Training and Professional Development Practices of the 2007 AARP Best Employers for Workers Over 50

By 2014, one in three workers will be over 50 years old. The 2007 AARP Best Employers for Workers Over 50 recognize that age-50+ workers, along with their younger colleagues, need training to keep pace with changes in technology or with new business practices. The 2007 Best Employers have implemented a variety of training programs for mature workers to maintain existing skills, provide new skills for use in different capacities, and use their experience to train younger employees.

 

All of the 2007 honorees offer in-house classroom training, and nearly all offer online training (98 percent), tuition reimbursement (96 percent), and certification classes (96 percent). Training programs offered by the honorees also take other forms, such as:

 

Fairfield Medical Center in Lancaster, Ohio, goes one step further in facilitating outside training by assigning "casual" status employees to help cover shifts of employees enrolled in outside education courses.

 

Recognizing that outside assistance is sometimes needed to develop and implement effective training programs, a number of the AARP Best Employers have developed training partnerships with other organizations. For example, George Mason University in Fairfax, Va., has partnered with Fairfax County and Fairfax City governments to offer programs designed for the adult learner. SC Johnson, a consumer products company headquartered in Racine, Wis., offers the "link" program, which promotes lifelong learning for all employees and retirees via Gateway Technical College. Employees can complete a course, a certificate, or an associate’s degree program on site.

 

 

Between 2002 and 2005, Trinitas Hospital in Elizabeth, N.J., partnered with Union County College to enhance employees' communications and customer-service skills. Full-time, part-time, per diem employees, and even volunteers, were eligible to participate. Through this program, supported by a literacy grant from the New Jersey Department of Labor, classes in writing basics, computer operations, communication skills and English as a second language (ESL) were conducted on-site at the hospital by Union County College instructors.

 

Many of the Best Employers target training specifically for age-50+ workers—a group that tends not only to be very engaged in the training experience but also to view training as a positive, career-promoting step.

 

Targeted training for mature workers includes:

 

Bon Secours Richmond Health System in Richmond, Va., redesigned its School of Nursing to accommodate non-nurse employees who want to pursue a RN degrees. Employees can now attend evening and weekend classes. Of those enrolled, 17 percent are over age 40, and a recent graduate was 61 years old.

 

In addition to taking part in training opportunities as students, mature workers also provide a wealth of knowledge and experience that can benefit others. At St. Vincent Health System in Erie, Pa., experienced and seasoned employees are the ones often requested for team assignments. At many of the 2007 Best Employers, mature workers take the lead in mentoring and shadowing programs designed to train younger employees.

 

It seems clear that in future years, age-50+ workers will figure more prominently in the workplace than ever before. For the 2007 Best Employers for Workers Over 50, the implementation of employee-training programs is a key to ongoing business success. Continuous learning and skill development is the rule, not the exception, at these organizations.