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Schriftenreihe der Kalaidos Fachhochschule Schweiz
Philippa Dengler
Lifelong
Employability
Thriving in an Ageing Society
Schriftenreihe der Kalaidos
Fachhochschule Schweiz
Reihe herausgegeben von

C. Fichter, Zürich, Schweiz
Forschung bewirkt Fortschritt – denn Forschen heisst verstehen, anpassen, ver-
bessern. Die in dieser Reihe veröffentlichten, herausragenden Abschlussarbeiten
von Studierenden der Kalaidos Fachhochschule leisten hierfür wertvolle Beiträge.
Seien es Problemstellungen aus Unternehmen, volkswirtschaftliche Analysen
oder gesellschaftliche Phänomene: Die Autorinnen und Autoren dieser Reihe
finden mittels wissenschaftlicher Methoden praxisrelevante Antworten. Zugleich
legen sie Zeugnis davon ab, welchen Nutzen die Kombination von Fach- und
Methodenwissen für unsere Gesellschaft erzeugt – und sie motivieren Jüngere, es
ihnen gleich zu tun.
Reihe herausgegeben von

Prof. Dr. Christian Fichter
Stiftung Kalaidos Fachhochschule
Zürich, Schweiz
Weitere Bände in der Reihe http://www.springer.com/series/13075

Philippa Dengler
Lifelong Employability
Thriving in an Ageing Society
With a foreword by Dr. Stefan Ryf
Philippa Dengler
Zürich, Switzerland
Master Thesis, Kalaidos University of Applied Sciences Switzerland, Department of

Business, 2018
ISSN 2570-4060 ISSN 2570-4079 (electronic)

Schriftenreihe der Kalaidos Fachhochschule Schweiz
ISBN 978-3-658-24623-5 ISBN 978-3-658-24624-2 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-24624-2
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Foreword
The world of work is changing. Megatrends like globalization, increasing digiti-
sation and interconnectedness as well as demographic change are impacting all
areas of our economy. Old business models are being replaced by new ones and
the demands on employees are changing rapidly. In everyday working life,
knowledge is swiftly becoming obsolete and time-proven skills are rapidly over-
taken. Nowadays, it is insufficient to complete an apprenticeship in your youth
and then work in the same job for a lifetime. In order to survive in the changing
labour market, new skills and knowledge are constantly required. Lifelong learn-
ing is now a prerequisite for lifelong employability. This can be a challenge,
especially for older employees who were socialized with different role models
and structures. There are concerns that large numbers of people over the age of
50 could get left behind. Workers who lose their jobs at this age often have a
more difficult time to find re-employment.
In view of the demographic changes and the shortage of skilled workers, we
cannot afford to write off older employees. Not only is it detrimental for our
economy, it also has an impact on the psychological health of our society. Are
older workers prepared to keep up with the demands of tomorrow’s work envi-
ronment? Are they able to do so within the current structures? What should cor-
porations do to improve the situation?
With this research thesis about employability for longer working lives
Philippa Dengler provides a deep insight into the current situation of a Swiss
company and condenses the results into interesting findings and meaningful
recommendations. The study can serve both as an inspiration for measures to
promote lifelong employability in companies as well as a source of ideas for
further studies on this topic. I therefore wholeheartedly recommend it to both
practitioners and researchers. It was a great pleasure for me to accompany the
author in her research as she always showed great commitment for the subject. I
congratulate her warmly on her successful work.
Dr. Stefan Ryf

Kalaidos Fachhochschule / Kalaidos University of Applied Sciences
August 2018
Preface
Having worked in the financial sector during and after the 2008 crisis I have seen
many people in their 50s suddenly finding themselves unemployed and unpre-
pared or, perhaps worse, clinging to jobs they no longer identify with out of fear
of not finding something better on the job market. Reading the business press
and watching the political scene it is obvious that the demographic shift caused
by our ageing population means that current structures and policies are not sus-
tainable. There is much debate, but little action. Some companies are taking
action but having little success in making real change.
When it came to choosing a topic for my thesis for my Master of Science in
Business Psychology it was clear to me that I now had a chance to apply scien-
tific methodology and rigour to investigate a subject close to my heart. Why is it
that although we are living longer, healthier lives - and 60 is purportedly the new
40 - people over 50-years old are still considered “older workers” and people
over 60 are considered fit for (early) retirement? What can be done to overcome
this perception? And why is so little actually being done? And so the journey
that resulted in my thesis “Lifelong Employability: Thriving in an ageing soci-
ety” began.
Researching the question for my thesis gave me opportunity to dive deeply
into psychological and sociological research on the topic, read books, join think
tanks and talk to people in different companies about the topic. During this pro-
cess Bühler Group in Switzerland agreed to let me conduct empirical research in
the form of a qualitative study with employees from across the organisation.
The research provided fascinating insights into each of the six aspects of
employability and a wealth of places to start to make thoughtful changes to com-
pany processes and practices. Interestingly, my analysis did not support the
commonly held view represented so often in the media that once you are over 50
it is harder to remain employable. There were young people in my research who
were less able or willing to maintain their employability over the long term than
some of the older employees.
It is rewarding for me to see that the research and insights from my work
are valuable now in a business context. Companies in Switzerland are interested
in understanding what employability for longevity means for them and what they
can do. I believe that changes in mindset and behaviour required for lifelong
employability are essential for enabling individuals and companies to thrive in an
ageing society. Let us hope that as we age, we manage to adapt our own attitudes
and behaviours to be able to remain employed and live long, fulfilled lives.
Philippa Dengler, August 2018

Table of Contents
1 Introduction ............................................................................................... 1
1.1 Why Lifelong Employability Is Becoming Important ....................... 1
1.2 Goals of the Study ............................................................................. 4
1.3 Structure ............................................................................................ 6
2 Theoretical Approaches and Recent Research........................................... 7

2.1 Definitions of Employability ............................................................. 7
2.2 Measurement of Employability ......................................................... 8
2.3 Precursors to Employability............................................................... 9
2.3.1 Career Management .................................................................... 10
2.3.2 Lifelong Learning ....................................................................... 13
2.3.3 Knowledge Management ............................................................ 15
2.3.4 Age Diversity Management ........................................................ 16
2.3.5 Health Management .................................................................... 19
2.3.6 Networking ................................................................................. 20
2.4 Self-Identity and Social Constructs ................................................. 21
2.5 Thinking about the Future ............................................................... 22
2.6 The Theory of Planned Behaviour ................................................... 23
3 Empirical Research Method .................................................................... 25

Step 1: Definition of Research Questions ..................................................... 25
Step 2: Link to Theory .................................................................................. 25
Step 3: Definition of Research Design .......................................................... 26
Step 4: Definition of Sample and Sampling Strategy .................................... 27
Step 5: Data Collection and Analysis, including Pilot .................................. 28
Step 6: Processing the Study and Presenting Results .................................... 30
Step 7: Discussion in Respect of Quality Criteria ......................................... 30
4 Results ..................................................................................................... 33
4.1 Characteristics of the Sample .......................................................... 33
4.2 Interview Findings: Section 1 .......................................................... 34
4.2.1 Impact of Demographic Change ................................................. 35
X Table of Contents
4.2.2 What Is Employability? .............................................................. 35

4.2.3 Retirement Plans ......................................................................... 37
4.3 Interview Findings: Section 2 .......................................................... 39
4.3.1 Career Management .................................................................... 39
4.3.2 Lifelong Learning ....................................................................... 46
4.3.3 Knowledge Management ............................................................ 49
4.3.4 Health Management .................................................................... 50
4.3.5 Age Diversity Management ........................................................ 53
4.3.6 Networking ................................................................................. 55
5 Discussion and Key Findings .................................................................. 57

5.1 Key Finding 1: Norms and Attitudes ............................................... 57
5.2 Key Finding 2: The Psychological Contract .................................... 58
5.3 Key Finding 3: ‘Openness to Experience’ ....................................... 58
5.4 Typological Model of Lifelong Employability ................................ 59
5.4.1 Operational Definitions ............................................................... 59
5.4.2 Categorisation of Participants ..................................................... 61
5.4.3 Description of the Four Employability Types ............................. 64
5.4.4 Practical Implications of the Model ............................................ 69
6 Recommendations ................................................................................... 73
6.1 Data Level........................................................................................ 73
6.2 Structural Level ............................................................................... 73
6.3 Behavioural Level............................................................................ 75
7 Conclusions and Outlook ........................................................................ 77

7.1 Limitations of the Study and Avenues for Future Research ............ 80
Epilogue .............................................................................................................. 83
References .......................................................................................................... 85
Appendices ......................................................................................................... 91
Summary
Increased longevity means that current structures for employment and retirement
in Switzerland are not sustainable. People are living longer, healthier lives. De-
spite this, in the workplace, people over the age of 50 are often considered ‘old’
and remaining in employment beyond the retirement age of 65 is still an excep-
tion. This research explores attitudes and beliefs about employability and what
people require to maintain and extend their employability so that it becomes
lifelong.
In-depth interviews were conducted to gain an understanding of what peo-
ple are doing (or not doing) to manage their personal lifelong employability. The
interviews explored the attitudes, social norms, perceived control, intentions and
self-reported behaviour of the employees of a large Swiss company in six key
areas of lifelong employability: career management, lifelong learning, health
management, knowledge management, age diversity management and network-
ing.
The results show that whilst numerous aspects required for supporting em-
ployees in managing their employability may be available, many employees feel
that they are not appropriate for them personally. Social norms and prevailing
attitudes have a strong influence on the intentions and actual behaviour of em-
ployees. Loyalty to the company appears to be an obstacle to developing some
aspects of lifelong employability. No discernible pattern in the responses was
found based on chronological age. A person’s intentions and behaviour appear to
be influenced by their level of ‘openness to experience’ and level of education. A
typological model was developed based on the data that identified four employ-
ability types: unprepared, prepared, unable and able.
For lifelong employability to enable individuals and companies to thrive in
an aging society, changes on three levels are recommended: on a behavioural
level, with tailored individual personal development based on the six aspects of
employability; on a structural level, to create an environment in which behav-
iours conducive to lifelong employability are valued and respected; and on a data
level, to increase the knowledge and transparency in this field for further re-
search and to create a better business impact.
List of Figures and Tables
Figure 1: Age structure of the population of Switzerland (number of
people in 1000s). ............................................................................... 2
Figure 2: The theory of planned behaviour .................................................... 24
Figure 3: Distribution of sample by chronological age and tenure ................. 34
Figure 4: Summary of elements of employability cited by participants ......... 36
Figure 5: Distribution of responses on retirement age plans .......................... 38
Figure 6: Overview of vocational and professional education and
training in Switzerland. ................................................................... 60
Figure 7: Distribution of participants in the typological model of
employability developed in this research ........................................ 62
Figure 8: Typological model of employability: The four employability
types ................................................................................................ 63
Figure 9: Comfort-Stretch-Panic model ......................................................... 70
Figure 10: Typological model of employability overlaid with a Comfort-
Stretch-Panic diagram ..................................................................... 70
Table 1: Sample plan for interviews.............................................................. 27

1 Introduction
1.1 Why Lifelong Employability Is Becoming Important
Employability has been described as:
‘a key individual resource that can be enhanced to help people face with greater
confidence a constantly changing labor market characterized by unpredictability
and insecurity.’ (Di Fabio, 2017, p. 107)
But what is ‘employability’ and why does it need to be ‘lifelong’? Surely in

today’s modern world, we should be able to retire early and enjoy more of our
final years in leisure? This research aims to explore what ‘lifelong employabil-
ity’ means in Switzerland to employees of a large Swiss company and what les-
sons can be drawn to help companies and individuals understand if lifelong em-
ployability has a role to play in an aging society and, if so, what that role should
be.
At first glance, lifelong employability does not seem to be something that
need concern the Swiss. Switzerland is an affluent, politically stable country,
with a population of 8.4 million people in 2016, an unemployment rate of just
3.3% (Federal Statistics Office, 2017) and a GDP of US$659.83 billion in 2016
(www.tradingeconomics.com, 2017). It is an attractive place to work, drawing
qualified migrants to fill potential gaps left by dwindling numbers of indigenous
young people entering the labour market. Switzerland has the fourth highest
number of older people (between 55 and 64) in employment in Europe (after
Iceland, Sweden and Norway) (Adecco, 2008) and has the highest number of 55-
to 64-year-olds participating in further education compared to the other OECD
nations (SECO, 2016). The Swiss retirement provision, introduced in 1948, has,
to date, enabled most people to have a comfortable standard of living once they
retire (Federal Chancellery, 2014). According to Höpflinger (2013), there are
people in Switzerland today who continue to work past the age of 65 but many of
them are either self-employed (44%) or part of a family business (15%). Often,
they are in higher qualified professions.
Despite or perhaps because of this comfortable situation, the Adecco Insti-
tute found that Swiss companies have a lot to do to prepare for the demographic
shift that is occurring if they want to remain competitive and agile in the coming
years. In a survey to assess the ‘demographic fitness’ of companies in nine Euro-
pean countries, Swiss companies scored an average of only 172 out of a possible
400 points (Adecco Institute, 2008). Adecco warned companies could not afford
to be complacent about the impact of demographics.

P. Dengler, Lifelong Employability, Schriftenreihe der Kalaidos
Fachhochschule Schweiz, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-24624-2_1
2 Introduction
The population of Switzerland is aging. By 2050, it is predicted that one in

four people in Switzerland will be over the age of 65, many of them over 80
years-old (FSO, 2015a, 2015b). The number of people living in Switzerland who
are 100 years old or over has increased from 272 in 1980 to 1,546 in 2016 (FSO,
2017) and continues to rise. According to the Federal Statistics Office (FSO) ‘the
life expectancy at birth for men and women living in Switzerland is amongst the
highest in the world’ (FSO, 2017). Based on its current predictions, the average
life expectancy for a man born in 2016 is 81.5 years and for a woman, 85.3 years
(FSO, 2017). People are living longer and, importantly, are healthier for longer –
on average, over a decade longer compared to less than 50 years ago.
Our increased longevity should be cause for celebration. It is testament to
the progress made by mankind through continuous advances in technology, med-
icine and politics. However, as the sociologist Peter Gross discusses in his book,
‘We are getting older. Thank you. But what for?’, it is ‘a gift we are not prepared
to receive and don’t yet know what to do with’ (2013, p. 43).
The demographics of Switzerland, like many other developed countries, are
changing due to another factor as well. The so-called ‘Baby Boomer’ generation,
people born between 1946 and 1964, who are now in their 50s and 60s, were the
first generation to have fewer children than previous generations. Their children
have continued to have fewer children. These lower birth rates combined with
steadily increasing longevity are slowly but surely resulting in a clear shift in the
age structure, as can be seen in the graphic below:
Figure 1: Age structure of the population of Switzerland (number of people in

1000s). Source: Federal Office for Statistics (2015b, p. 25)
Why Lifelong Employability Is Becoming Important 3
This shift, from a pyramid form at the turn of the 20th century, during which
there were many young people and fewer elderly people, towards a top-heavy
mushroom form today, has profound implications for almost every aspect of our
lives. Whilst the demographic shift comes as no surprise, much of the discussion
and analysis over the past decades from sociologists, psychologists, economists,
politicians and the business world have centred around the negative and financial
aspects of an aging society. As the author Yuval Noah Harari points out in his
book, ‘Homos Deus’:
‘Insurance companies, pension funds, health systems and finance ministries are
already aghast at the jump in life expectancy. People are living much longer than
expected, and there is not enough money to pay for their pensions and medical
treatment.’ (Harari, 2017, p. 58)
Even official statistics used as social indicators focus on the burden of increasing
numbers of older people. The ‘old-age dependency ratio’, for example, relates to
the number of individuals aged 65 and over (assumed to be dependent on the
support of others) as a percentage of the population aged 20 to 64 (assumed to be
capable of providing such support) (OECD Social Indicators, 2016). It shows an
increase in the ratio in Switzerland to 29% in 2016 from 10% in 1900 (FSO,
2017), and the ratio is predicted to continue to increase. These statistics reinforce
an outdated picture of older people being financially dependent on younger
members of the population and no longer holds strictly true in a world where
people study and live for longer and the nature of work is changing to enable
them to work for longer.
Winkler (2004) describes this focus on financial questions surrounding so-
cial security and negative aspects of an aging society as ‘devastating’ because
they limit the view to possible solutions for the future (cited in Clemens,
Höpflinger & Winkler, 2005). A radical shift is required in the way we think
about our lives, education, work and retirement plans to ensure that most people
are able not just to live longer but do so with financial security and in good men-
tal and physical health, in other words, to thrive.
The business world today is often described as being volatile, uncertain,
complex and ambiguous (VUCA). The days when companies could provide
employees with ‘a job for life’ are all but gone. The nature of work is also chang-
ing from physical to knowledge work and globalisation is leading to a slow but
certain de-industrialization of countries like Switzerland. Increased digitisation
and artificial intelligent means new and different jobs are being created, which,
as they are less physically demanding, are actually conducive to people working
later in their lives than before.
4 Introduction
There are many think tanks which have discussed the far-reaching impacts
of an aging society and organisations that work to design solutions for a more
optimistic future, including changes to the workplace. During this research, I was
fortunate to attend events hosted by the World Demographic and Ageing Forum
together with large Swiss corporations as well as hear presentations from consul-
tancy firms and academics and meet the owners of companies that have emerged
specifically to help people over 50 years old find employment.
In order to gain traction, the benefits of lifelong employability to companies
need to be better understood. Having a workforce that is highly employable in-
side and outside of a company gives a company a certain resilience and flexibil-
ity, which can facilitate reorganisation, the closing of business areas and the
opening of new ones. In addition to the Corporate Social Responsibilities aspects
of ‘duty of care of the company to its employees’ and ‘compensation for being
unable to guarantee a job for life’, the Institute for Employment and ‘Employa-
bility’ cite the economic benefits of supporting lifelong employability as being
‘increased competitiveness’, ‘increased flexibility and ability of employees to
deal with change’ and ‘increased employer attractiveness’. (Ackermann, 2004).
Adecco puts a number on it, stating:
‘better demographic fitness index scores can add 20% to a firm’s competitiveness,
innovation and productivity i.e. these could translate directly into real business
success.’ (Adecco Institute, 2008)
A study conducted in Greece, Spain, the Netherlands and the UK concluded that:
‘a huge gap exists between what employers perceive as general challenges ahead
and actual policies within their own organization.’ (Van Dalen et al., 2009)
It revealed a difference between rational discussions at a macro level, ‘where

society has to prepare for the consequences of demographic changes’, and the
micro level of employers, ‘where little effort is made to structurally improve the
position of older workers in the labour market’. They argue for policymakers to
‘bridge this gap between micro and macro rationality’ so that good ideas about
working longer actually become reality (Van Dalen et al., 2009).
1.2 Goals of the Study
This research study aims to explore the topic of lifelong employability with em-
ployees of the Bühler Group in Switzerland (www.buhlergroup.com), using a
qualitative approach to gain in-depth insights into the attitudes, intentions and
actual behaviour of employees. The goal is to ascertain:
Goals of the Study 5
 What employees, particularly employees in their 40s and 50s, need to be

able to maintain and develop their lifelong employability across their work-
ing lives and what is hindering them today;
 What the company could do to enable its employees to take responsibility
for their own lifelong employability;
 What the company could do to support its employees with respect to the
increased length of working lives that goes beyond simply facilitating a
smooth transition to retirement.
Specifically, the research questions should provide insights into:
 How aware the employees are about the demographic changes occurring
and the potential impact on their own lives;
 What people understand by the word ‘employability’;
 What they currently think about their own retirement.
Then, the aim is to explore the attitudes and beliefs they hold relating to six dif-
ferent aspects of lifelong employability: career management, lifelong learning,
knowledge management, health management, age diversity and networking:
 How important they consider these elements to be;

 What the norms they feel relating to these aspects;
 How much control they perceive they have over these elements.
Finally, the aim is to bring some clarity to understanding their intentions and
self-reported behaviour relating to employability:
 What people think they should be doing to manage their lifelong employa-
bility;
 What are they really doing and, importantly, why?
6 Introduction
1.3 Structure
To render the research comprehensible in a succinct manner, it is structured as

follows:
Introduction: This section intends to provide a context for this work by de-
scribing the demographic shift and articulating the need to think differently about
work across a person’s longer life and the role lifelong employability plays in
that. Finally, the research question and goals are outlined, and the structure ex-
plained.
Theoretical Approaches and Recent Research: Here, key research previ-
ously conducted in relation to employability and the key precursors to employa-
bility are summarised and critically evaluated. Psychological theories and ap-
proaches to understanding social constructs, dealing with the future and planned
behaviour are also outlined.
Method: This section explains the approach followed to conduct this ex-
ploratory research. It describes the sample selection, the development of inter-
view guidelines and the approach taken for transcription of the audio recordings.
The methods selected for coding and analysing the transcripts as well as the steps
taken to develop a typological model from the data are also described.
Results: This section contains an overview and analysis of the findings
from the empirical research on the attitudes, norms, perceived control, intentions
and behaviour of the participants for each topic discussed in the interviews. It
includes illustrative quotes from the participants.
Discussion and Key Findings: The results are examined in relation to the
research question and the key findings are summarised. A typological model of
employability types, developed to facilitate interpretation of patterns and insights
in the data, is described. The practical implications of the findings and recom-
mendations for the company and its employees are proposed.
Conclusion and Outlook: This section provides a summary of the study’s
goals and results and critically evaluates the value of the work. The strengths and
weakness of this research are discussed and the extent to which this research can
be generalised to provide input in different contexts is noted. It also provides
suggestions for further research on this topic.
2 Theoretical Approaches and Recent Research
In this section, research previously conducted in relation to the definition and
measurement of employability and the key precursors to employability is re-
viewed. In addition, theoretical approaches to understanding social constructs,
dealing with the future as well as the theory of planned behaviour (Ajzen, 1991),
are also outlined.
An initial scan of the literature on employability reveals that employability
is often looked at in conjunction with graduates looking for their first role or
with people who are unemployed and seeking employment. However, the focus
of this review is on maintaining employability and increasing it for older workers
and everyone who is currently employed and wishes to remain so for longer.
2.1 Definitions of Employability
Much of the literature on employability has focused on the definition of employ-

ability. Here it is important to remark that ‘employability’ encompasses a per-
son’s ability to find suitable employment in the job market and includes, but is
not limited to, a person’s ‘ability to work’, which looks more narrowly at a per-
son’s ability to fulfil a given set of job requirements.
Di Fabio provides a succinct overview of the history of the development of
the definitions of employability in her review of empirical studies in this area (Di
Fabio, 2017, p. 108), ending with a definition from Van der Klinke et al. (2016),
which introduces the concept of ‘sustainable employability’:
‘throughout their working lives, workers can achieve tangible opportunities in the
form of a set of capabilities. They also enjoy the necessary conditions that allow
them to make a valuable contribution through their work, now and in the future,
while safeguarding their health and welfare. This requires, on the one hand, a
work context that facilitates this for them and on the other hand, the attitude and
motivation to exploit their opportunities.’ (Van der Klinke et al. (2016) cited in
Di Fabio, 2017, p. 112)
The definition of sustainable employability emphasises the need to view

employability throughout entire working lives, not just when a change of role is
required, and to incorporate not just current but also future requirements by look-
ing at the conditions that enable someone to have lifelong employability.
In a study of lifelong employability for workers in Singapore Billet (2010)
concluded that ‘both personal and organisational factors shape mature-age work-

P. Dengler, Lifelong Employability, Schriftenreihe der Kalaidos
Fachhochschule Schweiz, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-24624-2_2
ers’ employability’ and emphasised that it is important to understand the condi-

tions of, and the goals and support for, remaining employable. He states:
‘beyond what individuals possess and can do, is importantly the provision of
opportunities for working, advancement and further development. This provision
includes workplaces hiring mature-age workers, utilizing them effectively and
appropriately, having flexible work arrangements, retirement policies and
practices that can assist to sustain their employment, and the provision of
opportunities for advancement and development (i.e. to offer new bases for
employability).’ (Billet, 2010, p. 73)
A simple definition of what it means to be employable is offered by Profes-

sor Doctor Thom from the University of Bern as being someone who is ‘able to
go but happy to stay’ (Thom, 2002). This definition has the advantage of being
easy to understand and remember and conveys a strong image of someone who
has the skills, knowledge and capabilities that are in demand in the market and is
therefore able to find employment in another company but who is motivated and
happy to stay with their current company.
2.2 Measurement of Employability
The various definitions have inevitably led to the development of numerous

ways to measure employability. In 2004, Van Dam developed an Employability
Orientation Scale (and in 2006, Van der Heidje and Van der Heijden developed
the Competence Based Measurement of Employability). Fugate and Kinicki
(2008) developed a questionnaire based on their definition, called the Disposi-
tional Measure of Employability (referenced in Di Fabio, 2017, p. 108). In prac-
tice, today career counsellors and coaches use a variety of scales and measure-
ment systems to assess people’s employability, usually at a time when a change
in job is required.
Whilst it is interesting to define and measure employability the motivation
for this research is to gain insight into what people can do during their working
lives to improve their chances of being both ‘able to go’ and ‘happy to stay’ and
why they are hindered from doing so today rather than measuring individual
employability levels on a scale.
Precursors to Employability 9
2.3 Precursors to Employability
In her review of the literature on employability, Di Fabio (2017) goes on to iden-

tify several antecedents of employability, including:
‘human capital, and labor market opportunities, education, support for career and
skill development, current level of job-related skills, willingness to change jobs,
willingness to develop new competencies, opportunity awareness, self-
presentation skills, and emotional intelligence.’ (Di Fabio, 2017, p. 113)
With a focus on developing policies to maintain and enhance the employability

of employees over 45 years of age Höpflinger cites work from Jans et al. (2003),
which highlights the following central themes:
‘Increased support for employees over 45 to develop more self-initiative, increase

their motivation and develop more perspective for the future. More age
appropriate learning opportunities also for older employees and employees of
long tenure. A closer coupling of remuneration to performance and less with the
seniority principle and offering older employees on a more individual basis age
appropriate work content, areas of responsibility, more recuperation time, more
part-time and flexible models for retirement.’ (Jans et al., 2003 cited in Clemens
et al., 2005, p. 149.)
Gratton and Scott (2017, pp. 71-72) identify three types of ‘intangible assets’
that are required for a long, productive, fulfilling life:
‘productive assets’, which ‘help an individual become productive and successful

at work and should therefore boost their income’.
‘vitality assets’, which ‘capture mental and physical health and well-being’,
including positive relationships with friends and family’. and
‘transformational assets’, which ‘refer to their self-knowledge, their capacity to
reach out into diverse networks and their openness to new experiences’.
For this research, I opted to use the five areas identified in the Adecco Institute
Demography Fitness Index (2008) to measure a company’s readiness for an
aging workforce, namely: Career management, Lifelong learning, Knowledge
management, Health management and Age diversity.
(Adecco Institute, Demographic Fitness Index, 2008)

In the Adecco study, these areas were used to look at the readiness for dealing
with the demographic changes from a corporate perspective. They encapsulate
the aspects referred to in other work on the precursors of lifelong employability
at an individual level. In addition, a sixth aspect, networking, will be added to
the research. Networking is explicitly mentioned by Gratton and Scott (2017) as
one of the key new ‘transformational assets’ required to thrive in the future
workplace and, based on my own professional experience, is a key element of
maintaining and developing employability.
The following is intended to give an overview of some of the concepts and
research found in the literature relating to these topics in conjunction with life-
long employability, particularly for older employees. Within the scope of this
research, the review cannot be exhaustive, and particular focus has been placed
on the topics of career management, age diversity and lifelong learning. The
other aspects of health management, knowledge management and networking,
whilst no less important, are covered only briefly.
2.3.1 Career Management
The Adecco study summarises career management as the enabling of flexible,

lifecycle-based work models and alternative career paths (Adecco Institute,
2008).
As we live increasingly longer lives, there is a need to enable alternative
models and different paths to emerge that incorporate multiple phases of em-
ployment, education and rest throughout a person’s lifetime. It is predicted that
‘many people currently in their mid-40s are likely to need to work into their early
to mid-70s; many currently in their 20s (many of whom could live to be over 100)
will be working into their late 70s, and even into their 80s.’ (Gratton & Scott,
2017)
When the current pension system was introduced, the average life expectancy for
men was just 66.36 years (FSO, 2017). Today, a man retiring at 65 is expected to
live for a further 20 years on average. Retirement no longer constitutes a few
years of ‘well-earned’ leisure but has become a whole new chapter of life that
needs not only to be financed but through which it should be possible to lead a
fulfilling, meaningful life.
Despite an awareness of the issues, it appears there is little change in peo-
ple’s behaviour towards financial planning for their pension. A study conducted
by Gottlieb Duttweiler Institute revealed that the majority of people are still not
proactive in planning how they will finance their retirement (GDI, 2015) and I
could confirm this in interviews with experts from the financial industry in Zur-
ich. Saving enough to build up sufficient assets for a longer life is not feasible
for many, particularly in the current interest rate environment. The answer must
lie in changing the way people think about work and manage their resources over
their longer lifetimes. It appears, however, that despite the facts and figures,
people’s mindset remains rooted in the constructs built over previous centuries,
including the concept of ‘pensioner’.
A survey conducted by the Economist Intelligence Unit in Switzerland,
France, Germany and Austria found that two-thirds of respondents still claimed
to want to retire at or before the traditional retirement age (EIU survey, 2015,
2016). The idea of working beyond the traditional retirement age and perhaps
until the age of 80 or beyond does not enthuse most people. However, as Gratton
and Scott explain:
‘the unappealing nature of this conclusion arises because we are simply

extrapolating from the past into the future and assuming that the structure of this
long working life will follow the traditional three-stage mode life.’ (Gratton &
Scott, 2016, p. 41).
Höpflinger reminds us that historically, retirement age is a ‘new economic and

social development’ and suggests, ‘maybe not a good one’ (cited in Clemens et
al., 2005, p. 9). Schuppisser (2004) urges us to live and plan our working lives as
‘a marathon and not a sprint’ (cited in Clemens et al. (2005) p. 170). It follows
then that there is work to be done to change what is considered ‘normal’ and
culturally acceptable and lay the foundation for meaningful career path alterna-
tives that do not signal a lack of motivation, commitment or ambition. The psy-
chological contract between the employer and employee needs to establish a new
balance between loyalty and commitment, on the one hand, and simultaneously
manage one’s own interests to be able to survive and thrive, on the other. For
more on this, see the discussion by Scholz (2003) cited in Speck (2009, p.p. 357-
366).
There are companies which are taking different approaches to how they are
organised, allowing their employees to manage their working lives very differ-
ently. In his book, ‘Reinventing Organisations’, Laloux (2016) lays out how the
understanding of what an organisation or company is and how it should be run
has continuously evolved throughout the history of mankind. He suggests that
we are now on the brink of the next leap in evolution, away from rigid hierar-
chies and management by objectives to a ‘much more powerful and fluid sys-
tems of distributed authority’ (Laloux, 2016, p. 57). The case studies he presents
from his 3-year study of 50 organisations highlight radically different, and suc-
cessful management practices and working models.
Semco, a Brazilian industrial conglomerate, is a well-documented example
of a company which has revolutionised how people are allowed to personally
adapt their working lives to ensure continued employability. In this book, ‘The
Seven-Day Weekend’, Ricardo Semler articulates his philosophy and how it
translates into how he manages his own working life and encourages everyone
working at the company to do the same. He explains the concerns people had
that it would fail and the phenomena that ‘people accept rules, even when they
no longer exist’ (Semler, 2004, p. 36). The company, amongst other things, has
introduced formal programmes, like ‘retire-a-little’ to signal clearly to employees
that they have a legitimate right to act differently.
These examples reinforce how the psychological contract needs to change
and that lifelong employability is not about working the same way we do today
for an increased number of years. It is about working differently, adapting and
developing our practices and mindset to have the flexibility that is required to
manage long, productive and fulfilling lives.
There are also companies in Switzerland taking steps to address the situa-
tion and which are adapting policies and procedures to take account of the need
for a good generational mix and the needs of older workers. Zölch et al. (2009)
identified approaches and examples of ‘good practice’ in six leading Swiss com-
panies spanning the entire human resource lifecycle from job design and recruit-
ing through to release and exit policies.
Wurz (2015) cites examples of initiatives at Novartis, Migros and the Swiss
Federal Railways. During the research I had the opportunity to speak to people
from Swiss Life, Swisscom, Siemens and UBS. The majority of these companies
have devised programmes aimed at assisting older workers to remain employable
or make the transition to retirement smoothly. They and many other companies
are offering seminars, coaching support and training for employees around the
age of 50 and allowing older employees to work more flexibly. However, many
are finding that simply providing these models is insufficient. Whilst this may be
perplexing, a study conducted by Bain and Company with 3,330 people world-
wide found that:
‘despite all the benefits that flexible models have to offer in satisfaction and
retention, a surprising survey result was that few managers in high-stress jobs take
advantage of them.’ (Coffman & Hagey, 2010)
Reasons given included a ‘persistent perception that flex options signal a career
dead end’ and concerns about how to manage time, feelings of guilt and worry
about not being able to maintain client satisfaction. They concluded that whilst
there was demand for flexible working options overwhelmingly the respondents
viewed ‘today’s choices as either unsatisfactory or culturally unacceptable’
(Coffman & Hagey, 2010).
In addition, although well intended, training programmes designed for peo-
ple aged 45+ are often poorly received as being patronising or embarrassing to
attend. The difficulty lies in designing age-specific interventions for older work-
ers without emphasising differences and increasing discrimination. Studies in
differential gerontology have proven time and again that people get more hetero-
geneous in all aspects of their personalities and preferences the older they get.
Höpflinger (2013) cautions against projects and programmes that try to insist on
a uniformed approach to remaining employable.
It seems that companies are in difficult situation, aware they need to do
something, not entirely sure what and dissatisfied with the impact of what they
have tried so far.
‘Despite the pivotal importance of lifelong employability, we still do not

sufficiently understand how it can be sustained in higher ages.’ (Froehlich et. al.,
2015)
2.3.2 Lifelong Learning
Having the right skills and qualifications and keeping them up to date is undeni-
ably an essential part of lifelong employability. The Adecco Institute study high-
lights the need for incentives for further education across all age groups, lifecy-
cle-orientated learning and personal development to increase professional, social
and personal qualifications (Adecco, 2008).
Although, as we have seen, Switzerland has high numbers of older people in
further education, it only applies to older workers with a tertiary education and
not to those without professional qualifications (SECO report, 2016). The report
from the Swiss Employers’ Association recommends that ‘the promotion of
professional qualifications should happen independent of age, gender or level of
education’ (SECO report, 2016, p. 3) and that it is an individual’s own responsi-
bility to maintain and further develop their competencies and make use of the
corresponding offers.
Billet, who conducted a study with older workers in Singapore, found that
‘overwhelmingly, (his interview partners) emphasised the importance of their
role in that learning process. It was almost never seen as being largely somebody
else’s responsibility, but almost universally as theirs’ (Billet 2010, p. 38). The
problem does not seem to lie with people not understanding that they are respon-
sible for their own development.
However, the role of middle management should not be underestimated.

The Swiss Centre for Innovation in Learning at the University of St. Gallen
looked at lifelong learning in companies and found that managers, in addition to
having insufficient time due to daily business, were largely not sure about what
they should be doing to encourage learning.
‘There is a still a lack of awareness with the managers of how important they are
themselves in the learning process’ (Fandel-Meyer and Meier, 2016).
If lifelong learning is to truly become the norm, the way we view further educa-
tion, personal development and talent management needs to evolve to become
more in line with a definition of learning purported by Charles Jennings, with his
70:20:10 approach. Berkeley urges us:
‘to recognise all learning wherever it takes place, as having potential to add value
to the performance of the individual and their contribution as an economically
active member of society.’ (Berkeley, 1995)
Friebe (2011) calls for further education supported by companies that does not
focus solely on the direct contribution to professionally relevant contributions
but also on personal development that helps them in life in general. He cites the
example of an Austrian steelworks, where all employees are encouraged to spend
2% of their annual working hours on personal development regardless of wheth-
er it is directly applicable to the role they have in the company (cited in Seyfried,
2011, p. 70).
In 1997, McKinsey coined the term ‘war of talent’ in the discussion around
decreasing numbers of young people entering the labour market (see Michaels et
al., 2001) and this has certainly contributed in recent years to many corporations
focusing on how to become more attractive for younger employees. In order to
remain competitive, companies need to broaden the concept of talent. Winkler
suggests, however, that the reserve in the native population is easily located. It is,
above all, women and older people’ (Clemens et al., 2005, p. 136). Following a
study in which they found the ‘older employee’ segment to be the only group
that will grow in the coming years, the Adecco Institute also recommended that
companies learn to better use the working potential of the older employee seg-
ment (Adecco Institute, 2008).
Höpflinger (2013) confirms that people can maintain and attain new compe-
tencies in later life and this, in turn, has a positive impact on them. He emphasis-
es that the difficulties older people face with learning are not due to age-related
cognitive deficits but to the fact that they have grown unaccustomed to learning
and have forgotten how to learn. The gerontologist K. Warner Schaie (1984)
found that there was no general decay of cognitive ability related to age (cited in
Oswald,1984) and research on crystal and fluid intelligence (Horn & Cattell,
1967) describes how intelligence changes rather than declines with age.
Graf proposes a lifecycle-orientated approach to personal development for
maintaining employability which supports lifelong learning and is not based on
the chronological age of the employee (Graf, 2009, and Graf, 2002, cited in Sey-
fried, 2011). As with other aspects of lifelong employability, it seems not to be a
question of whether lifelong learning is possible but rather of how to make it
possible for people living and working in all walks of life to engage in learning
throughout their longer lives.
2.3.3 Knowledge Management
A KPMG Research Report on the topic of Knowledge Management (2000)

found that:
‘knowledge management (KM) is an accepted part of the business agenda: the

benefits of knowledge management are acknowledged, and organisations with a
KM programme are demonstrably better off than those without one.’
The Adecco Institute study found that knowledge management includes instru-
ments and processes for sharing, updating and securing knowledge, proactively
securing expert knowledge when employees leave, and fostering a culture of
creativity and innovation (Adecco Institute, 2008).
An article published in the Briefings Magazine by the Korn Ferry Institute
urges companies to act quickly: ‘the labour pool is aging, which means an inval-
uable knowledge base may soon become obsolete if something isn’t done to plug
the brain drain’, and it quotes the vice president of research at the Society of
Human Resources Management in Virginia: ‘Companies are going to face ur-
gencies in the very near future if they don’t start looking beyond millennials’
(Walsh, 2017).
Indeed, in just a few years’ time, one in three workers will be over 50 years
old and if nothing changes, this large proportion of the overall working popula-
tion will reach retirement age and leave the labour market over the course of the
next two decades. This will leave large gaps and open questions about
knowledge management. Baldin (2009) talks of the ‘dangerous ignorance’ of not
valuing what older workers offer, including ‘transferable knowledge of business
processes, longstanding relationships with people in the industry, life experience
gained in multiple situations, maturity and lack of haste’ (cited in Speck, 2009, p.
426).
It appears that many organisations focus on the technology side of
knowledge management and have not addressed the real challenges of the cultur-
al aspects to ensure that the sharing of knowledge is valued and perceived by all
as a real competitive advantage. Some companies encourage mentoring, in which
experienced employees can share their experience and knowledge with less expe-
rienced employees. This harnesses the psychological need to leave something
behind for future generations, something that Erik Erikson (1981) referred to as
‘generativity’. Mentoring not only creates a vehicle for knowledge sharing, it
also helps to counteract stereotypes but letting people from different back-
grounds and generations interact personally together. In recent years, ‘tandem
mentoring’, in which younger people mentor their mentors on new technologies
and concepts, has extended the mentoring concept, encouraging younger and
older people to semi-formally learn from each other.
In the context of longer working lives, with multiple careers and people
from different generations working side by side, knowledge management has
become increasingly important for companies and for an individual’s personal
lifelong employability.
2.3.4 Age Diversity Management
The Adecco Institute assessed age diversity as the employment of all age groups
in line with their strengths, culture of appreciation and cooperation (Adecco
Institute, 208). It is clearly a topic that warrants more attention:
‘Given the workforce aging trends, age diversity is an important workforce

characteristic to account for requiring thoughtful organizational talent
development policies, practices, and initiatives embedded in an age-inclusive
organizational context.’ (Noe et al., 2014, cited in Truxillo et al., 2014)
Whilst the benefits of diverse teams in terms of gender, nationality and back-
ground are well researched and understood, the topic of age diversity is less
prevalent in a business context. The World Health Organization cites work
which found:
‘Companies emphasizing creative work profited from age diversity, whereas

companies focusing on routine tasks did worse under conditions of age diversity.’
(Backes-Gellner und Veen, 2015)
In her book, ‘This chair rocks. A manifesto against ageism’, Applewhite (2015)
claims that ageism is the last acceptable ‘ism’ and that negative associations with
aging and getting old are ingrained in our cultural beliefs to an extent that most
of us are not aware of:
‘Almost all of us are prejudiced against older people, and olders themselves are
no exception. Ageism is woven into the fabric of life, reinforced by the media and
popular culture at every turn, and seldom challenged. How could anyone be
entirely free of it?’ (Applewhite, 2015, p. 233)
As she points out, we are all aging from the moment we are born. Aging is syn-
onymous with living and ‘It doesn’t make much sense to discriminate against a
group that we aspire to join’’ (Applewhite, 2015, p. 17).
The business press repeatedly tells stories of older people being made re-
dundant or asked to take ‘early retirement’ in times of crisis and of people over
50 years old finding it difficult to find employment once they have been made
redundant. In his discussion, before settling on a definition of older workers
being those over the age of 45, Winkler (2004) explains:
‘In certain industry sectors people are already considered older from the age of
38. Those over 45 are largely considered older and practically all those over 50.’
(cited in Clemens et al., 2005, p. 84)
Although meta-analytic evidence shows that most of the stereotypes of older

workers are not supported empirically (ref. Ng & Feldman, 2012, cited by Trux-
illo et al., 2014), chronological age provides a convenient way of assessing
someone. Although we know that chronological age is a poor indicator of a per-
son’s abilities, it is still heavily relied upon for the making of many employment-
related decisions and, often, through unconscious bias, stereotypes based on a
person’s chronological age lead to discrimination which can work against young
people as well as older people.
A review on aging and productivity found that:
‘there is no empirical evidence to support the so-called deficit hypothesis of age,

the assumption that there is a ‘natural’ age-related decline in abilities, which is
often represented in companies and accepted by the workforce.’ (Börsch-Supan,
Düzgün & Weiss, 2005)
An interesting aspect in relation to the topic of age and diversity is the difference
between ‘young versus old’ and ‘new versus old/long-standing’ (Höpflinger in
Clemens et al. (2005) p. 143). Often many years of service go hand in hand with
chronological age but in some cases, for example, when an older person changes
career or industry, an older person could be ‘new’. When talking about
‘old/long-standing’, he points out that positive associations like professional
experience are often mired in associations like ‘outdated’ and ‘old-fashioned’.
Another explanation for the apparent reluctance to employ older workers
can be found in employment practices such as the seniority principle. Van Dalen
et al. (2009) reference work done by Thurow (1975) which explained the seniori-
ty principle as:
‘the prospect of a gradual rise in their incomes acts as an incentive for employees
to continue working for ‘their’ employer, where their investments yield the
highest returns.’
Arrangements such as the seniority principle mean that an older worker doing
the same job as a younger worker is likely to earn more and will be perceived as
earning more regardless of whether they really are. This can make older people
more vulnerable during a restructuring and downsizing, as has been seen particu-
larly in the financial sector in Switzerland in recent years. Billet also found in
Singapore that arrangements like the seniority principle:
‘can serve to make older workers relatively unattractive and also places a stronger
focus on their productivity.’ (Billet, 2010, p. 19)
It seems unavoidable that changes to wage systems and the social insurance
system will have to be made before employment practices can truly be age neu-
tral (Höpflinger in Clemens et al., 2005, p. 170).
In the research, there is much discussion on alternative definitions of age
that are not based on a person’s date of birth. For example, Birren and Cunning-
ham (1985, cited in Settersten and Mayer, 1997, pp. 239-240) discuss three dis-
tinct kinds of age: biological age, social age and psychological age. Gerontolo-
gists have proven in many studies that:
‘people become more dissimilar and different during the course of their lives –
not just economically but also psychologically’ (Höpflinger, 2013)
Echoing this sentiment, Billet (2010) finds that
‘What constitutes retirement age and what constitutes an older worker should be
person-dependent, and not fixed or imposed by society’ (p. 6).
Only when people of all ages, including those over the age of 65, are able to
contribute fully to the economy and society can the huge opportunities that our
Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
TRANSFERABLE CAPITAL.
During the summer of 1884 the Society was experimenting with a
new form of barm, produced by a patent process. The results of the
experiments, however, were not satisfactory. The new barm was
found to be no improvement on the old, while the recipe would cost
£5, and thereafter there was to be a royalty of a halfpenny per sack of
flour used, which was to continue for a year, so the committee
decided that no advantage would accrue to the Society by adopting
the new system. About the same time the committee were in
correspondence with Mr E. V. Neale on the question of the best
method to be adopted for making the loan capital of the Society
secure. They considered the information they received from Mr
Neale so valuable that they decided to print it and send a copy to
each member society.
Notwithstanding the difficulties with which they were meeting,
consequent on their shortage of oven accommodation, the committee
were ever zealous in their endeavours to get new trade from societies
which were not members and to increase the trade of those which
were. During the summer months they caused a number of letters to
be sent to societies, requesting that deputations should be received,
and by this means they were able to secure increased trade from
some of the societies which were not as loyal as they might have
been. Arising out of the correspondence with Mr Neale, it was agreed
at the September quarterly meeting in 1884 to appoint a special
committee to go into the whole question of the capital of the Society,
with special reference to that held on loan, and with power to consult
a Scottish legal authority on the subject, the committee to report to
the December quarterly meeting. The special committee consulted
the Lord Advocate on the subject, with the result that, at a special
meeting which was held in March of the following year, the whole
share capital of the Society was made transferable, while the interest
on loans was reduced from 5 per cent. to 4½ per cent.
STILL FURTHER EXTENSIONS.
It was becoming increasingly evident that the St James Street
bakery had reached the limit of its usefulness to the Society.
Although biscuit baking and the baking of pastry and smalls had
been transferred to the Scotland Street premises, it was becoming
impossible for St James Street to meet the demand for bread, and
therefore another small bakery situated in Hill Street was rented for
a time. This was only a temporary arrangement, however, and could
not be expected to continue. The Bakery was now turning over
considerably more than 300 sacks of flour per week, and the trade
was increasing at such a rapid rate that it was practically impossible
to keep pace with it in the premises as they then were. The need for a
new bakery was clamant, and much consideration was given to the
question ere a decision was arrived at. That decision, when come to,
proved to be the most momentous in the history of the Federation,
and may well form the subject of another chapter.
1. DANIEL H. GERRARD. J.P.,
President.
2. JAMES BAIN,
Secretary.
AUDITORS
1. WM. H. JACK, F.S.A.A

2. JOHN M. BIGGAR.
During practically the whole of the period which is embraced in

this chapter, two gentlemen, still well known, active in the movement
and highly respected—Messrs Allan Gray and Robert Macintosh—
acted as auditors for the Federation, and during their period of office
made several suggestions affecting the financial stability of the
Federation, which, when put into operation, helped materially to
make it the strong concern financially that it is to-day. In particular,
they were the means of getting the depreciation placed on a sounder
basis than it had been for some time. Investigations which took place
more than once had the result of showing the committee that the rate
of depreciation was not enough, as the book value of fixed and live
stock and machinery was greater than the valuation showed that it
should be. Ultimately, this was put right, and the finances of the
Society were established on a firm footing.
CHAPTER VIII.
M‘NEIL STREET.
INCREASING TRADE—THE DIRECTORS’ DILEMMA—M‘NEIL

STREET GROUND PURCHASED—THE NEW BAKERY:
BUILDING DIFFICULTIES—THE OPENING CEREMONY—
AN UP-TO-DATE BAKERY—PROPAGANDA WORK—
RECOGNISING LOYAL SERVICE—A STABLE INSPECTOR—
FINANCE—AN INVESTMENT—THE PURCHASE OF FLOUR
—A SOCIAL MEETING AND ITS OBJECT—A RIGHT OF WAY
CASE—THE NEW BAKERY COMPLETED—A NEW
VENTURE—THE CHAIRMAN RETIRES—ALL-ROUND
INCREASES.
At the end of the preceding chapter we saw that the trade of the
Society had become so large that it was forcing the question of a new
bakery on the attention of the directors. With the purpose in view of
securing the necessary capital, the sub-committee advertised the St
James Street premises for sale, but the only offer they received was
one to lease the premises. As this was of no use for their purpose at
the moment nothing further was done. Circumstances, and the policy
of the committee, were responsible for the still more rapid increase
of trade. In the beginning of 1885 the price of flour went up with a
rush, but as the Federation was in the happy position of having
bought a large quantity of flour just before the rise they were able to
continue selling their bread at the old price while the other bakers
had to raise it, with the result that the trade continued to increase
very rapidly. One of the results of this rapid increase in trade was
that the Society was once again placed in the position of being
compelled to refuse orders because of its inability to execute them.
For this reason Blantyre and Burnbank societies, which had made
proposals to join the Federation, had to be refused for the time
being.
The directors were literally at their wits end. They could not sell
their premises. Unless they got new premises they could not hope to
provide for the trade which came pouring in in ever-increasing
volume, and they did not know what was the best thing to do. To
begin with they got a firm of architects, Messrs Bruce & Hay, to
prepare a sketch plan for a new bakery on the St James Street site
which would contain twenty-four ovens, together with ample
accommodation for storing flour, and stables, a breadroom, and a
van yard. When the architects came to prepare their plans, however,
they found that the space available was not large enough to give all
the accommodation desired. The plans, when submitted, showed a
bakery with twenty-three ovens, stable accommodation for nineteen
horses, van shed, offices, breadroom, and store, and the cost was
estimated at £6,200.
The committee decided that before they would proceed further
they would consider carefully the progress which had been made by
the Society in the ten years which had elapsed since 1875, and this
study of the work which had been done showed that the ratio of
increase in trade had grown larger in the two years immediately
preceding 1885, while the trade which was being done at the moment
warranted them in believing that this rate of progress would be
maintained. This being so, the conclusion at which they arrived was
that, even if they did build at St James Street, only a few years would
elapse before the accommodation would be too small. They decided,
therefore, to bring their difficulties before the quarterly meeting and
leave the decision with them.
PURCHASE OF M‘NEIL STREET GROUND.
Three schemes were laid before the quarterly meeting, including
the rebuilding of the St James Street premises, which, however, the
directors deprecated. The proposals were discussed at length by the
meeting, but no decision was arrived at, the question being remitted
back to the committee for further consideration and inquiry. The
questions which were remitted for consideration were: The cost of
land in or near Glasgow, and the cost of erecting thereon a bakery
large enough to meet the wants of all the members; or, alternatively,
the cost of land in or near Paisley, and the cost of erecting a branch
bakery there large enough to meet the demands for bread from the
societies in the West.
There was evidently a desire to reopen the question of a branch in
Paisley, which had been closed since the end of 1876, but the
delegates to the special meeting which was held on 11th July to hear
the report of the committee on the question of whether a new central
bakery should be built or whether they should content themselves
with a branch in or near Paisley, decided by an overwhelming
majority in favour of a central bakery in Glasgow, and remitted to the
committee the selection of a site.
The sub-committee went about their business of securing a site
expeditiously, with the result that at the meeting which was held on
22nd August they were able to inform the committee of two sites, one
in Fauld’s Park, Govan, the price of which was 12/6 per yard; and the
other at M‘Neil Street, costing 15/6 per square yard. It was also
intimated that the latter site had some buildings on it which might be
of use to the Society. The members of the committee visited both
sites, and after having inspected them came to the conclusion that
the M‘Neil Street one was best suited to their purpose, and
empowered the sub-committee to offer £4,000 for it, with power to
go to £4,500 if necessary. At the meeting of committee which was
held on 19th September it was intimated that the “Nursery Mills,”
M‘Neil Street, had been bought for £4,500, that a deposit of £500
had been made, and that the keys had been given up to the Society.
The property had been insured for £1,000. The engine and boiler in
the building were inspected, and Messrs Bruce & Hay were
instructed to prepare plans of a bakery containing twenty-four ovens,
a travelling oven for biscuits, and three or four ovens for pastry, as
well as van sheds, stabling, etc. On 13th October the committee
empowered the officials to pay the full cost of the site and take
possession of the title deeds. It was also decided to dispose of the
boilers contained in the property, and at a later date, of the engines;
the total sum received being £207, 10s.
When the plans for the new bakery were submitted to the
committee decided disapproval was expressed, on the ground that
the site was not being utilised to the best advantage, that the existing
buildings were not being used, although they were worth from
£1,200 to £1,300, and that provision was made in the plan for a
courtyard out of all proportion to the requirements of the Society. It
was decided to ask the architect to prepare other plans, and
instructions were given that the buildings at present on the site were
not to be interfered with, and that another architect was also to be
asked to prepare plans, with the same instructions. At the same time
it was agreed to sell the St James Street property for £4,500 if a sale
could be effected, and if not that it be rented, the rent to be £300 per
annum. For the next week or two the committee met weekly. On
plans being submitted for the second time those of Messrs Bruce &
Hay were adopted, with some alterations suggested by the
committee, and a building committee was appointed to supervise the
work of erecting the bakery. Some little difficulty was experienced,
however, in getting the plans through the Dean of Guild Court.
Objection was taken at the Court to the fact that the stable gangway
was not fireproof, and the plans were sent back for alteration.
Presumably all was in order at their next presentation, for nothing
further appears in the minutes on the subject. An inspector of works
was appointed for the job, contracts were fixed up, and the work
commenced. The financing of the building scheme was also
considered by the committee, and they agreed to appeal to the
societies for the necessary money, at the same time recommending,
as an inducement to the societies to subscribe, that the interest on
the loan capital be increased from 4½ per cent. to 5 per cent. This
recommendation was agreed to by the delegates to the quarterly
meeting, and the committee were also empowered to reopen the
private loan fund if they considered such a course advisable. One
result of the decision of the quarterly meeting was that at the
committee meeting held a fortnight later it was reported that already
£2,080 had been received as loans from three societies—
Thornliebank, Glasgow Eastern, and Kinning Park—while 150
additional shares had been allocated. At the same meeting the
Secretary intimated an offer from Kilbarchan Court, A.O.F., offering
£400 on loan. This kind offer the committee had to decline, however,
on the ground that the loan fund was as yet only open to Co-
operative societies.
BUILDING DIFFICULTIES.
The building work was proceeding satisfactorily, but the same
could not be said of the joiner work. The Dean of Guild Court had
been pushing the Society to get the work of barricading the building
and laying down a pavement done The joiner had erected the
barricade and made the footpath in M‘Neil Street, but refused to do
this in Govan Street, stating that he would “go to Court first.” The
Society had written to him, informing him that if he did not do the
work, for which he had contracted, the Society would have it done
and deduct the cost from his account. There was also delay in
pushing on the joiner work in connection with the building itself,
which was delaying the remainder of the work of building.
The duties of the committee at this time were arduous and
engrossing. They had set out with the intention of erecting a bakery
which would be second to none in the city, and with this object in
view they were not too bigoted to change their minds when any
suggestion was brought to their notice which was likely to be an
improvement on the course they had decided on. One such alteration
was in connection with the new engine for driving their machinery.
The fact that the engine which they had decided on was too powerful
for the work for which it was needed had been brought to their
notice, and they at once made inquiries and consulted with the
maker. After he had given the matter his attention this also was his
opinion, and he therefore offered them a less powerful engine at a
reduction in price of £65, and they decided to have it put down. Then
“with the object of securing the latest improvements in bakery
machinery, a deputation, consisting of the managers, foreman baker,
and two members of the committee, were appointed to visit the
exhibition of bakery machinery at Edinburgh, see the machines at
work, and report.” As one of the results of this visit machinery to the
value of £500 was purchased.
The committee continued to complain of the slow progress which
was being made with the new building, and the architects were
appealed to to endeavour to get the contractors to speed up by
putting more men on the job, but with little success. The lessees of
the St James Street premises had been promised entry by
Whitsunday 1887, but as time passed the committee began to get
anxious about their ability to fulfil this part of their contract. The
engines and machinery, also, were ready to put in, but this could not
be done because the other contractors were behind with their
sections. So bad did the position become that ultimately the
committee were forced to put the matter into the hands of their
agent. However, this difficulty also was overcome without further
friction. The lessees of St James Street bakery now began to press for
entry, and the committee were compelled to ask for their
forbearance, as they were afraid that the new bakery would not be
ready for occupancy at the time stated.
It was agreed that a social meeting be held on the occasion of the
opening of the new premises, and that the premises be open to the
general public for inspection during the whole of the opening day. A
band was engaged to play selections in the courtyard for three hours
in the afternoon, and the building was decorated with flags. Finally,
such progress was made with the equipment of the premises that the
committee were in a position to fix 21st May as the opening day, and
preparations for the great event went forward rapidly.
THE OPENING CEREMONY.
The opening ceremony is said to have been one of the most
imposing Co-operative functions ever held in Scotland. The buildings
were gay with flags and bannerettes, while a military band
discoursed sweet music in the courtyard. The premises were thrown
open to the public, and it is estimated that more than 30,000 people
passed through the building between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. More than
500 delegates were present at the luncheon, when Mr Alexander
Fraser, president of the Society, presided. Stirring speeches were
delivered, and the premises were declared open amid a scene of great
enthusiasm.
In the evening a monster social meeting took place in the
Wellington Palace, at which there were present upwards of 1,000
people. Speeches were delivered by Mr William Maxwell, chairman
of the S.C.W.S., and Mr Henry Murphy, Lanark. It was generally
admitted that the demonstration had proved the greatest
advertisement which Co-operation in Scotland had ever received,
and that the virtues of the movement had been brought to the notice
of thousands of people who had never before given it a thought. The
result was that a great impetus was given to the movement in
Glasgow, and the great development of Co-operation in the city
which has made Glasgow a stronghold of the movement began about
that time. No doubt further stimulus has been given from time to
time—the Congress of 1890, the opening of the S.C.W.S. central
premises in Morrison Street, the Seaside Homes bazaar, the various
Co-operative festivals all had an influence—but to the Baking Society
much of the original impulse is due, just as to it also—through the
refusal of the directors to increase the price of bread unnecessarily in
the early months of the war—the latest impulse must be credited.
AN UP-TO-DATE BAKERY.
The bakery was planned on what were then the most modern lines.
It contained twenty-eight ovens. Twenty-four of these were Scotch
bread ovens, while three were specially built for the production of
pastry, scones, etc., and one was a revolving oven for the production
of pan loaves. In the original plan there was a proposal for a
travelling biscuit oven, and space for this had been left in the bakery.
The flour loft was on the top floor of the building, and everything was
arranged for convenience and rapidity of output. The facilities
provided for an output of some 700 sacks per week, and when the
new premises were planned it was thought that there would be ample
accommodation to meet the requirements of the Society for a
number of years, but so great had been the development of the
Society’s business while the bakery was in course of erection, and so
rapid was the increase when the new premises were opened, that
soon the question of extensions was again to the front.
PROPAGANDA WORK.
In tracing in a connected form the work of the committee in
deciding on and carrying through the work of erecting the new
bakery, however, we have been compelled to leave other important
work unnoted. Just at the time when the discussion of the proposals
for a new bakery was taking place intimation was received from
Kilbarchan Society of that society’s intention to begin baking on their
own account. The letter from the society was read to the meeting
which was called to consider the erection of a new bakery, but had no
effect on the decision, and shortly afterwards the Kilbarchan people
changed their minds about baking for themselves and decided to
remain members of the Federation. It was otherwise with some of
the societies further west. Greenock East-End Society withdrew in
September, Greenock Central and Paisley Equitable soon afterwards,
while Partick Society was in a bad way, and a deputation from the
board was sent to the committee of that society in order to try and
make some arrangement about regular payments. This they were
able to do, as the Partick committee agreed to pay for the bread they
received at the end of every week, at the same time making payments
toward the reduction of the balance which they owed the Federation.
But if societies were withdrawing as they became strong enough to
start bakeries of their own, other societies were coming in to take
their places, while the societies in Glasgow were growing stronger
and stronger. Gilbertfield and Cambuslang societies joined up early
in 1885; Cessnock Society, an offshoot from Kinning Park, became a
member a month or two later. South-Eastern Society and Parkhead,
two societies which had been members in the early days but had
withdrawn, were again admitted to membership; Renfrew Society
again became purchasers; Newton Mearns and Maryhill societies
became members; Westmuir Economical Society became a
purchaser and, later, a member. Newton Society also joined the
Federation, and Blairdardie returned to the fold after an absence of
several years. Then came Hallside, and by the end of April 1888,
Shettleston, making the thirty-sixth member of the Federation. All
this increase in the membership was not spontaneous, however; it
was the reward of much propaganda work, the writing of many
letters and the paying of many visits by the members of the
committee. They were building, and, later, they had built a huge
bakery. It was their intention that it should be working to its full
capacity at the earliest possible moment, and so they went about
their propaganda in a systematic manner, dividing up the area into
districts, which were placed in charge of certain members of the
committee, to be worked up at every opportunity.
RECOGNISING LOYAL SERVICE.
During the whole of the time which it took to build the new bakery
the Society was working at a disadvantage. Notwithstanding the
leasing, first of Scotland Street bakery and then of that in Hill Street,
it was impossible to keep pace with the demand for bread. The result
was that the committee decided to sound the foreman baker on the
question of whether the men would be willing to begin work an hour
earlier in the mornings. The men when approached agreed readily,
and thus the difficulty was met to some extent. In recognition of this
willingness on the part of the men to meet them, the board decided
spontaneously to advance the men’s wages by 1/ per week. One
cannot help but contrast this willingness of the men to help the
Society in a difficulty with incidents which have occurred at later
dates, when the bakers could not be induced on any terms to work
extra hours in order that difficulties might be overcome. The first
attitude rather than the second one is that which makes for the
avoidance of friction and the creation of a fraternal spirit between
the directors of a Co-operative concern and their fellow-members
who carry on the work of the Society. It is, unfortunately, a fact
which is to be deprecated that employees are disposed to treat Co-
operative societies worse instead of better than they treat other
employers, and the process of reasoning which leads to such results
is somewhat difficult to follow.
A STABLE INSPECTOR.
Away back in the second year of the Federation’s existence Mr
Ballantyne had been appointed stable inspector to the Society. The
appointment had been made by the committee, but evidently the
committee of the period with which we are dealing were unable to
find any record of the fact, and seem to have taken exception to his
work, which, according to one minute, “was independent of the
board, and how or when he had been appointed could not be
discovered.” The difficulty was not a great one, however. It was
remitted to the sub-committee for investigation and, doubtless, a
consultation with Mr Ballantyne, the gentleman in question, would
put them on the track of the necessary information. Mr Ballantyne,
during practically the whole period of the Society’s existence, had
exercised supervision over the horses which were the property of the
Society. He made a regular examination, and recommended the
committee to dispose of horses which he considered unfitted for the
work of the Society. The committee were evidently satisfied with the
report which was made to them, for at the next meeting they
endorsed and confirmed Mr Ballantyne’s appointment and agreed to
pay 20/ a quarter for a monthly report from him on the condition of
horses, vans, and all matters connected with the stable department—
the appointment to be an annual one.
FINANCE.
The question of the proper depreciation of the property, fixed and
live stock of the Society, to which attention had been called by the
auditors on many occasions, had not yet been placed on a
satisfactory basis. The committee brought in several amendments of
rules for the purpose of putting the matter right, but these were not
accepted by the delegates; nor was a counter proposal, that a sum of
£200 be taken from the reserve fund and applied to reducing the
value of the horses and plant. This latter proposal received a majority
of the votes at the quarterly meeting, but as a majority of three-
fourths of those voting was necessary before any money could be
withdrawn from the reserve fund, and the majority was not large
enough, both proposals dropped, and the old, unsatisfactory position
continued. At a later date the question was again brought up by Mr
Macintosh, who, in response to a request by the committee, outlined
a scheme for putting this important branch of the Society’s financial
arrangements on a sound footing. The practice had been to allocate a
certain percentage of the profits each quarter to depreciation
account; Mr Macintosh urged that for this method they should
substitute that of allocating a fixed percentage of the initial cost, and
that this should be regarded as a charge on the trade of the Society
and should be allocated before the profits were ascertained and
irrespective of whether there were any profits. The committee were
in favour of the proposed alteration, but considered the time
inopportune to have it made as so large a proportion of the property
was unproductive at that time. They therefore decided to delay the
matter for twelve months. It was not until the end of 1888 that
depreciation was put on a satisfactory basis.
AN INVESTMENT.
It was during this period that the Scottish Co-operative Farming
Association came into being. The Bakery board were supporters of
the proposal from the first. In discussing the subject the committee
took into consideration the fact that they were spending nearly £200
a quarter for feeding-stuffs and buttermilk for baking purposes, and
they thought that if such an association was in existence a large
proportion of these articles could be got from the farm. They agreed,
therefore, to recommend to the delegates at the quarterly meeting
that a special general meeting be held to consider the advisability of
becoming members of the Farming Association. When this meeting
was held it was agreed that £50 be invested in the funds of the
association. Unfortunately, however, the speculation did not turn out
a success, as, after struggling on for several years, the association had
to succumb to adverse circumstances.
For some considerable time there was a certain amount of
looseness in conducting the stable, and the result was that finally the
committee felt compelled to make a change there by dispensing with
the services of the foreman. There was trouble at Hill Street also for a
time, but eventually this was overcome. For some considerable time,
however, both before and after the opening of the new bakery, the
complaints about the quality of the bread, which for some years had
been almost negligible, revived, and sometimes the committee at the
monthly meetings had letters from as many as a dozen societies. The
causes of complaint were various, but seemed persistent for a time.
Once before the S.C.W.S. had thought that they had reason to
complain of the share of the U.C.B.S. trade in flour which was being
put past them, and after two or three years had passed the same
subject came up again through a deputation from the Wholesale
Society waiting on the Baking Society’s Board. The whole subject was
gone into minutely, and the Wholesale deputation were told plainly
that while the U.C.B.S. directors had every desire to trade with the
Wholesale Society they could not do so while such a discrepancy
existed between the prices which the Wholesale Society charged for
flours and those at which similar flours could be purchased
elsewhere. The result of this first meeting was that a second meeting
was arranged between representatives of the two societies, when the
whole subject was investigated. Both committees, it is stated,
“received from each other much valuable information which would
be advantageous to both societies.”
Reference has already been made to the propagandist work carried
on by the directors at this time. Amongst other work of a
propagandist nature, they held, in the autumn of 1887, a social
meeting, to which the employees of the various societies dealing with
them were invited. The object of the social gathering was twofold. In
the first place, they wished to give the employees a good time; but
they had also an ulterior object in view, and so they took advantage
of the opportunity given by the social meeting to bring to the notice
of the employees the good which accrued to Co-operators generally
by making the Co-operative movement self-contained and self-
supplying, as far as that was possible. It is not possible to say
whether this first attempt to secure the co-operation of the
employees in pushing the wares of the Society met with much visible
success, but it was one of those efforts from which something might
be gained but by which nothing could be lost. Since that day the Co-
operative employee has been a frequent visitor at social gatherings
convened by the U.C.B.S.
In the course of the propaganda campaign carried out by the
directors, some peculiar proposals were made to them. By the
committee of one society the deputation were informed that the
private bakers from whom bread was being bought not only supplied
the shops, but delivered bread at the members’ houses as well. In
addition, they carried goods from the shops to the members and, in
general, acted as delivery vans for the society. Nor was this all. In
addition to delivering the bread to the members’ houses, they went
the length of absolving the society from responsibility for loss
through non-payment by the members of their bread accounts. The
Baking Society could not hope to compete against such practices, and
the directors said so. In other instances the societies were prepared
to assume responsibility for payment of the bread supplied to
members if only the Baking Society’s van would deliver it, and the
committee were willing to entertain this proposal, but the quarterly

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Lifelong Employability Thriving in an

Ageing Society Philippa Dengler

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Weitere Bände in der Reihe http://www.springer.com/series/13075

Master Thesis, Kalaidos University of Applied Sciences Switzerland, Department of

ISSN 2570-4060 ISSN 2570-4079 (electronic)

Dr. Stefan Ryf

Philippa Dengler, August 2018

2 Theoretical Approaches and Recent Research........................................... 7

3 Empirical Research Method .................................................................... 25

4.2.2 What Is Employability? .............................................................. 35

5 Discussion and Key Findings .................................................................. 57

7 Conclusions and Outlook ........................................................................ 77

Table 1: Sample plan for interviews.............................................................. 27

Employability has been described as:

But what is ‘employability’ and why does it need to be ‘lifelong’? Surely in

© Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden GmbH, part of Springer Nature 2019

The population of Switzerland is aging. By 2050, it is predicted that one in

Figure 1: Age structure of the population of Switzerland (number of people in

It revealed a difference between rational discussions at a macro level, ‘where

1.2 Goals of the Study

 What employees, particularly employees in their 40s and 50s, need to be

Specifically, the research questions should provide insights into:

 How important they consider these elements to be;

To render the research comprehensible in a succinct manner, it is structured as

2.1 Definitions of Employability

Much of the literature on employability has focused on the definition of employ-

The definition of sustainable employability emphasises the need to view

© Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden GmbH, part of Springer Nature 2019

ers’ employability’ and emphasised that it is important to understand the condi-

A simple definition of what it means to be employable is offered by Profes-

2.2 Measurement of Employability

The various definitions have inevitably led to the development of numerous

2.3 Precursors to Employability

In her review of the literature on employability, Di Fabio (2017) goes on to iden-

With a focus on developing policies to maintain and enhance the employability

‘Increased support for employees over 45 to develop more self-initiative, increase

‘productive assets’, which ‘help an individual become productive and successful

(Adecco Institute, Demographic Fitness Index, 2008)

2.3.1 Career Management

The Adecco study summarises career management as the enabling of flexible,

‘the unappealing nature of this conclusion arises because we are simply

Höpflinger reminds us that historically, retirement age is a ‘new economic and

‘Despite the pivotal importance of lifelong employability, we still do not

2.3.2 Lifelong Learning

However, the role of middle management should not be underestimated.

2.3.3 Knowledge Management

A KPMG Research Report on the topic of Knowledge Management (2000)

‘knowledge management (KM) is an accepted part of the business agenda: the

2.3.4 Age Diversity Management

‘Given the workforce aging trends, age diversity is an important workforce

‘Companies emphasizing creative work profited from age diversity, whereas

Although meta-analytic evidence shows that most of the stereotypes of older

‘there is no empirical evidence to support the so-called deficit hypothesis of age,