Search results

The purpose of this paper is to review good practice examples which promote recruitment and retention of older workers and/or the employability of workers as they age and to examine pathways of practice.

Analysis of qualitative data, drawing on a cross‐section selection of 83 good practice case studies in labour organisations in eight European countries: Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Sweden and the UK.

The study presented good practice examples and pathways of practice for the four most frequently found dimensions in the sample (training, lifelong learning and knowledge transfer; flexible working; health protection and promotion and job design; career development and mobility management) as well as examples from small to medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) (construction) and the public sector (transport) adopting strategies that fall within these dimensions. These examples show that innovative solutions to the challenge of an ageing workforce have been developed with good outcomes, often combining a number of measures, e.g. mobility management, health promotion and knowledge transfer. However, there is an uneven profile of age management debates and company strategies across Europe (with countries such as Germany and the Netherlands being more advanced). There is also some evidence of a standstill or roll‐back of measures during an economic crisis.

The paper reviews organisational measures facilitating the extension of working lives, of which many are longstanding and include sectors previously underrepresented in good practice databases (SMEs, public sector).

The purpose of this paper is to shed light on organizational perceptions of the advantages and disadvantages of engaging older volunteers, and on how they might best capitalize on the availability of older volunteers in different countries and sectors.

The paper draws from 74 case studies of voluntary organizations carried out in eight European countries, conducted mainly between spring 2009 and autumn 2010. On‐site interviews adopting common guidelines were carried out with organizational representatives.

From the organizational perspectives, some disadvantages of engaging older volunteers are: difficulties matching older volunteers to tasks; problems relating to health and declining capacities; the need for special training efforts. Examples of perceived advantages are: considerable knowledge, skills, experience, reliability and strong commitment of older volunteers. In spite of the very different contexts, objectives and notions of “performance”, cost‐benefit assessments of older volunteers do not differ greatly from those generally held by employers about older employees. Countries differ considerably in the recognition of older volunteer potential.

Organizational policies and initiatives to capitalize on the availability of older volunteers are examined in the paper. Country and sector‐related reflections show how different and changing are the environments for volunteering. Policy makers need to recognise these when implementing active ageing policies. Voluntary organizations should raise their awareness of the need for innovation in volunteer management, especially relating to older people.

There has been much research about the experiences of older volunteers and how they benefit from the operations of civil society organizations. The perceptions of the organizations have, however, been neglected and these are explored in this paper.

The initial impressions received by anyone surveying the structures for school library services in the United Kingdom may give rise to astonishment that there is such a diversity of provision within a comparatively small country. Resembling a patchwork, with some pieces taken from the same garment but others culled from a variety of sources, the organisations and services are by no means uniform. Again, like patches which recall memories of times gone by, the library structures derive from older organisations grafted onto newer ones. Even where it at first seems possible to compare like with like, there are often variations in staffing and services, due largely to developments (or lack of development) before the re‐organisation of local government in the mid‐1970s.

Replies to a short questionnaire sent to the 18 schools of librarianship and information studies in the British Isles indicate that most schools include short or long units on teaching the use of information resources in their courses, or integrate TUIR into broader subject areas. Arguments for and against TUIR are noted. The future development of TUIR may lie in the wider area of cooperation in the development of independent learning skills.

A television comic announces a satiric Golden Fleece Award for the faux pas of some government official. The San Diego Chicken hams it up in the stands of the baseball park. A Swiss mime troupe advertises the services of a communications corporation. All these may be more familiar to young people today than is a circus clown. These and other entertainers are all in the business of laughter and provide commentaries on current society.

This paper reports a study of the craft sector in a remote area of Scotland. The objective is to understand what has made the sector in Orkney relatively successful, and whether elements of best practice can be transferred to other parts of Scotland and the UK.

The analysis and discussion is based upon face‐to‐face interviews with public and private payers in the sector and is supplemented by discussions with craftspeople conducted as part of the wider study of which the Orkney story is but one part.

A vibrant and innovative sector, parts of which are global, is revealed as having existed in Orkney for some time. There are, inevitably, some stresses and strains between the main players and different directions in which policy could develop. However, a framework based on businesses at different levels of experience is outlined as the basis for targeted economic intervention in the future.

Further understanding of the craft sector in Orkney could be achieved by conducting a longitudinal study or by exploring specific aspects of the sector, e.g. by looking at the contribution of Orkney College to the emergence of new designers.

If the template, outlined in the paper, were to be implemented then business support for the sector would potentially be improved.

The paper draws together elements of the Orkney story in relation to crafts and provides insights to economic development which potentially has lessons to teach the rest of the sector in Scotland and the UK.