Europe, Labor market, social policy and social services, labour market, Research, social policy, social services

Changing places: Mid-career review, internal mobility and intergenerational initiatives to extend working life: Company case studies.

Project description

The project aims at exploring in more-depth opportunities for revising capability of workers in pre-retirement age and increasing their working potential in Polish companies. Mid-term career review is an instrument to assess in more or less formalized way the match between workers’ qualifications and capabilities and the work requirements in order to prevent job loss and ensure safe career path until retirement.

General Objective

The general objectives include the following aspects: (1) to collect in-depth, qualitative information on company practices with regard to mid-career reviews, career re-orientation, internal mobility or horizontal career moves; to provide information on the motivations and actions of different actors (employees, representatives and managers) and how they contribute to carry out mid-career reviews; (2) to provide policymakers at European and national level with insights into the practice of mid-career reviews and how this contributes to extend working life, and at the same time how this benefits companies both in performance and quality of work; (3) to explore the link between internal career mobility and HR outcomes (i.e. impact on key performance indicators); (4) to identify if MCR is only part of a career advice and support program that also foresees other measures such as re-training, re-skilling, re-orientation of employees?; (5) to identify if the company generally foresees job-change / -rotation in line with a MCR and how are jobs assigned after an MCR? What instruments are used to see what preferences a workers has and how his preferences are taken into account for a new set of tasks?; (6) To assess if there are specific positions in the company that are only accessible for workers with a substantial in-company experience?; (7) to assess if the company is using specific schemes for knowledge transfer inside the company? Are there specific positions that require extended knowledge and expertise and meant to be filled by senior workers with the specific aim to help knowledge transfer inside the company?; (8) to identify if the company uses internal or external counselling to find a better fit between worker and job? Are there training programs that enable workers to become more flexible to change their work tasks? Do specific short-term working schemes and phasing out programs also enable more senior workers to gradually leave the labour market, while changing their work tasks (mentoring) and better combine work and family responsibilities (e.g. care)?; (9) to identify if there are attitude campaigns in the company that promote the value of experience of older workers, their level of skills and their professional knowledge and the value these have for a company?


Project Structure and Involvement of CASE

The study will analyze existing practices of mid-life career reviews in the two selected companies of adopting mid-career reviews and it will allow identifying and assessing good practices of mid-career reviews.

In carrying out the study, the research process will consist of 5 distinctive stages:

- a comprehensive desk study that will allow to collect information on the companies that are under research and their employment strategies (including internal documents: guidelines, employment procedures, etc.), give more insight into the literature and the examples of use of mid-career review as an activation instrument that will allow to formulate interview questionnaires in the most adequate matter;
- formulation of the interview protocols that will assure reaching all research objectives as stated above;
- field work in the two locations (companies), collection of qualitative and quantitative data;
- analysis of qualitative and quantitative information collected in line with the research guidelines and deliverables defined in the study;
- preparation of high quality deliverables: interviews’ transcripts, coding schemes, case studies and report incorporating conclusions and policy hints.


Project Output

The list of deliverables has been identified by Eurofound and includes:

- the interview guidelines for HR manager, line manager, worker and staff representative;
- the transcript of the interviews (using numbered lines);
- the coding framework and coding methodology used;
- the case study reporting essential findings (2 case studies);
- any additional material from the company: guidelines, regulations, questionnaires, statistics, etc.;
- the text for agreement to publication of case studies;
- the data protection procedure used.

Sponsor: European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (Eurofound)

Partners: None