workforce Workability of ageing - EASOM...Work sustainability - a crucial function of leadership •...

Medizinische Universität Wien Univ. Prof. Dr. Jasminka Godnic-Cvar

Workability of ageing workforce

Univ. Prof. Dr. Jasminka Godnic-CvarHead of Institutes of Occupational Medicine


Ageing

• accumulation of knowledge, experience, successful strategies

• psycho-social abilities & professional competences increase with age!

• ability to learn and train physical fitness life long

+

-

• accumulation of genetic; general and occupational harmful influences,

• biological degradation

• difficulties in keeping up with new technologies


Work J. Bauer „Arbeit“ 2013

• ….through work we are striving for an issue, without which – we even from the neurobiological point of view - are not able to live deprived of:

• Social participation • Appreciation• acknowledgment • personal identity• sense of life


Work J. Bauer „Arbeit“ 2013

• …at work… the achievement through work which makes one satisfied and happy , where we appreciate ourselves and recognize in our identity through our achievement (deed) , and where we get recognition and esteem for the achieved from others, there/then the work becomes an resonance experience.

The search for mirroring and resonance experiences is a neurobiological leitmotiv of the human existence.


Why the cut-off of 65 y. as retirement age?

• Otto von Bismarck’s decision 1889!!! (a form of State pension for older workers) - to make 65 the standard retirement age became the common model (Ø life expectancy was 45!).

• Since this decision, a lot has changed: in respect to life expectancy, advances in medicine, the tradition of working until or retiring at the age of 65

• organizations' use of early retirement incentives for restructuring purposes - replacement policy = early retirement of older with fewer younger workers


Common opinion in enterprises on age and workability

• A worker in a company is considered to be:– until 35 years - a youngster and promissing

offspring – after 45 years - already as an older worker– after 50 years - too old to be reemployed – after 55 years - for the job market „beyond good

and evil“


When are we old? Definition diversity:

• WHO defines the transfer to old age the span between 60 and 65 years;

• the young old (60 to 69), the middle old (70 to 79), and the very old (80+)

• young-old (65 to 74), middle-old (75–84), and oldest-old (85+)• “young old” (65-74), “old” (74-84), and "old-old" (85+).

Ageing is a reorganization, not a degeneration. Psycho-social abilities & professional competences increase with age!


Health and workability are endangered by evolving work conditions and demands at work

More women at work

Increasing speed

Growing technologization

Merging of leisure and worktime

Need for lifelong learning

More aged at work

Consistent economization

CHANGE


RECENT CHANGE IN PARADIGM - CONCERNING THE WORLD OF WORK

DEMOGRAPHIC CHANGES

EARLY RETIREMENT

Retirement in Austria: ♀ 59 J; ♂ 60 J

Increasing rate of young retired, < young workforce succeed

Rate of employed in Austria > 55 J: 42,6% - 30% are suffering of chron. diseases!!


Population age structure2010-2060 (EU27)

Institut für Arbeitsmedizin, MedUni Wien


A rapidly growing number of Americans are continuing to work beyond their 65th birthday. The proportion of people age 65 and older in the workforce grew to 16.1 percent by 2010, up from 12.1 percent in 1990, according to a recent Census Bureau report.

Medical, psychological, and sociological research indicates that, for those who are able and eager to work, idleness may result in serious personality disintegration.


Staff Photo Firma Vita Needle (Needham close to Boston, USA)

2/3 of employees is > 70 y, two are over 90 y of age


Reasons for working at this advanced age named:

• Social inclusion• Purpose – sense of life• Appreciative team and employers• Day time rhythm• Acknowledgment and self-esteem• Own work rhythm is allowed and appreciated• the extent of working hours is self chosen• Income


Inability to work due to chronic diseases


Discrepancy between retirement age (in A: ♀ 59 J; ♂ 60 J) and complaint free years - Eurostat 1/2011

Country Women Men

Germany 57,4 y 55,8 y Sweden 68,7 y 69,2 yFrance 64,2 62,4 ySpain 63,2 63,7


EVOLVEMENT OF SICK LEAVE DAYS IN AUSTRIA 1990 - 2011

Quelle: Hauptverband der Sozialversicherungsträger,WIFO-Berechnungen, aus: Fehlzeitenreport 2012

Sick leave days/Person

Psychological diseases

Other diseases


NEW INABILITY PENSIONS IN AUSTRIA (PVA 2014)

Groups of Diseases %Psychiatric 38,3Musculoskeletal 23,6Neural 6,5Cerebrovascular 3,1Ischemic heart diseases 2,9Airway and lung 2,8


Participation at the labor market

Influence of diesease on the inability to work •Individuals & lost years of work prior to 67 y in Norwáy

Knudsen et al. Plos One 2012;7:e42567

Lost years due to

Mental disorders 20.9

Nervous system 18.8

Injury 15.8

MSD 12.0

Neoplasms 11.6

Respiratory dis. 11.0


Managing an ageing workforce and enabling work sustainability


„Healthy ageing“ needs to start during active life

• “Healthy Ageing” is defined as the process of developing and maintaining the functional ability that enables well-being in older age”. Person’s intrinsic capacities and the interaction with his or her environment, makes up functional ability. This perspective provides a new approach to frame comprehensive health policies in companies and societies - and implement actions within and across countries.


Major topics of the todays world of work (campagn “fit2work”

• Fostering the employees‘ workability during whole work life – to be able to increase their productivity even in advanced age! Optimism!

Promoting health -> promoting employability!

Our enterprise is healthy as we are healthy again!


Top-issues of the actual woklife: health and workability

Univ. Prof. Dr. Jasminka Godnic-Cvar

• Work becomes more complex, more responsible while stress and time pressure increase

• Work performance depends on health capacity• Psychosomatic phenomena (insecurity!) are

causing more and more absenteeism & retirements

• The duration (length) of working life is nevertheless going to increase


Differences between aged and young employees

• Compared to young employees, the older have got a grater difference in individual capability, its origin lies only to a lesser extent in the age but: – In a grater extent it is the consequence of

strains in the professional and in the private life.


Work sustainability - a crucial function of leadership• arrangement of individual work tasks and work environment,

to enable every single employee (age independent) – to experience personal capability to achieve personal and enterprise goals!

• a switch from „one size fits all“ to a “fair and tailored” principle (different individual needs and preferences) is needed (increased burden for the middle management!)


Age management for workability

Major tasks:• establishment of a learning environment• elimination of age as a criterion for decision

making in favor of focusing on the capability to work

• Instead of „how old?“ it should be asked - „which task in which life phase, in which enterprise?”


Goals of an efficient age management of the future

• Enable a new security in the form of a „New Social Contract“ for employees - the chances to participate in work life should increase (in- or outside the present enterprise)

• It can be realized - as soon as it becomes a joint task of

- enterprise and employees, - economy and state


Coexistence of mutuality & plurality - B. Badura und M. Steinke „Die erschöpfte Arbeitswelt“ („The Exhausted World of Work“)

Health = physical health Health = bio-psycho-social health

Concerning health - joint

beliefs, values, rules


Workability (WA) –„House of Wokrability“ J. Ilmarinen?

WA is given when the personal resources and occupational demands are in balance. The fundaments of an individual WA originate from in 4 domains:

1. physical, psychological and mental health2. professional qualifications, knowledge, competences, capability and skills3. Values, attitudes, and motivation4. Content and organization of work, workplace environment, leadership => WA is determined through both, the individual resources (flor 1. + 2.), as well as (and even more so!) through work environment (flor 3. + 4.)


Age-adequate/appropriate organization of enterprises(Pack et al. 2000) means:

• To foster and support employees to sustain and

promote their workability and work capability,

throughout their working lives.


Factors which influence the workability in aged workers

J. Ilmarinen, J. Tempel (2002): Arbeitsfähigkeit 2010. Was können wir tun, damit Sie gesund bleiben? Herausgegeben von M. Giesert, im Auftrag des DGB-Bildungswerk e.V., Hamburg

Less assembly line automation processes

Higher acknowledgment by their superiors

More sports


CHEFS WHO MAKE YOU ILL


Workability depends on the nature of the job and status in the company


Health and Capability

<35 35-44 45-54 >54 6.7

6.9

7.1

7.3

7.5

7.7

7.9

8.1

8.3

8.5

8.7

Upper Employees (n=244-535 /per age group)

Employees (n=258-406)

Workers (n=352-673)

Von J. Ilmarinen und J. Tempel


Competence

<35 35-44 45-54 >54 6.5

6.7

6.9

7.1

7.3

7.5

7.7

7.9

8.1

8.3

8.5



Workers (n=348-671)



Attitudes and motivation

<35 35-44 45-54 >54 6.5

6.7

6.9

7.1

7.3

7.5

7.7

7.9

8.1

8.3

8.5



Workers (n=352-673)



Work Well-being index ( Sum of 16 features)

<35 35-44 45-54 >54 6.7

6.9

7.1

7.3

7.5

7.7

7.9

8.1

8.3

8.5

8.7



Workers (n=352-673)



Exit from paid employment through disability among 325,000 Swedish construction workers 1971 to 2010 (Järvholm et al 2014)

Occupational group working years lostdue to disability

rock workers 3.2insulator 3.0roofer 3.0concrete worker 2.7…foremen 0.9office personnel 0.7


WA in different age categories depending on different health promotion at work activities – after J. Ilmarinen


Strategic and operative tools to increase workabilityv Attitude towards ageing and aged employees (stop ageism)v Strategies of knowledge management and tools for fostering ageing

workforce + sustainable health management programs for aged employees (mental, psychologic and physical)

v Fostering on a behavioral level: capabilities, nutrition, physical fitness, stress management, addiction prevention…

v Improveing work settings: environment, organization, working hours/day, shifts, team work and work demands, generation leading

v Introduce new practices and tools in HR management.


J. Ilmarinen is naming 4 crucial tools of age matched management (leadership)

• cultivating a positive attitude against ageing and seniority in enterprises

• promoting collaboration between generations

• finding individual solutions in work organization and arrangement - becomes increasingly important with ageing

• Optimizing communication competences


Learning in aged individuals


Older persons do not learn poorer, but different !

The optimal challenge of older employees to learn is essential = purpose!

Knowledge transfer has to be adopted to this age group (Cave overload as well as underload = under-challenged v. over-challenged!!!)


Intelligence is changing with age

• Younger employees possess: - a „fluid intelligence“: work and learn quicker, fond of

using new technologies.• Aged employees possess:

– A „crystalline intelligence“: • learn slower, • combine more efficient the already acquired

knowledge with the new knowledge• solve difficult tasks frequently quicker then younger

collaborators by implementing associative thinking• Intuitively search for already experienced situations


vCompare new knowledge with the already possessed

v independent/autonomous learningv concentration to problem solving v need of the practicability approach v ease of handling complex tasks

Advantages of aged in the learning process


Requirements for the transfer of knowledge in aged scholars

v The new information must be connected with the already present

experiences and skills

v A relation to everyday needs has to be established (relevance)

v The new knowledge must be sense-making and be relevant for their

occupational situation (tasks)

v Have to be interested in the subject and motivated to gain knowledge

v Must concentrate only on one issue at the time

v Must be able to involve their personal potentials

v Learning in teams (social exchange) facilitates acquiring of knowledge


Employability

≠ workability and physical and psychological fitness of the individual

- It comprises the reception and admission of the labor market as well as the readiness of the companies to employ aged workers


= systemic management of occupational reintegration

of employees with health problems (physical or

psychological), limitations or handicaps.

Example: “fit2work” program in Austria - the

occupational reintegration counseling is a voluntary

support for the affected employees and companies.

Return to work management


Work sustainability - in an integrated manner:

• Occupational health and safety standards throughout the working life

• Health promotion of at work for all ages• Working arrangements, especially specific for

aged workers• Career management throughout the work life• Training and upskilling


Multiple international activities to improve standing of aged workforce worldwide

• European Agency for Safety and Health at Work Campagne 2016-2017:

• „Safer and healthier work at any age“ – Review of resources for workplaces

• https://osha.europa.eu/de/healthy-workplaces-campaigns/2016-17-campaign-healthy-workplaces-all-ages


Good practice: aged employees participate in creating health promotion activities at work - to improve WA

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Maßnahmen zur Verbesserung der Arbeitsfähigkeit nach Gewichtung

325 out of 2120 employees aged 50-60 y in General Hospital Vienna answered the questionnaire


Think experiment 1: In your carpentry you have got an aged, highly specialized, employee. Your income depends on his work. What would you do: a) hire a young carpenter

b) Think of ways to keep the aged one capable of working

c) Hire a young (cheaper) carpenter and let him work together with the older one


Think experiment 2: In your factory you have got aged cheap work force. Your income depends on their work. What would you do: a) hire young workersb) think of ways to keep them workable c) get robots


Sustanable employment – age management in the enterprise + of the society = individual approach • Continuous education• Individual adaptation of the workplace concordant with

individual demands (consultant tasks in teams – favorable time and extent of work)

• health promotion measures at work (leadership!!, sincere appreciation)

• social support (socially efficient financial benefits to keep aged employed) - for hard working low educated work power


All these levels have to be mobilized for sustainable employment

workforce Workability of ageing - EASOM...Work sustainability - a crucial function of leadership •...

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