Why Training Older Employees is Less Effective

Abstract

Die Dis cus si on Pape rs die nen einer mög lichst schnel len Ver brei tung von neue ren For schungs arbei ten des ZEW. Die Bei trä ge lie gen in allei ni ger Ver ant wor tung der Auto ren und stel len nicht not wen di ger wei se die Mei nung des ZEW dar.Dis cus si on Papers are inten ded to make results of ZEW research prompt ly avai la ble to other eco no mists in order to encou ra ge dis cus si on and sug gesti ons for revi si ons. The aut hors are sole ly respon si ble for the con tents which do not neces sa ri ly repre sent the opi ni on of the ZEW.Download this ZEW Discussion Paper from our ftp server:http://ftp.zew.de/pub/zew-docs/dp/dp11046.pdf Non-technical SummaryThe ageing of the workforce increases the importance of life-long learning for competitiveness. Most contributions on continuing training focus on lower participation of older employees. This paper in contrast concentrates on changes in the effectiveness of training during the life cycle. It shows that training of older employees is less effective in the self-assessment of training participants. Training effectiveness is measured with respect to key dimensions such as career development, earnings, adoption of new skills, flexibility, or job security. Older employees also pursue less ambitious goals with their training participation. An important reason for these differences during the life cycle is that firms do not offer the "right" training forms and contents. Older employees prefer and get higher returns from informal and self-determined training with a clear focus on practical and relevant work problems. They also profit more from training contents that can mainly be tackled by crystallised abilities such as communication and management skills.Training incidence in the more effective training forms is however not higher for older employees. Given that other decisive variables on training effectiveness such as training duration, financing and initiative do not change over the life cycle, the wrong allocation of training contents and training forms seems to be a critical reason for the lower effectiveness of training. The data basis is detailed answers of more than 5000 German training participants. This contribution uses multi-variate regressions on training participation and effectiveness. Besides age, it takes into account many covariates that may be correlated with training effectiveness and age such as tenure, health, qualification and intention to quit the labour force soon. Nichttechnische Zusammenfassung AbstractThis paper shows that training of older employees is less effective. Training effectiveness is measured with respect to key dimensions such as career development, earnings, adoption of new skills, flexibility or job security. Older employees also pursue less ambitious goals with their training participation. An important reason for these differences during the life cycle might be that firms do not offer the "right" training forms and contents. Older employees get higher returns from informal and directly relevant training a...

Further Training for Older Workers: A Solution for an Ageing Labour Force?

“…For example, older workers aged 55 and older see training goals, such as the opportunity for getting higher wages, being more productive, being promoted, and for better adaptation to changes at work, less important than younger workers do. Furthermore, Zwick (2011) argues that low incidence of training among older workers is a result of not getting adequate training, as was proved in his study. In other words, a life cycle perspective with respect to training characteristics should be changed towards an age-related training approach.…”

“…Less training for older workers is definitely a problem as it has a negative impact on their productivity as well as their employability (Warwick Report, 2006;Zwick, 2011). Low 91 According to the European Commission (2004): "Member states have to make it easier for all workers to get the training they need by improving access to training throughout life.…”

“…This was also supported by Aubert et al (2004) who found that the adaptability of older workers to a new technology partly depends on the length of the learning period. Zwick (2011) examined the differences during the life cycle between training characteristics (contents, financing and extent) and training efficiency using the Continuing Training as Part of Lifelong Learning (WeLL) dataset. He found that the content of training and the training forms for older workers are similar to that of younger ones, and that older workers participate more in presentations and seminars than in on-the-job training.…”

“…In order to raise the attractiveness of training for older workers and its effectiveness several steps are recommended such as teaching methods that are more suitable for the need of older workers (Goldstein, 1993;Aubert et al 2004;Callahan et al 2003, Zwick, 2011 as well as giving more importance to experience and prior education (D 'Addio et al 2010). For example, Goldstein (1993) argues that when older workers are given with enough time to be trained, their performance will be as good as younger workers in the end of the training program and during work.…”

The German Labour Market

“…However, more specific measures are needed to foster lifelong learning, such as implementing a standardized system for the recognition of non-formal and informal qualifications and providing better guidance on adult education opportunities (OECD, 2010b). In addition, raising the participation of older workers in training requires improving further its effectiveness by adapting training to the needs of seniors (Zwick, 2011). …”