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The origins of the "Second half of the career" project
The motivation behind Basellandschaftliche Kantonalbank's (BLKB) "Second Half of the Career" project stems from a combination of demographic change and a clear need to counteract the shortage of skilled workers in certain positions and areas. The bank is focusing on sustainable human resources management. In other words, it wants to specifically promote the employability of older employees and support them in developing into new roles and positions, especially within the organization. Keyword: internal mobility.
The taboo subject of age and the challenges in the context of professional development
The "Second Half of the Career" program also responds to other challenges. A look at society reveals a generally negative perception of age in a professional context. Often only the supposed deficits are pointed out instead of emphasizing the strengths of older employees. This inevitably has an impact on the self-image of this population and anchors beliefs that are long outdated.
In addition, the so-called psychological contract has changed. Whereas job security used to be the focus, today it is primarily about a person's employability . In other words, they have the skills and qualifications that our new working world and new roles demand. This topic is new territory for many older employees and causes uncertainty. Here, too, the program aims to help participants gain self-confidence by examining their professional biography, their skills and their skills portfolio. The aim is to give them the courage to apply for jobs internally and to fully exploit their potential.
Insight into the program - structure and content
The "Second half of the career" program manifests itself in two seminars: "Intermediate career stop" and "Preparing for retirement". Both programs are designed on an interdisciplinary basis under the leadership of HR&OE with the involvement of Financial Planning and external partners. The first step in the "Intermediate career stop" program is to go through a personal personal assessment process. In other words, participants look at their professional career to date and evaluate their strengths and development potential. Optionally, they can also have their CV checked by a professional. The program also includes input on stress management and Resilience. Finally, development ideas for the coming professional years and measures to strengthen employability are collected.
Testimonials: What employees 50+ say
"The feedback from participants so far speaks for itself," says Daniela Strohmeier, Head of HR development BLKB. The entire program was rated as very positive. Above all, the exchange with peers and people who are at similar stages in their lives is seen as particularly valuable. The mix of topics - finance, law, employability, stress management and development opportunities - was also well received.
Two success stories from the program
"Two pieces of feedback were particularly positive and encouraged us to expand the program further," says Claudia Schär, HR Business Partner at BLKB. One participant has spent her entire professional life at the bank and, as a result of the program, consciously looked at her employment history and skills portfolio for the very first time. This helped her to develop a new perspective on her skills and her future career opportunities - without the belief that "I'm already too old for that".
Another participant plucked up the courage and took a particularly big development leap. After visiting personal assessment and evaluating her development options, she decided to grow into a specialist management role.
The challenges and possible solutions
One problem that is often observed, particularly in the context of further education programs, is self-selection. In most cases, the people who sign up for new programs are precisely those who have already dealt with the topic of development and are motivated and willing to change. "We have also noticed that the participants have different prior knowledge and different attitudes towards the topic of employability ," says Daniela Strohmeier.
The Skilly Award winners have put forward two possible solutions. Firstly, they want to refine the program and make it more individual by means of a modular principle. This means that in future, participants should be able to choose from different modules so that the program is even more tailored to the needs and goals of the individual. Secondly, other elements, such as the concept of life design coaching, are to be integrated. It is hoped that this will enable a resource-oriented approach to development measures.
The formula for success: Tips for peers on the topic of employees 50+
Consciously breaking the "taboo" on the subject and moving forward with courage. "Most employees have explicitly told us that they feel more seen and valued as a result of the program," emphasizes Claudia Schär. In general, it is worth taking the first step of encouraging older employees to interact with each other. In this way, a sense of community can slowly grow, which also helps to break down negative beliefs or inhibitions about careers and development in the second half of the working life.
The last tip Daniela and Claudia give us is to generally focus on the topic of self-efficacy and confidence in dealing with your own skills. The aim should be to make employees fit for employability and encourage them to be more proactive. It is therefore less about offering "age-specific" development measures and more about working on Mindset across departments and organizations.
Skilly Award 2023 in the Team Project category competence development - well deserved!
skillaware warmly congratulates Basellandschaftliche Kantonalbank on Skilly Award 2023. With its "Second Half of the Career" program, it has laid the foundation for not only countering demographic change and the shortage of skilled workers, but also changing the perspective on development opportunities for employees 50+.
Would you like to listen to the interview with Daniela Strohmeier and Claudia Schär again in full length? Then click here and you will get to our Podcast.
