The project “Innovative SMEs by Gender and Age (QUICK-IGA)” addresses the following objectives:
On four levels the project focuses on the following activities:
1. Individuals: boosting motivation and work ability, thus increasing the rate of women participating in working life, through the training and education of consultants and the development of a manual;
2. Enterprises: fostering working conditions that meet women’s needs and personnel development through the transfer of best practice, qualifications and coaching.
3. Organisations: competences and commitment of 45 chambers and 15 universities to supporting innovation and equal opportunities.
4. Policy: developing a strategy programme, five regional/national agreements and two action programmes to promote equal opportunities and innovation in SMEs.
The outputs and results of the project were published in the Baltic Sea Academy series for the following activities:
Two investigations were carried out for the countries and regions of the Baltic Sea region as the consistent basis for all further work:
a) demographic and economic analysis in the BSR countries and regions;
b) analysis of regional education and labour markets.
The results of these investigations were published in spring 2013 as part of the Baltic Sea Academy series under the title "Economic Perspectives, Qualification and Labour Market Integration of Women in the Baltic Sea Region".
The results of the analysis have been incorporated into two new education products:
a) concept and curriculum for a train the trainer programme for the permanent implementation of training courses for consultants by universities and academies;
b) concept and curricula for a training and coaching programme for consultants to enhance their advisory competences on improving work structures in SMEs in order to increase the labour participation of women and older people, as well as innovation capacities.
Both training courses have been trialled multiple times in various locations and scientifically evaluated. The curricula, lecturer slides, execution instructions and evaluation results have been published in the form of a handbook.
Analysis and preparation of 10 best practice cases on the promotion of labour market participation by women and older people, especially from Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Finland and transfer to the countries south of the Baltic Sea. The specific national conditions were investigated in order to allow implementation in the recipient countries.
The analysis of the conditions for the transfer of best practices and the 10 best practices have been published in the Baltic Sea Academy series of publications.
Drafting and completion of memoranda of understanding on promoting innovative SMEs through women’s entrepreneurship, and the increased employment of women and older people in Latvia, Lithuania, Belarus, North Poland and North Germany.
The memoranda containing the support activities to be implemented by the signatory institutions have been published in a manual.
Strategic programme to promote innovation and the labour market participation of women and older people in SMEs as well as to increase the attractiveness of regional labour markets.
The strategy programme and two action plans (see below) were published as part of the Baltic Sea Academy series of publications.
In order to involve 50 economic chambers and 16 universities in all the Baltic Sea countries in promoting the employment of women and older people in SMEs on a permanent basis, two action programmes have been developed and enacted:
a) action programme for 50 SME promoters (chambers + associations) in all BSR countries on promoting higher labour market participation by women and older people and, thus, increasing innovation capacities in SMEs;
b) action programme for 16 academies/universities from 9 Baltic Sea countries on the promotion and qualification of consultants to support the labour market participation of women and older people.
The action plans and appendix were published alongside the strategy programme (see above) in the Baltic Sea Academy series of publications.
In order to achieve the highest possible and sustainable implementation of the target project results across all the Baltic Sea Countries, in 2013 and 2014 written transfer was supported by two consultancy and transfer conferences lasting several days with representatives from all the Baltic Sea countries. All the presentations and consultancy results developed were published in the Baltic Sea Academy series of publications in the following articles:
a) Corporate Social Responsibility and Women`s Entrepreneurship around the Mare Balticum.
b) Innovative SMEs by Gender and Age around the Mare Balticum.
During the project, it became clear that there was a need for more in-depth, further-reaching work in some countries to the south of the Baltic Sea. The following additional activities were also carried out to cover this:
Germany
Analysis of businesswomen in Germany, including a survey.
Poland
a) organisation and evaluation of a conference on "Development of the competitiveness of enterprises in the context of demographic challenges";
b) analysis and elaboration on the employment of women and older people and its promotion;
c) analysis of women's activities in SMEs in Poland and scenarios for possible future development.
Lithuania
Theoretical analytical study of political activities: Building the socially responsible employment policy in Baltic states
The results of these five additional activities were published in the Baltic Sea Academy series of publications.
Development and publication of a manual on promoting innovation through increasing the labour market participation of women and older people and the proportion of female entrepreneurs in SMEs.
The manual containing all the project results and additional tools for the management of demographic change at enterprise level has been published as part of the Baltic Sea Academy series of publications under the title "Manual - Innovative SMEs by Gender and Age in the Baltic Sea Region."
Part I of the book incorporates the strategy programme on "Age, Gender and Innovation: Policies and Strategies to Improve Employability and Work Ability of Women and Older People in the Baltic Sea Region”, whilst part II contains action plans for the Hanse Parlament (network of business chambers) and the Baltic Sea Academy (network of academic institutions) “Promoting the employment of women and older people”.
Dr. Jürgen Hogeforster
Hanse-Parlament
Part-financed by the European Union (European Development Fund and European Neighbourhood and Partnership Instrument) within the QUICK IGA project. This publication does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the European Commission.
We are very grateful to the European Commission for the financial support and also to the Joint Technical Secretariat of the INTERREG IVB Programme for the support and advice.
 Part-financed by the European Union (European Regional Developement Fund) |
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Policies and Strategies to Improve Employability and Work Ability of Women and Older People in the Baltic Sea Region
by Alexander Frevel
Arbeit und Zukunft e.V. (Work & Future)
Excerpt from the annual report1 by the President of the Hanse Parlament on the 25th Hanse Conference on 7th May 2030.
“At the Conference of the Ministers for
Demographics, Family, Gender and Generations Policy
Health, Well-Being and Work Ability
Labour, Employability and Vocational Education
Innovation, Regional Development and Integration
of all countries in the Baltic Sea Region (BSR) from 25th to 27th September 2029 in Riga the framework for the joint BSR Strategy “Forming Demographic Change through Integrated Generation Policies – 2031–2040” was passed.
The final document2 of the meeting highlighted the measurable successes of the past 15 years. The most important statements are summarised below:
The document also describes what the initial situation was and the strategic measures taken at different levels to implement these positive developments. Here is a brief summary.
“The initial situation in the second decade of this century gave cause for concern. The pensions systems were only partially robust to the demographics and the expected financial consequences were bordering on frightening. To cite just a few examples:
Decisive steps were then taken in the middle of the last decade.3 Policies that made do with “keep doing what we’re doing, but more and better if possible” were clearly not able to bring about fundamental change. At the conference of heads of government of all BSR countries on 16/04/2015, a decision was made to utilise powers and skills better in order to develop and implement suitable strategies and initiatives with a view to overcoming the challenges posed by demographic change. It was unanimously agreed that all measures should focus on well-being, especially at employment age. The main principle of political action should be to increase the number and quality of options of all those involved.
By the end of 2015, the political areas of demographics, employment and business start-ups among women and older people were combined in all the countries and often fell within the remit of the employment ministries. These bodies were also given lead inter-ministerial, cross-functional powers for all the relevant questions within the areas of generational policy, diversity and gender as well as participation and decision-making rights relating to vocational training, regional development and innovation policy.
In 2016, the data required for the purposes of comparison across all the countries was collated based on a uniform system. The data was ordered into areas of activity, with all the relevant players listed within a matrix structure.
In the joint meeting of all ministers in Gdansk on 14-15/02/2017, a framework for the drafting of a new strategic direction was formulated and approved on 05/09/2017 in Tallinn in the form of a political framework programme entitled “Qualitative policies and strategies to promote employment of women and older people”4.…
The progress achieved to date can be attributed to the joint efforts to produce a coherent, proactive policy which represents a balanced mix of encouragement and requirement. The major areas of action (selected excerpts only) are listed below with brief explanations.
Top priority in terms of society and the economy is given to the importance of children and older people. All measures are geared towards the life course approach and particularly towards phases of family (childcare and caring for dependants) and professional development.…
The following were agreed as the priority areas of action:
[It is only possible to present a selection of the comprehensive number of successful political measures taken.]
A number of legal regulations set special conditions on access to employment and vocational training, employment and occupation, including dismissal and remuneration conditions, for young people, older workers, persons with caring responsibilities and disabled persons, in order to promote their vocational integration and ensure their protection.
The most important element in promoting employability is the qualitative development of vocational training, especially by extending dual vocational training (work and school) and dual academic education (work and university) options.
In-company training, or life-long learning, is supported by the specific competence-building of trainers, whose role also lies in fostering inter-generational learning between younger and older employees.
The role of the management is optimised by extending and reinforcing management qualifications. The key elements of generation and diversity management are: health-appropriate work, interaction between work, age and health, appreciative management across all life phases, age-appropriate career patterns, and the encouragement of women.
Issues of work ability are a key element of in-work and other training and continuous professional development for all employees.
The statutory regulations for returning to work after having children provide for a planned preparation for return (early upgrading of qualifications, possibility of choosing working location and hours, support in finding childcare or care for dependants, organisation of internal meetings).
Pension expectations are compensated accordingly for periods of childcare and caring for other dependants (based on the duration and intensity of the care provided). (See also: Making the Pensions System More Flexible)
The law stipulates that there must be no discrepancy in the pay for the same work based on age, sex, origin or other possible discriminatory factors. Infringements face penalties of double the difference, payable to the industry's demographics fund, and subsequent compensation of the difference to the person affected.
The law also stipulates that the proportion of women in management positions should be proportional to the number of female employees across the whole company/industry. This applies to all companies with more than 20 employees.
The comprehensive promotion of work ability is enshrined in all laws on employment and health protection as mandatory for all employers and employees. Every year, employers must submit evidence of a complete risk assessment to the relevant employer’s liability insurance association. This must include an age and gender-sensitive evaluation of burdens, resources and demands based on an analysis of the age and qualifications structure and the qualification requirements, plus the identification of age-critical activities/elements of activities. The conclusions of the analyses must be presented in the form of plans for advance changes to work requirements. It should incorporate a verifiable implementation of the assistance measures, a report on the work ability of the staff and evidence of an effective health management system. The employer’s liability insurance associations have the power to impose sanctions if minimum standards are not met.
During the implementation process, companies are supported with work ability advice provided by chambers, associations and social insurance institutions. Based on a sliding scale depending on the company size, the costs are co-funded by subscriptions and the demographics fund.
On presentation of a work ability/diversity management system which is proven to be effective, the companies receive financial compensation in the form of reduced taxes (e.g. trade tax) and social security contributions.
All managers must have evidence of people management skills (Leadership Licence). Skills are tested on a regular basis by evaluating appreciative dialogues employees with and employee questionnaires.
The assessment of mental strain and stress has been a mandatory element of the training of occupational health practitioners since 2019. The appreciative dialogue on work ability is a recognised part of an employee’s medical history and is used in employment reintegration processes.
Since 2020, what were occupational health and safety officers have been acting as company supervisors for work ability and in-house training. They are qualified as work ability multipliers and occupational health moderators to coordinate the implementation of all measures. Appropriate training and continuous professional development programmes have been set up.
The legal retirement age was set at 65 years or 45 years of pension contributions in all countries and for all sexes.
By way of derogation, for occupations with a high proportion of hard work, night shift and work at weekends (heavy industry, health professionals, police, firefighters, etc.), a lower limit of 60 years or 40 years of contributions or 2200 night shifts was defined.
It is possible to take voluntary early retirement, with people choosing between a reduced pension up until the setting limit or for the entire remaining term.
Forced early retirement due to work-related injury or illness does not result in a loss of income for the individual. Their final employer must pay the full income and social contributions up to the legal retirement age to the respective institution (usually pension fund). Any liabilities of previous employers must be clarified in cooperation with the relevant institution; possible conflicts are resolved in specific mediation processes.
An extension of employment beyond those defined periods results in a modest pension bonus, either as an increase in the amount paid or as a reduction in the deposit amount required.
The reduced strain on the social security system as a result of workers caring for dependants is offset through taxation against health insurance for a maximum of 1 year for the care of small children and with funds for healthcare insurance against pension contributions for the care of dependent adults.
Support for rural areas focuses on specific economic development, which involves, among other things, the extension of training services, the expansion of employment in personal services and infrastructure measures specifically to support geographical mobility.
The programmes to support business start-ups by people returning to work after a period of employment abroad provide for the education and training of suitable persons for the trans-national transfer of best practice. In addition, funding is available for businesses founded by returnees.
Only a brief reference can be made at this point to the national programmes for the integration of skilled people from other countries.
The different countries have developed tailored programmes on research, development and the transfer of results.
Implementation projects have provided evidence for phase-of-life-oriented working process / age-appropriate working requirements and the promotion of projects on employability, work ability, etc.
Based on concerted agreements between bargaining partners, chambers and trade associations, as well as employment market bodies and social insurance institutions (collective BSR association policy) on generation-appropriate work and the implementation of R&D findings, the areas of action and initiatives are extrapolated and agreed at joint annual conferences. These include agreeing practicable approaches and tools.
The collective agreements stipulate the setting up of industry-related demographics funds to support measures to reduce unreasonable physical and mental working requirements for employees - and these are now implemented virtually across the board.
Example provisions:
In summary, it is clear that the strategic direction of proactive policies for shaping demographic change has been and continues to be successful. A concerted cooperation with institutions and associations based on a shared collection of objectives has allowed forces to be combined to enable a significant increase in employability and work ability, in particular among young people, women and older people. An increase in birth rates is an indicator of the success of linking family, social and employment policy.… We will not let up in our joint efforts to ensure that people can, want and are enabled to live healthy, motivated and productive lives for longer.”
1 Hogeforster/Keinke/Priedulena 2030: 5–11
2 http://ec.europa.eu/bsr/doc/demography/. Accessed 25/01/2030
3 Important impetus on this was provided by the Interreg project “Innovative Strategies by Gender and Age” (lead partner: Hanseatic Parliament; run time 2012–2014) with its various publications, especially the exemplary “National Memoranda of Understanding on Promoting Innovative SMEs through Women's Entrepreneurship, Increased Employment of Women and Older People” in Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Belarus and Northern Germany.
4 BSR Joint Secretariat Demographic Policy 2017
This paper is intended as a proposal for a European discussion (or, more accurately, a north-eastern European discussion covering the Baltic Sea Region) on suitable strategies
There are a range of official or quasi-official institutions and organisations which are directly or indirectly relevant to the varied aspects of demographic change, the associated consequences and challenges, and the promotion and employment of women and older people.
The ever-increasing number 5 of EU and national reports 6, R&D studies 7, declarations8, conclusions, action plans9, best practice examples10, etc, could fill whole libraries. Extensive, excellent sets of figures exist at European level, at national level and in various national comparisons.
All this is important in order to be able to set the political emphasis correctly and to focus attention on important and urgent tasks.
The challenges of demographic change, both in general and in specific areas, such as the promotion and employment of women and older people, are well known and have been described in detail. Some of the major statements regarding the need for quantitative and qualitative improvements in employability and work ability are as follows:
However, it is clear that there is still a distinct shortfall in the implementation of constructive measures. These strategies need to be added to and put into more specific terms as instructions as to how companies, organisations and institutions need to act in different areas.
The plan is therefore that this contribution should help to consistently shape policies from the perspective of their intended targets, i.e. primarily in relation to people. As this policy area essentially deals with gainful employment, many considerations are geared towards the settings of companies, businesses and administrative organisations as a priority.
The increase in the labour force participation rates for women and older people and support for every generation from the perspectives of gender mainstreaming and generational fairness are provisional on it being possible for both women and men of all ages to productively carry out the work in accordance with their abilities and needs and on conditions being put in places in companies, workplaces and organisations, and in society as a whole, to allow this to happen.
Answers are needed to the two central questions:
The aim of this strategy paper is to supply integrated policies and conducive systems for these two elements.
It should also be noted that not every remark should be taken as set in stone or transferred on a one to one basis. There will undoubtedly be a need to make specific adjustments to cultural and social differences in different countries, regions, industries and conditions. The different starting positions must be considered in much the same way as it will also be necessary to come to an understanding of shared objectives and measures in different regions and industries. The future is only partly down to fate – it can largely be shaped.
5 The following few publications are mentioned by way of example.
6 EC 2008 – The 2009 Ageing Report 2007–2060.
EC 2011 – Demography Report 2010.
EC 2013 a – Progress on equality between women and men in 2012
7 The key study here is the current one within the framework of the Quick IGA project: Biermann et al. 2013: Economic Perspectives, Qualification and Labour Market Integration of Women in the Baltic Sea Region
See also: EVAA 2012: Empowering older adults through dialogue.
8 North-West Regional European Partnership et al.: Joint declaration of European regions: facing demographic change as a regional challenge. Brussels 2006.
EU Summit on Active and Healthy Ageing: An Action Agenda for European Cities and Communities. Dublin 2013
9 EC 2013 b – European Union Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region – Action Plan SEC(2009) 712/2, Brussels 2013
10 Grzesiak & Richert-Kaźmierska 2013: An analysis of the conditions for the transfer of best practice. Report for QUICK Innovative SMEs by Gender and Age.
Marzena Grzesiak et al. 2013: The transfer of best practice.
Schmid. Senior capital. Developing the human capital of seniors to increase their economic and social value in a knowledge based and competitive economy. Best practice collection in and outside enterprises. Freiburg
The general entry thesis as an introduction to the topic is:
A greater involvement of women and older people in the labour market / economy will strengthen the ability to innovate and improve the productivity in and of companies.
The special target groups of the older and female labour force should not be regarded as a “replacement reserve” for the labour market. They do not have specific deficits that preclude employment. Rather, it is important to acknowledge that older people and women have special characteristics that should be recognised, accepted, and actively involved in work tasks. These skills apply specifically to integrating women and older people into the workforce. The still significant discrimination based on gender and age (e.g. income differences, attribution of reduced efficiency etc.) must be reduced/avoided and replaced with a positive approach to these special and specific abilities.