; Straka I990).Thisimprovement in the situation of older work-ers will be further enhanced by the develop-ment of learning and training methods thatwill be more effectively matched to theirpreferred learning styles and will also takeaccount of their readiness to learn (see Kee lepartner's intervention in the UK).

Our data also shows that competence needsrelated to ICT in the workplace are alreadyoften being used complementarily i.e. employ-ees with different levels of ICT competencecomplement each others' skills in the jobto be accomplished. Competence was some-times also "traded" (different competencesexchanged among employees) to secure aproblem free progression of the work.Anillustration of this can be seen in the exampleof the engineering companies in Finlandwhere older engineers were better able tooutline, plan and control the work in progressfrom a holistic point of view, whereas the"quick fingers on keyboards" approach ofyounger engineers and their superior knowl-edge of the use of some types of softwarewere used to carry out smaller parts of thetotal work.Therefore, to some degree, ICTskills appear to be the same as any otherareas of job competence (e.g. social skills, var-ious knowledge, etc.) in that some employeesare better at some aspects than others, butoverall job results can be maximised throughcooperation and through sharing of compe-tences.

Learning as practice-based, social andinformal

Not surprisingly, workers in the later stagesof their careers had a preference for prac-tice-based learning and training. Our resultsstrongly support the findings from existingstudies (Billets, 2001; Eraut,Alderton, Coleand Senker, 1999; van den Tillaart et al, 1998)in that performance in the workplace is highlyinfluenced by other people's learning and thatthis learning can either be facilitated or con-strained by the organisation and allocationof work, and by the social climate of thework environment.The data from the Finnishbank (reported in Tikkanen, 2001) particularlyprovided evidence that workplace learning isa highly social activity since it is based onvarious forms of knowledge sharing amongemployees. However, where there is directcontact with clients/customers, as in theexample of the bank counter, any problemsconcerning this contact require rapid solu-tions and cannot be delayed as in manyother type of work. In this case, a competentworker is required to know, firstly, which ofhis/her colleagues might know the answer,and secondly, to go to this person and askfor help.We return to the issue of knowledgesharing as a form of workplace learning laterin the chapter on Diversity and learningorganisations.

One of the cultural implications of the newpolitics of lifelong learning and open anddistance learning seems to be a new recogni-tion of the value of informally learned skillsand knowledge.This shift is also reflectedin renewed academic interest in "apprentice-ship" and problem based learning as key con-cepts of a new pedagogical manifesto.Thisreframing of what counts as valuable knowl-edge has the potential to afford overduerecognition to the experience-based compe-tence of older workers, to improve theiraccess to new learning environments and tosupport and promote their personal devel-opment.Totally work-based, informally gainedknowledge, which can often result in a narrowconception of expertise, should however besupported and complemented by a moreabstract understanding of work processes, for

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example in modern production systems.Thisfact was emphasised by both management andemployees in some WORKTOW companies.

Multiskilling and team based work. The infor-mation technology paradigm and relatedorganisational demands towards multiskillingincreasingly require a focus on individual andcollective learning in organisations (Thang,1997). In some of our companies, principlesof group-based production were introduced,often in parallel with a multiskilling of thework force. Older workers are obviouslyaffected by these changes, but some of theparticipants in our study were afraid that theywould be "shuffled around" if they broadenedtheir expertise. In a couple of cases, employ-ees in senior positions clung to their tradi-tional tasks since these were associated withprofessional identity, self-image and security.

HRD involving older workers facilitatinglifelong learning and productivity andcombating exclusion

Based on the evaluation of WORKTOW-interventions the following qualities shouldbe included in the design of HRD programsinvolving older workers:

(a) Attention to the levels of basic skills.

(b) Improvements in those working condi-tions within the work environment thathave been shown to contribute to thedevelopment of a learning environment.

(c) A system of needs-analysis and com-petence development planning thataddresses individual differences amongolder workers.

(d)A system of individual and organisationalcompetence analysis and its documen-tation, which acknowledges strengths asdevelopmental starting points.

(e) Development of new career trajectoriesthat might support"flexpertise" (Heijden,1998) and learning to learn' among theworkforce.

In addition, national initiatives are needed toreverse the general lowering of the retire-ment age in different countries across Europe

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since this tends to define the horizon forpersonal investments in training and re-social-ization in the work place.

Radical restructuring of business can havenegative effects on HRD, as is well docu-mented in cases from different Europeancountries (Knights &Willmott, 2000). Onecase in our study was a Norwegian insurancecompany where the older employees werethe first to be involved in a process of multi-skilling and integration of tasks.This innova-tory phase was seen both as a challenge andas a threat since it meant sharing traditionalexpertise with younger colleagues. However,the turnaround and downsizing of the com-pany into a small administrative unit and acall centre, geographically relocated, repre-sented what could be called a "liquidation"of the learning environment and a reversalof the former positive process.Tasks wereturned into specialised responses to cus-tomers' needs and the interaction betweenemployees reduced to a minimum.Thesechanges, coupled with redundancies and relo-cation, affected the commitment of olderworkers in a very negative way and a consid-erable number of resignations were reported.

With reference to a somewhat contrasting casein the same branch (finance) of the Finnish bankthere was a strong belief in the competence ofolder employees and consequently also intheir development.Then extensive investmentswere made in a major reorganisation of thecompany. However, as in the Norwegian case,the older employees often expressed feelingof insecurity, hence those who participated inthe WORKTOW fieldwork appeared to havebeen pre-selected. Data from this company wastherefore somewhat positively biased becausesome older employees found it the "wisest"strategy to keep quiet by not expressing theiropinions in the WORKTOW research and to beloyal to the process of change.

Participation in formal, non-formal andon-the-job training

Only in regards formal training and withinindustrial work were the participation rates

of older workers clearly lower than thoseof their younger counterparts.While a greatmajority of all employees (78 %) had par-ticipated in some form of training - formal,informal, non-formal - participation was mostcommon in on-the-job (46 %) and formal (45%) training.Among groups of older workers,the participation rate of those in industry wasthe highest across sectors (35 %), althoughthe differences with other groups (in serviceand in office work) were very small. It wasonly in participation in formal training thatstatistically significant age-differences werefound in that younger employees appear tohave been favoured. In the other two formsof training (non-formal, informal), differencesin participation rates were greater betweensectors (lowest in industry) than between agegroups (none of the 45+ employees in indus-try reported participation in non-formal oron-the-job training).The length of participa-tion tended to be a slightly longer among theyounger employees, but the differences werenot statistically significant.

As indicated earlier, in several cases the needto provide training for employees in latecareer in SMEs was explained by referring tonew technology and flexible work routines.As a general rule this ideology had an inclu-sive effect on the training of older workers,but in some instances the change processeswere considered to be so rapid and radicalthat the expertise of older workers had lostany transfer value to new domains. From thepoint of view of training provided, however,our findings suggested that there is a majorobstacle related to the prevalence of stand-ardised training packages.They are usually notcustomised to the needs of senior employees,or to their readiness and competence forparticipation in these types of activities.

Learning culture in SMEs

Positive learning culture. In the questionnairewe asked about various aspects of the learn-ing culture in the SMEs.The results showedthat it was largely rated positively, particularlyby the older workers.The only less positiveexceptions were in obtaining feedback frommanagement in order to perform one's

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job adequately and encouragement in askingquestions. Management rated these twoissues much more positively in the SMEs thanwhat the employees did.With regard to theencouragement to ask questions, the employ-ees' opinions were totally divided. However,age-differences in these ratings were almostnon-existent, except concerning equality ofsuccess of older workers compared toyounger employees in learning undertaken. Inthe latter issue, older workers were morepositive in their ratings. In some cases, man-agement was surprised by the positive atti-tudes uncovered concerning issues related tolearning in their companies.

Management competence as a key factor indeveloping learning organisations. Given thatlearning organisations support and encourageactive learning and development (Day, 1998),our results suggest that in many SMEs, thedevelopment of relevant key managementskills, such as encouragement and supportfor learning and development, could be astarting point to boost the development ofa learning culture and learning organisations.Similar observations underlining the centralrole of managers in developing learning-ori-ented working environments in microcompa-nies have been made in some other studies(van den Tillaart et al., 1998). However, untiltoday the focus in research has rather beenon attitudes to learning among the individualemployees.As mentioned earlier, the attitudeswere mainly positive, while learning practiceswere in many cases restricted by the circum-stances pertaining in the workplace.

In one of the Finnish engineering companies,the top manager described a transition inthe lifetime of the firm (six years) from a"pioneering phase" to an "office phase" or"senior phase". He added that this processalso changed the learning culture to a lessdynamic one.The more general point is thatmany SMEs are facing this type of life spanof formalisation, growth and differentiation.From this point of view, it can be harmful tothe learning culture in a company when theintegrated work environment is split into sub-cultures.An owner-manager of an engineering

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company, who said that the developmentalchallenges of his company were reflected inhis personal developmental challenges, under-lined the central role of management in theorganisational and learning culture in a smallfirm. Similar conclusion concerning micro-companies has been also made by van denTillart and others (1998). In this case, themanager was lacking a clear vision for his per-sonal-professional future development thatwas reflected in the lack of vision for thedevelopment of the company as well.

Organising HRD and learning in theworkplaces

The data from the UK on the learning stylesof older women in low status jobs suggeststhat there may be a personal history of non-learning in working life that should be takeninto account when addressing issues of work-places as learning communities.

One of our conclusions is that any normativeguidelines for organising learning for olderworkers run the risk of being insensitiveto the variety of learning situations in work-ing life and the range of differential learningstyles and strategies adopted in a late workingcareer.Thus, there is a need to differentiateHRD strategies and practices in the work-place when targeting activities towards olderworkers.A general hypothesis of ontogeneticdevelopment, which suggests increasing inter-individual differences by age, also supportsthis argument.

A practice-oriented approach is commonlyrecommended as an educational method foradults. On the one hand, our data providessupport for this kind of thinking. Olderemployees especially preferred learning meth-ods, techniques and contents, which wereclosely related to their work. Learning wasexperienced as both easier and more mean-ingful when they were able to relate it totheir existing knowledge base and skills, andits relevance to their everyday settings wasnot too complicated to be discerned. On theother hand, when exploring the Norwegianvocational training practices involving olderworkers, we found a wide range of prefer-

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ences for theoretical over practical knowl-edge; group based over individually basedinstructional methods; and different views onthe need for motivation of learners. One crit-ical variable in learning preferences seemedto be the level of basic skills among the work-ers rather than age per se.

We found that there was a difference in HRDpractices and perhaps also in ideologies in howstaff development is approached in the caseof younger and older workers in SMEs. Fromthe point of view of informal workplace learn-ing, our findings suggest that, compared toolder workers, learning and competence devel-opment among younger employees is morevisible, more systematic, and planned andorganised in a more goal-oriented way inSMEs.Those who were given executive respon-sibility for this developmental work were typi-cally the more experienced employees.Whilethe latter reported that this kind of mentoringand guidance meant, in many cases, innovativelearning for them too, their learning was nev-ertheless given less prominence in SMEs com-pared to the corresponding attention paid toyounger workers. However, our data suggestthat, in most cases, this age-segregated HRDpolicy was not the result of a deliberate choicebut was rather an unintended consequence ofa number of 'old' and 'new' factors.Among themost important 'new' factors are the tradi-tional beliefs concerning strong competence asbeing related to long work experience, stere-otypical thinking about the negative relation-ship between age and learning ability and theinvisibility of the issue of age in the workplacetogether with the existence of age-discrimina-tory practices.

Diversity of workforce in terms ofage and competence contributing tolearning organisationsAs well as their structures and activities,organisational changes have the capacity todrive the development of learning organisa-tions forward (Snyder & Cummings, 1998).This was also observed in WORKTOW (seethe previous chapter on HRD above). How-ever, awareness of SMEs as learning organisa-

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tions and what that might mean in one's owncompany was relatively low among both man-agement and employees. Regardless of this,we identified a range of changes indicatingthat a transition process was taking placein the SMEs from traditional, stable organ-isations towards becoming more dynamic,responsive learning organisations.The drivingforce behind the need for a diversity of skillsin many of our companies, and the needto develop a learning organisation, was sur-vival in an increasingly tough competitive busi-ness environment, rather than seeing skillsand learning organisation development as themeans of attaining this objective. Diversityamong employees was regarded as a centralissue in being responsive to the diverse needsof clientele (as in the charity organisationcaring for people with learning disabilities inthe UK) and in securing organisational conti-nuity aside from changes. Other reasons givenfor this opinion were related to the manyfunctions and various competences perceivedas necessary for effective performance inflexible organisations, and to processes ofknowledge creation achieved by combining arange of different perspectives. In addition, interms of age and job competence; diversityof employees was generally perceived as anasset. However, our data does not specifywhat kind of complementarity is reallysought.That is, what kind of competence mixwould be advantageous in relation to whatkind of challenges? Further studies shouldfocus on examining the diversity of compe-tence from this perspective.

Diversity of the workforce enablescompetence sharing as a central form ofworkplace learning

As mentioned above, our findings support theexisting studies (Billett & Boud, 2001; Eraut,Alderton, Cole & Senker, 1998) which showthat knowledge sharing is a common everydaypractice in companies, and constitutes oneof the most important forms of workplacelearning. Competence sharing was consideredvery "natural" in WORKTOW studies.Thusour data underlines recognition of andrespect towards the "sapiental autority"(Boreham, Shea and Mackway-Jones, 2000),

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in SMEs.Without this understanding and shar-ing of competence, workplaces simply wouldbe dysfunctional, even high-risk environments.The latter has been exemplified in a studyby Boreham and others (2000) in which theauthors examined issues of work and compe-tence in a hospital environment.

Turning to the practice of sharing compe-tence in everyday work from the point ofview of diversity of the workforce in terms ofage, our data supports the notion of stronginter-generational solidarity in the workplace.Thus, contrary to the notion of poorer orobsolete compe-tence of older, compared toyounger workers, we found indications of anintergenerational, collectively shared under-standing concerning job-competence and itstransfer in a life-span perspective. Accordingto this understanding, less experienced (usu-ally younger) employees know and achieveless, and hence need more help and supportMore experienced (usually older) employeeswho have shown themselves able to achieveand who have more knowledge, are generallywilling to help them and to share their com-petence.The "trading" of more technical com-petence, mentioned earlier, is part of thispicture. From this point of view, competencesharing represents a form of tacit knowledgeand an expression of cultural knowledge inthe workplace.

Learning by sharing knowledge was well illus-trated in the case of the two Finnish compa-nies, the bank and an engineering concern(reported by Tikkanen, 2001). In the latterespecially, younger engineers reported that,for them,'working' virtually equalled 'learn-ing', whereas the older engineers noted that,in their case,'working' meant not so much'learning', as 'sharing' and 'teaching'. However,both individual characteristics and organisa-tional factors (e.g. climate and culture) hadan effect on how such intergenerational com-petence sharing actually took place in prac-tice.Thus, according to the view of learningorganisations which use shared learning aswell as learning results as criteria that dictatestructures, functioning, and culture of anorganisation (Snyder & Cummings, 1998), our

findings indicate the existence of relativelystrong learning cultures in some SM Es.

The functioning of this inter-generationalcompetence sharing in workplaces is, how-ever, dependent on a range of organisationalfactors, which impact on the potential forcollaboration and communication amongstaff in a company. One of the most centralpre-requisites is knowing who knows whatin the individual's work unit or organisation.In other words, one central aspect contrib-uting to an employee's total competencein an increasingly collaborative work envi-ronment is to be familiar with the humanresources among one's colleagues. Further-more, the increase in networking in workinglife also requires knowledge concerning theavailability of competence and appropriateresources within one's network. In one ofthe hotels, we found that this kind of com-petence was an asset for experienced man-agers when new business and marketingprojects were planned.

Investing in older workers

Several of our companies, especially inNorway and Finland, had problems acquiringcompetent workers in the labour market.They realised that an alternative to therecruitment of new competence was toupdate that already available among theirexisting workforce.This strategy however,appeared to be a double-edged sword forSMEs, as indicated in the example of the smallFinnish engineering company, since any invest-ment in the training of older workers madethem more attractive to the external market.

Another rationale for investing in expe-rienced workers was exemplified by theNorwegian wooden production company.Managers and workers' representativesthought that the creation of a regional imageof themselves as a work place that tookcare of their workers throughout their pro-fessional lives would help their long-rangerecruitment position.

Knowledge management and knowledge cre-ating companies underline the value of invis-

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ible assets in working life (Krogh, Nonaka& Nishigushi, 2000). Such a reorientation inmanage-ment thinking certainly gives olderemployees a chance to have the value of theirwork experience recognised and rewarded.We found also evidence as to how systemsand practices have been designed and imple-mented to facilitate the exchange of old andnew skills. One example from our materialis the Finnish pharmacy that encouraged par-ticipants completing training to share theirknowledge in the workplace with otheremployees after the training was complete.This was reported to bring unrecognisedcompetence to the fore. However, in one ofthe Norwegian printing companies, this kindof knowledge management had the effect ofexcluding the older workers, because thesessions were organised as a combination ofwork-related communication and social teambuilding.These ideas seemed to be contraryto the value system of the more experiencedemployees who made a clearer divisionbetween work time and leisure time.

Early exit options related to imagesof one's productivity and developmentalpotentialAlthough the WORKTOW-project did notstudy the interaction between work, retire-ment and early exit directly, we could not betotally impervious to the ups and downs ofearly retirement schemes in the participatingcountries. Some of our employees lookedupon this option as a very attractive oneeven if they believed they could remain atwork for many more years. In a few cases,reference was made to top managers leavingtheir position with "golden handshakes"some receiving these benefits even thoughdetails of their poor achievements werepublic knowledge. Two interesting mecha-nisms relative to our discussion here - meta-motivation and social comparison.The formerrefers to people's tendency to expect thatthey can leave "with honour" even when theyare no longer performing their work roleadequately.The latter suggests that employeesexpect to be treated on equal terms with topleaders.

The other mechanism has more serious con-sequences for an age-inclusive policy. Provi-sion for early exit tends to have an impacton an individual's self-concept of him/herselfas a productive employee who is able to learn

and consequently, the employee beginsto make mental preparations for retirementmany years before the actual transition(Reichborn et al., I 998).These effects needclarification through further studies.

Flexibility and productivity of theEuropean older workforce and theirsignificance in the discussion aboutsocial cohesion

The socio-economic framework has changedradically in the participating countries duringthe lifetime of WORKTOW project.A shifthas taken place from a national and Europeanconcern with early exit from the workforce and soaring expenditures on pensionschemes, to a focus on older workers as pro-ductive and innovative members of the labourmarket.This change has been accompaniedwith a more general political focus on workenvironments, on workplace well being andon active employee (citizenship) participationconcerning all the workers, as well as onpossible measures that could be taken toenhance and support positive development inworkplaces in this regard. One of the centralareas were these measures are being devel-oped is human resource development (HRD)and management (HRM) through the practiceof learning and training interventions, underthe ideology of lifelong learning.Taking thisdevelopmental trend as a starting pointwhen thinking on the themes and problemsaddressed in WORKTOW, as well as itsresults, we could therefore say that in onesense time has been on our side during theproject.

National frameworks and WORKTOWinterventions

In all the three participating countries newnational measures/programmes have beenlaunched or existing ones strengthenedduring the lifetime of the project, to addressthe problematic mentioned. In an exploratory

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way we have shown, how nationally sup-ported initiatives - the Employee Devel-opment Schemes in the UK, the largeprogrammes on ageing workforce and work-ing life development in Finland and the educa-tional (competence) reform in Norway - havecontributed to these aims, in combinationwith provisions and practices on branch andcompany level.We have also addressed thegeneral challenges of participation in learningactivities of low-educated older workers. Inour cases, females reflecting upon their ownlearning styles, and what relevance the stylehas to their participation.

From the point of view of ageing of the work-force, the overall trend in the ideology of life-long learning has been to give added weightto later professional career and measures tosupport it as well as to address and acknowl-edge experience-based competence gained inworkplaces. Employee Development Schemes(EDS) in the UK reflect both an optimisticeducational philosophy and a business interestin upgrading the workforce. One of thecentral focus areas is the developmentalneeds of the individual workers and matchingthem with those of the companies. One part-ner in the UK applied these EDS as inter-ventions targeted to older employees in theWORKTOW companies.The results showedthat these interventions can be useful also forthe older workers and support their profes-sional and personal development.

In Finland three national programmes havebeen launched to address the problematic inworking life.The National Age Programmehas focused exclusively on older workers(45+) with a strong emphasis on initiativessupporting development practice in lifelongIearning.The programme has been successfulin making the older workers more visibleand efforts (e.g. massive media campaign) havebeen made to influence attitudes towardsthe older workers.The National Working LifeDevelopment Programme has addressed theissue of and problems in working life moregenerally, with a range of interventions initi-ated for that purpose.The learning interven-tions developed in WORKTOW have thus

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been very much in line with the ideologyand goals in these two national programmes.The third national programme launched atthe end of WORKTOW project focusedon well being (socio-psychological and physi-cal) in workplaces.This programme extendedthe traditionally dominated orientation fromoccupational health by incorporating aspectsin occupational competence as well as man-agement and organisation of the workplace,into the broad picture of well being.AgainWORKTOW interventions addressed in theFinnish SMEs were in line with these goals,although we did not explicitly address health-related issues.

The Competence Reform in Norway, whichwas launched towards the end of theWORKTOW project, supports tripartiteprojects in working life, and in some casesthe issue of late professional career hasbeen addressed.A concerted national effortto reverse the lowering retirement agehas been launched and is presently gainingsome momentum.WORKTOW interventionsdeveloped, applied or evaluated in the Nor-wegian companies were also very much inline with the goal setting in the CompetenceReform.

WORKTOW interventions enhancing flex-ibility and productivity of older workersIndividual level. One important lesson fromthe Keele-intervention based on learning stylequestionnaires and diaries was the relevanceof a biographical approach to this kind ofdiagnostics.The results also suggest that withlow-educated adults dialogue is a more suita-ble method for self-reflection that text-basedinventories etc. methods.The results fromJyvaskyla showed that learning attitudes arehighly positive also among the older workersand that workers are aware of their learningneeds, as much as of their job competenceand the strengths in it. However, the compe-tence of older workers was often seen in arather taken for granted manner.Thereforethe focus was on what they can give and con-tribute to workplaces and its developmentrather than in their personal developmentalneeds and how to identify them and support

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them.WORKTOW interventions succeededto enhance the awareness of the managementin the latter area.The Employee DevelopmentSchemes that were studied by Lancaster Uni-versity, benefited the older workers in differ-ent ways as described earlier in this report inthe summary chapter from the learning inter-ventions.Also the vocational training coursesfor adults that the WRI observed in theirpart had a favourable outcome. One of themacro conditions that may help the integra-tion of older people in these programmeswas the increased political focus on theseissues:Also the Jyvaskyla partner referred tothese relationships.The results from WRI andLancaster suggested that successful vocationaltraining have potential of making older work-ers more motivated for learning in later lifeand for strengthening their self-confidence.Acentral issue in participation in learning andtraining interventions, however, especially tocompetent, highly experienced and thereforeoften critical older workers/learners are theconsequences of the workplace or for theindividual from the participation.According toour results these consequences and transferof learning are paid very little attention to inthe SMEs.

Group level. The findings showed that in aworkplace collective job competence (knowl-edge, skills and attitudes) was as importantas the competence of individuals. Further-more, awareness of the collective compe-tence seemed to be an important elementin one's individual competence.Whetherintended and systematically organised, peoplework and learn together in workplacesby sharing their competence to maximizethe outcomes of their work.We alsofound strong inter-generations solidarity fromworkplaces in competence sharing. Socialenvironment can be very important in sup-porting learning in work-settings but can alsobe distracting and a hindrance to it whenproblems arise. However, we found that rela-tively little systematic attention has been paidto group processes and social forms of learn-ing at work in SMEs. Our findings alsogave evidence of how work-based trainingwith the participation of older workers may

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improve the social climate in groups of mixedages. Management was not always aware ofor attentive to the differences in attitudestowards work or learning when organisinglearning activities at the work place.

Organisational level. The data from Lancastersuggested that learning opportunities forolder workers were not a direct functionof negative attitudes or a supportive man -agement.The quality of work had a greaterimpact.The results from Jyvaskyla showedthat while older workers reported positivelearning attitudes, the employers' views con-cerning these tended to be less positive. Fur-ther contradictions in the views of employeesand employers were found concerning pos-sibilities for learning in the workplace.Whilethe employers' emphasised equal opportuni-ties and an absolute employee initiative andactivity with regards to learning/training par-ticipation, the employees tended to describethese opportunities in less positive terms.However, employers in the SMEs in Finlandtended to highly value the competence ofolder workers, and univocally underlined thatage as such is not an issue in the workplaceor in competence development, but muchmore importantly the personal characteris-tics.

Our data suggests that the competence andreadiness of the management to "manage"and support the learning and development inSMEs play at least as, if not more centralrole in developing learning organisations thanthe attitudes among employees. Managementand trade union leaders have an importantrole in encouraging the older workers to joineducation programmes and training. In termsof training resources, however, the managersdescribed the situation in SMEs rather prob-lematic: when there are financial resourcesfor training investments, there is not timefor it, and vice versa.This situation is alsoan indication of a lack of long-range and sys-tematic planning of competence developmentin SMEs.A general conclusion from the Finn-ish interventions was that learning and com-petence development are not too "visible",not too much on the agenda, in SMEs.There-

fore, one of the greatest values of the kind ofintervention that was carried out, was in anawareness raising among management, bothconcerning learning and competence develop-ment, and the specific situation of workers indifferent career-development phases in thesecompanies.

The relationship between changes and learn-ing in the workplace appeared somewhatcontradictory. On one hand higher pressureand workload were generally reported toreduce the opportunities for older workersto learn informally or to participate in formaltraining. On the other hand it was by andlarge these changes that stimulated to newlearning and made it a necessity for theemployees. Results from Norway and UKindicate that constant excessive changes andradical restructuring may have a negativeimpact on the attitudes of older workers totheir own learning abilities.

On the need to develop a more holisticapproach to flexibility and productivity ofand social cohesion among the workforce

The increasing diversity of workforce aswell as the continuous and rapid changesin working life call for more comprehensiveapproaches to develop dynamic, functionaland inclusive learning environments.TheWORKTOW interventions showed that basi-cally the most functional and successful inter-ventions developed from the point of view ofolder workers and lifelong learning have allthe same elements as more generally targetedsuccessful interventions.This line of thinkingwelcomes and supports the emerging devel-opment of a broader and more complex lineof thinking of the factors related to workperformance in Europe. Overall well being inworkplaces seems to be a core issue also interms of learning, competence developmentand productivity.According to this rationalea worker's overall well-being may becomethreatened if she or he does not feel confi-dent with his or her job competence.

The overall goal for HRD in workplaces isto have a staff, which has high productivitythrough competence and well being. HRD

initiatives, training and learning interventionsand stimulation are traditionally consideredas investments in human capital.Taking theabove described line of thinking as a startingpoint, HRD initiatives, on one hand, can beviewed as indications of an interest into anoverall well-being at the workplace as wellas a contribution to it.The same holds forhuman resource management (HRM) activi-ties more generally.Thus, on the other hand,investments in the overall well-being amongthe employees in the workplace, potentiallycontribute to the productive output amongthe employees, in that they have a positiveimpact on the grounds for full use of one'spotential competence.The results of thisstudy have confirmed earlier findings suggest-ing that age as such is a poor indicator of jobperformance and productivity (Warr, 1998)and that variations within an age group tendto far exceed the average differences betweenage groups (OEDC Employment Outlook,1998).

The more holistic approach to HRD and HRM,albeit still very new, is gaining foothold particu-larly in the Nordic countries, but also morebroadly in Europe.The governments.in theNordic countries have targeted various regula-tion and support to health and environmentalissues in working life.The ultimate goal of thisline of thinking is to contribute to productivity,and the link in between is job competence.As mentioned earlier in this report there arevarious programmes and legislation enhancingworkplace well-being, targeted exclusively tooccupational health, or to working-life devel-opment more broadly, or to specific occupa-tional groups. Examples of the new, integrativeway of thinking have emerged recently withinoccupational health, building on concepts, suchas 'working capacity' (http://www.stm.fi /english/current/ageprog/working.htm) or 'workability'(Ilmarinen, I 999).An integrated or contextualapproach has been specifically adopted in manyprogrammes targeted to the older workersto address their situation in working life.Themost prestigious of these programmes areSENIOR 2005 - Aldrepolitik for framtiden (Oldage policy for the future) in Sweden, NationalProgramme for AgeingWorkers 1998 -2002 in Fin-

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land, and Nasjonalt Krafttak for Seniorpolitikk iArbeidslivet (National "Power Lift "for Senior Policy

in Working Life) 2001-2005 in Norway.WithinEurope a broad approach to workplace well-being is indicated for example in the work ofthe European Agency for Safety and Health(State of Occupational Safety and Health inThe European Union pilot study, 2000).Thissurvey pointed out to several major emergingrisks for well-being in working life.The mostcentral of these risks were related to suchissues as changes in working patterns (theway work is organised and structured), particu-larly sensitive groups (young workers under18 years of age, and older workers), and psy-cho-social aspects (stress, tight time-frames,anxiety, and violence).While traditionally focusin job-related well-being has been in physicalissues, the changes in working life and workhave brought along a new focus on moremental and psycho-social well-being, includingthe central role management play in theseissues, as well as the consequences these issuespotentially have for job competence and pro-ductivity.

Policy implications

Policies at the European and nationallevels

Policies at the European and national levelsshould aim to:

Raise awareness of older workers and their

value in working life. Age-discriminating atti-tudes still persist in European working lifeand are observed as barriers to the learn-ing of older workers. Such an awareness-raising should underline in a balanced waythe strengths in older workers' job com-petence as well as the areas in need fordevelopment.

Initiaitives to counteract the deteriorationof working conditions. The negative trendthat is documented in the European sur-veys on working environment is likelyto affect the learning opportunities andshould be monitored and acted upon.

Educational initiatives should be developed

which create and strengthen learning opporw-

1 1 5

nities and support for older workers and reallifelong learning. In many European coun-tries major changes in adult education havetaken place, as well as lifelong learninghas been the guiding principle in develop-ing educational policies. However, the sit-uation of older workers rarely explicitlyaddressed in this context, although theobsolete and lacking competence of thispart of workforce is frequently referredto. More focus on and support to partici-pation should be addressed both in thelevel of basic education and continuousvocational training to improve their learn-ing environment and to strengthen theirability to update themselves. ICT is a cen-tral are to be addressed in these initiatives.There is a clear correlation between highlevel of initial education and participationin training during late professional career.Therefore it is important that national andEuropean educational policies towards thepractice of lifelong learning support provi-sions for upgrading these basic skills.

Concerted efforts should be continued toreverse the lowering of retirement age andimprovement of the labour market positionof older workers in the European countries.Supporting age-management in companiesis one area where more efforts should bemade to support this goal.

Join efforts towards attitudinal change needed.On the basis of the findings fromWORKTOW we believe that efforts madeto acknowledge and accredit the compe-tence of older workers in workplaces ina balanced way with their developmentalneeds are key issues, not least becauseof the attitudinal approach it underlines.Feeling of insecurity and defensiveness onthe part of employees in their late careerappears understandable in a generally dis-couraging cultural environment (e.g. viewsof older workers as only having obsoleteskills or as lacking new knowledge) inworkplaces as well as in society.Therefore,it is important to focus on launchingmore positive and encouraging attitudesin these efforts. One step already takenin this direction in many parts of Europeis acknowledging the value of experience-

based competence and informal learning inworkplaces.

Promote and support diversity in workinglife. The benefits of intergenerationalcommunication and cooperation towardsincreased productivity should be high-lighted and incorporated in national poli-cies of working life changes. For smallercompanies the risk of investing in employ-ees is generally quite high compared tolarger companies. National policies shouldaim to lower this expenditure or extendthe horizons for return.

When developing national policies inEurope to support flexible arrangementsbetween work and retirement greaterattention should be paid to synergiesbetween personal interests in work, leisureand training. Our studies have illustratedthe fruitfulness of taking the interest ofemployees in late career as a point ofdeparture for personal development andfor updating work skills.

Policies at the level of branches andcompanies

Initiatives to integrate of diversity-sensitivityamong workforce in management policies andpractice. There is a need to develop sensi-tivity as well as accreditation of workforcediversity as a "natural" part of companypolicies and not a one-time initiative toimprove working conditions.WORKTOWhas showed that diversity can be and isa great collegial asset in workplaces, butits utlisation could still be enhanced bya more systematic and focused approachand efforts.This kind of approach includesdesigning work places and learning envi-ronments with age and experience differ-ences as a success criteria.

Systematic and experience-adjusted programsof training and competence developmentSince older workers are less likely to beactive learners, there should be systematiceffort to support and motivate them forupdating and personal development. Sensi-tivity towards workforce diversity shouldbe addressed and mobilised in the designof work organisations and training systems.

Incentive systems, which support the learning

and competence development among olderworkers should be created. There should bemethods to identify the contingencies thatmotivate and reward employees in lateprofessional life to participate in trainingand learning. Generally speaking, very littleattention is being paid to the consequencesof training (knowledge transfer) to theworkplace.

Policies and practices of diversity needed inexpertise, related to new organisational forms(e.g. network- and project production). Thefindings from the WORKTOW project giveevidence that the competence of olderworkers is functional in flexible organisa-tions.Those practices need to be describedin greater detail and on a generalised basis.

Efforts needed to enhance knowledgeexchange and creating trough intergen-erational communication and cooperation.Increased interest in knowledge manage-ment as sharing of "silent" expertise shouldacknowledge the give and take betweenyounger and older, or between the freshlytrained and highly experienced workers.

Inclusive organisational development needed.

Change processes in working life are toooften carried through in a hectic way. Onepotential negative implication is that olderworkers feel not in control of or excludedfrom the situation.They should be giventhe chance and support to actively par-ticipate in such restructuring and otherchange processes.

Support needed to learning around new tech-nologies inclusing senior employees. The ster-eotypes and negative self-images of olderworkers are often expressed in situationswhere new technology is introduced atcompany level. It is quite crucial to beaware of these relationships and find meth-ods and practices that will include andempower this age group in such processes.

Increasead awareness of learning styles andstrategies needed. The current develop-ments in working life require new compe-tence from personnel management in thearea of managing learning-related issuesin the workplace context.The understand-

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ing of learning styles and strategies, andhow they vary by age and learning histo-ries should be reflected in human resourcedevelopment policies.

Encouragement to older workers to design

their careers and opportunities to act accord-ingly. Since work organisations and careersare becoming more and more boundary-less, older workers should be encouragedto design their personal careers by com-bining the need for flexible practice andsocial and employment security.

Implications for researchstrategies and agendasEducational action research in European work-ing life.Action research projects that areintended to improve learning environmentsin companies should be part of largerresearch and development coalitions thathave a longer time span than two or threeyears.

Developing methods to integrate older workersin learning organisations.There are some anec-dotal evidence of "good practices" from Euro-pean working life, but the methods andpractices of integration have not been vali-dated on a broader scale and through longitu-dinal studies.

Diversity of competences and flexible organisa-tions. Studies should be undertaken to mapthe use of different expert roles in neworganisations like networks, projects, virtualorganisations.A focus should be put on lifephases and biographies.

New career patterns in late professional life.There is little empirical research available thatthrows light on flexible career trajectories inlate professional life.

Age differences in the mastery of informationand communication technology. There is surpris-ingly little research on how the revolution ininformation and communication technologyaffects the learning environment of differentage groups in workplaces.

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Development of learning and teaching methodssuitable for low-educated and older workers.The guidelines for teaching employees inlate career are usually deduced from generalmodels of experiential learning.A more differ-entiated approach should be based on empiri-cal studies of didactic methods for this targetgroup.

Learning style and age differences. In theWORKTOW-project explorations were con-ducted about learning style characteristicsof older female employees with low formaltraining.These research themes should beextended to new groups and validated in rela-tion to a variety of learning situations andinstitutional contexts.

V Dissemination and exploitation of results

WORKTOW project and its results haveattracted reasonable attention in media.Project dissemination started from the pressreleases from the participating institutes.Apress conference was arranged at the Uni-versity of Jyvaskyla, Finland, during the firstproject meeting.The WORKTOW group ofresearchers has actively participated' in scien-tific conferences and given papers during thelifetime of the project.A reasonable amountof articles have been written and publishedin scientific, professional and popular journals.List of publications is attached below.Project Managers have participated inpractice level and policy making in nationaland European settings within WORKTOWthematics. Several partners have also haddoctoral studens involved in the project.

Databases

The following two databases are availablefrom WORKTOW project:

I . Questionnaire data from the employees(N=378).The data includes information on company,type of work, individual background, workcomplexity and learning opportunities, par-ticipation in training, consequences of train-ing, learning culture, and self-directed learning.

2. Questionnaire data from the employers andmanagement (N=37).The data includes information on company,type of work, individual and organisationalbackground, organisational changes, HRM andtraining, work complexity and learning oppor-tunities, and learning culture.

Both databases are in SPSSX format.Variablelists are also available. Inquiries should beaddressed to Tarja Tikkanen (see contactinformation at the end of this report).

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A list of WORKTOW publications &conference presentations

Danielsen, K. & Serk-Hansen, Chr. (2000) Com-panies in change:A report from modernworking life. (Original title in Norwegian: Bed-riftet i endring: En rapport fra det modernearbeidslivet). Sekelys pa Arbeidslivet, 17, 2, pp105-113.

Danielsen, K. & Serk-Hansen, Chr. (2000)About selling confidence. Paper presentedat the Aniversary Conference of the Norwe-gian Antrophological Society, Lillehammer, May13. -14.

Danielsen, K.& Serck-Hansen (in press). Omtillitt og salg av forsikringer. SosiologiskTidsskrift.

Iversen, S., Lauvdal,T., Lahn, L.C. & Eikeland,0. (2000) Livsfasetilpasset personalpolitikk.Rapport 5/2000. Oslo:Arbeidsforskningsinstituttet /Work ResearchInstitute. (Lifephase adapted personnelpolicy).

Kujala, S. I 997.Advocacy and older peoplesituation in Finland. Paper presented in thefirst European Conference on Advocacy andOlder People 23-24 October, 1997 Dublin,Ireland.

Kujala, S. I 998a. Koulutus, opiskelu ja van-huuden elamanvaihe [Training, learning andold age]. yvaskylan Ikaantyvien yliopisto[ Jyvaskyla University of the Third Age],Elamankokemuksesta tietoon ja oppimiseen(ETAPPI) -projektin julkaisu [A publicationfrom the ETAPPI-project From life experienceto knowledge and learning], 10 pp.

Kujala, S. I 998b.Attitudes towards olderworkers and their learning. Paper presentedat the ESREA research seminar on OlderLearners 2-4 July, 1998 Budapest, Hungary.

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Kujala, S. 2000.Vanhempien tyontekijoidenkoulutettavuus ja oppiminen [Learning andtrainability of older workers].A paper pre-sented at the Nordic conference on AdultEducation, Forskning i Norden, 25-27 May,2000. Nordens Folkliga Akademi, Gothenburg,Sweden..

Lahn, L.C. 2000.1kaantyvat oppijat oppivassayhteiskunnassa [Ageing learners in a learningsociety]. In R Sal lila (Ed.) Oppiminen jaikaantyminen (Learning and ageing).The Finn-ish yearbook of adult education research.Kansanvalistusseura ja Aikuiskasvatuksen tut-kimusseura, pp. 41-72.

Lahn, L C. I 998.Tacit professional knowledgeand the learning environment of adult work-ers. In -Fosse, S. et al (Eds.) Corporate andnon-formal learning. Nordic Yearbook of Adult

Education.Trondheim:Tapir.

Lahn, L,Tikkanen,T., van der Hejden, B. &Thijssen, J. 1998. Competence and trainingof older workers. EuroWorkAge.DG-V,European Commission.

Paloniemi, S. & Tikkanen,T. 2000.Victims ofageist attitudes But how do the older work-ers themselves view their competence?Paper presented in ESREA conference AdultEducation and the Labour MarketVI. 19-22October, 2000, Seville, Spain.

Paloniemi, S. 2001. Employees conceptualisingtheir job competence and ageing. Posterpresentation in the Nordic Ergonomicssociety 33rd Annual Congress. September,2001 Tampere, Finland.

Parkatti,T., Kauppi, M. &Tikkanen,T. 2000.Age, health and competence in working life.Education and Ageing, 15 (1), 11-22.

Serck-Hansen, C. (in print) Tillit og mistillit.Tidskrift for norsk samfunnsforskning.

Tikkanen,T. I 998a. Learning and education ofolder workers. Lifelong learning at the margin.Jyvaskyla Studies in Education, Psychology andSocial Research 137. University of Jyvaskyla.

Tikkanen,T. I 998b.The age-participationrelationship revised: Focus on older workers.Adult Education Quarterly 49(1), 15-27.

Tikkanen,T. I 999a. Kompetens genom livs-lingt larande En forutsattning for kvaliteti arbetslivet. Paper presented at the nationalconference Ett arbetsliv for alla alder. 1.6.1999.Stockholm, Sweden. (Invited speaker)

Tikkanen,T. I 999b. Education and training forolder workers. Paper presented at the inter-national conference Active Strategies for anAgeing Workforce. 12-13.8.1999.Turku, Fin-land. (Invited speaker)

Tikkanen,T. I 999c. Learning and competenceof older workers. Paper presented in theExpert Seminar on Work Transformations andAgeing Workers. 15.-16.3.1999. Jyvaskyla, Fin-land.

Tikkanen,T. 2000a.Experiencing the changesbrought by IT and their consequences. In S.Tense et al. (Editorial Committee) Reformsand policy.Adult education in Nordic coun-tries,Trondheim:Tapir, pp. 161 -182 .

Tikkanen,T. 2000b. Older Workers In Finland.Part I: Policy initiatives.A report to the Sentrefor Seniorplanlegging, Oslo (June 2000).13pages. (Unpublished)

Tikkanen,T. 2000c. Older Workers In Finland.Part II: Research and practice.A report to theSentre for Seniorplanlegging, Oslo (Novem-ber 2000). 44 pages. (Unpublished)

Tikkanen,T. 2000d.Teknologian muutos tyossaoppimista siivittamassa pk-yrityksissa (Changein technology lending wings to learning inSMEs). Hyva ika Kansallisen ikaohjelman tie-dotuslehti, 3/2000. (Information Bulletin of theNational Age Programme)

Tikkanen,T. 2000e. Learning culture and self-directed learning in SMEs. Paper presentedin ESREA conference Adult Education andthe Labour Market VI. October 19-22,2000,Seville, Spain.

Tikkanen,T. 2001. Learning interventions inSMEs.A paper presented at the 9th AnnualIntl Conference on Post-Compulsory Educationand Training. 3.-5. December, 2001, Gold Cost,Australia.

Tikkanen,T. 2001. Learning at work in tech-nology intensive environments. In Proceed-ings to the II Intl Conference on Researching

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Work and Learning. 26.-28.7.2001. Faculty ofContinuing Education, University of Calgary,Alberta, Canada, pp. 493-500.

Tikkanen,T. 2001. Informal learning at work.A paper presented at the Nordic conferenceon Adult Education, Forskning i Norden,28-30.5.2001. Oslo, Norway.

Tikkanen,T. & Kujala, S. 2000a. Pk-yritystenikaantyvat tyontekijat ja koulutus [Olderworkers and their training in SMEs]. In R Sal-lila (Ed.) Oppiminen ja ikaantyminen (Learningand ageing).The Finnish 4 I .Yearbook ofadult education research. Kansanvalistusseuraja Aikuiskasvatuksen tutkimusseura, pp. 73-97.

Tikkanen,T. & Kujala, S. 2000a. Older workersand training in SMEs.A paper presented at theNordic conference on Adult Education, Fors-kning i Norden, 25-27.5.2000. Nordens FolkligaAkademi, Gothenburg, Sweden.

Withnall,A. Understanding the Learning Stylesof Older Adults.Adults Learning (submitted inAugust 2000).

WORKTOW-related seminars

University of Jyvaskyla arranged a nationalseminar around WORKTOW project and itsresults: Work Transformations and Ageing Work-ers.An Expert Seminar on Utilising Experienceand Developing Job-competence. University ofJyvaskyla, Finland, March, 1999.

University of Jyvaskyla/WORKTOW organ-ised a Nordic seminar on training anddevelopment of the ageing workforce jointlywith the regional (Central-Finland) Projecton Working Condition (TYOKUNTO) (ESF)"Health,Age and Competence in WorkingLife".

Work Research Institute arranged a nationalseminar jointly with the Programme WorkingLife,Ageing and Life Course (YAL), June 17,1999.

A list of WORKTOW deliverables

Work Package I - Project management andproject evaluation

Work Package 2 - Conceptual developmentand operationalisation of research questionsDeliverables:

D2.I - Note on literature updateD2.2 - Note on conceptual developmentD2.3 - Internal deliverable on research ques-tions

Work Package 3 - Institutional and culturalcontext of the labour market position andparticipation in learning of older workers.Deliverables: (completed)D3.1 - Institutional and cultural context ofthe labour market position and participationin learning of older workers

Work Package 4 Research designDeliverables:

D4.1 - Methodological note on field studiesD4.2 - Methodological note on interventionstudiesD4.3 - Selection of cases in the WORKTOWproject

Work Package 5 - Field studiesDeliverables:

D5.1 Field studies: Documentary and back-ground dataD5.2 Field studies: Personal and group inter-viewsD5.3 Field studies: Systematic observationsD5.4 Field studies : Outcomes of the ques-tionnaire data

Work Package 6 - Learning interventionsDeliverables:

D6.0 Learning interventions IntroductionD6.1 Learning interventions as individualreflection on learning style (Keele)D6.2 Learning interventions based onEmployment Development Schemes (Lancas-ter)D6.3 Learning interventions as actionresearch with broad developmental assess-ment (JYU/NVI)D6.4 Learning interventions as evaluationand data feedback of dialogic practices andcareer development (NOVA)D6.5 Learning interventions as participa-tory analysis of learning practices and careerpatterns (WRI)

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D6.6 Learning interventions - Methodologyand resultsD6.7 Note on educational interventions inSMEs to enhance learning opportunities forolder workers

Work Package 7 - Analysis of LearningInterventions

Work Package 8 - Dissemination of results

Country reports

Tikkanen,T. 2001. Learning intervention asaction research with broad developmentalassessment.WORKTOW Partner reportfrom the University of Jyvaskyla, Finland.Unpublished. In English. 36 p.

Acknowledgements

WORKTOW project was supported withnational funding in Finland and Norway.Wewish to acknowledge the Academy of Finlandfor providing Research Assistant to the helpin coordination of the project,The FinnishMinistry of Education for supporting theorganising of the semi-national seminar WorkTransformations and Ageing Workers.An ExpertSeminar on Utilising Experience and DevelopingJob-competence, and the Ministry of Socialand Health Affairs for funding the sub-studyWorkplace learning among the older workers toWORKTOW under the National Programmefor Ageing Workers.The study by the Norwe-gian partners has been supported nationallyby the Ministry of Health and Social Affairs,and the Ministry of Work and Administration,for which we wish to express our gratitude,too.We wish to acknowledge the assistanceof all the older employees and employers/management in the 27 SMEs that participatedto our study and the learning interventions.Finally we wish to thank the Research LiasionOfficer, Mrs. Sirkka -Liisa Korppi-Tommola, atthe University of Jyvaskyla, Finland becauseshe kindly informed the WORKTOW-coordi-nator-to-come of the call for proposals underthe IV framework in TSER.

WORKTOW partners and their addresses

University of Jyvaskyla, Finland & Nor-wegian Institute of Adult Education(NVI), Norway' - CoordinatorContact: Dr.TarjaTikkanen,VOX, NedreBakklandet 60, N-7014 Trondheim, Norway.Tel. 47 73 99 08 40. Fax: 47 - 73 99 08 50.E-mail: tarja.tikkaneneyox.noorMs. Susanna Paloniemi, Department of Educa-tion, University of Jyvaskyla, P.O.Box 35, FIN-40351 Jyvaskyla, Finland.Tel. 358 14 260

1680, Fax. 358 14 260 1661.E-mail: supaloniaedu.jyull

Keele University, UK

- Contact: Dr.AlexandraWithnall, Depart-ment of Social Policy and Social Work, Univer-sity of Warwick, Coventry, CV4 7AL, UK.Tel. 44 (0)24 765 73 851.E-mail:A.Withnall@warwick.ac.uk

Lancaster University, UK- Contact: Prof. Keith Percy, Department ofContinuing Education, Lancaster University,Lonsdale College, Bailrigg, Lancaster LAI4YN, UK.Tel. 44 1524 59 26 20.

E-mail; kpercyOlancasterac.uk

Norwegian Social Research, NOVA,NorwayContact: Mr. Kolbein Lyng, NOVA, Munthesgt.29/31, N-0260 Oslo, Norway. Tel. 47 2254 12 00. Fax: 47 - 22 54 12 01. E-mail:kly0isaf.no

Work Research Institute, NorwayContact:Ass. Prof.Leif Chr. Lahn, University ofOslo, P.O. Box 1092, N-0317 Oslo, Norway.Tel. 47 22 85 70 760. Fax: 47 - 22 85 42 50.E-mail: I.c.lahnOped.uio.no

'The project coordination was transferred to NVI, Norway, in July 1999, as the Project ManagerDr.Tikkanen moved to work there.

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130129

This report is the result of a three-year European study (WORKTOVV)which sought to examine how older workers (aged 45+) cope in aworking environment undergoing constant change. In particular, it was oneof the first studies to focus in any depth on learning and training for thissector of workforce.

While most HRD literature has been concerned with issues pertaining to largercompanies, WORKTOW concentrated on the opportunities and challenges observed insmall and medium sized enterprises.

The study showed that the situation of older workers employed in SMEs is actuallymore favourable than might have been anticipated on the basis of the strong negativestereotyping to which they have often been subjected.They appear to participate inlearning in the workplace in the same ways as their younger colleagues and are generallyseen as a valuable resource. However, it was also found that employers sometimes holdambiguous views of older workers and their learning activity and often, awareness of theneed for investment in HRD is poor or non-existent.

Yet this study provides encouraging evidence concerning the returns on investmentin learning and development for older workers in the form of increased commitmentand motivation to learn as well as an improved social climate in groups of 'mixed-age'workers.Accordingly, the report challenges training providers to consider new and moreappropriate methods for this particular group of learners.

3

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