The regulatory changes which led to the liberalization of the EU Postal Market and increased competition in the provision of high-quality and diversified mail, parcel and financial services have led postal operators to focus on performance and efficiency. The objective is to manage change with people in place and to facilitate integration of young people in a soft way. The project overall objective is to manage intergenerational diversity in the postal sector by creating innovative training prototype valorizing intergenerational teams so that the companies are more efficient in a context of permanent changes within the postal sector. The project is expected to achieve the following objectives: - to develop employability of all employees (the senior but also the junior) of the companies - to valorize intergenerational team and make them more efficient to promote innovation in the companies - to facilitate and stimulate the innovation within the partner's company on the age management topicThe vocational education training is one important solution to all these objectives. It is one of the solution for workers of different age and gender bringing diverse perspectives and talents. Age diverse workforces are better able to respond to rapidly changing cicumstances as they maximise the exchanges. Key activities In concrete the project will be organised in 3 activities (IO): - Researches, identification and mapping training needs in the Postal sector related to Age Management - Elaborate an innovative training toolkit for age management co-elaborated with volunteer teams - Create a conceptual design of a training prototype to be implemented and test within some intergenerational teamsKey events (Events)A set of activities has been planned to increase multiplying effects of the project outcomes:- Project kick-off meeting with external stakeholders to provide input on the intergenerational diversity topic- Project closure event which will have a central role in the dissemination activities plan- Use of website, publication to promote the main output of the project Methodology - A steering committee will be put in place to manage the project - Analysis of the training needs (litterature research - questionnaires, interviews) - Co-elaboration process with volunteer teams - Focus Groups - Development of training curricula based on partners skills specialised in training (KEKELTA, INOSALUS, UNIVERSITY OF BORDEAUX)- Evaluation all along the project lifecycle - an evaluation committee will be put in place - Dissemination and communication strategy - a communication committee will be defined to communicate the projects results to various channels all over Europe. Training and enlarge best practices sharing has been identified as a key tool to manage changes within the partner organisations developing customer orientation, adapting to digital economy and services facilitating innovation within companies. The project also a greater opportunities for knowledge sharing between generations within Europe and a way to combining cultural and companies particularities under common framework to address the age management issue to increase social inclusion in a sector that represents 2 millions workers.
The European "Innov'Age" project is the result of a strategic partnership for training in diversity, age management and innovation, applied to the European postal sector. The project addresses the issue of Europe's ageing population and the need to attract new skills/talents among younger generations. In fact, management of intergenerational teams is becoming a criterion of competitiveness for European postal operators. The objective of the project is to improve age management in the postal sector by creating an innovative training prototype to enhance intergenerational teams. The issues related to this objective are: increase the employability of both seniors and younger people; enhance and make more efficient intergenerational teams to promote business innovation; facilitate and stimulate innovation in the postal sector. The project consortium brought together six European postal operators (France, Bulgaria, Romania, Italy, Greece, Cyprus), the PostEurop postal association (52 postal operators), the University of Bordeaux, the Greek Post Vocational Training Centre and InoSalus, a Portuguese SME specialising in innovative training. Project Structure: The project was divided into three main Intellectual Outputs (IO): IO1: Research, identification and mapping of training needs in the postal sector related to age management; IO2: Co-creation and development of an innovative training toolkit for age management in order to develop a dynamic approach focusing on cooperation between generations, the motivation and involvement of professional teams including young and old people, the valorisation and transmission of experience - which will be done first and foremost in the partner companies of the project; IO3: Design and test a prototype of training in some intergenerational teams. This allows managers to discover a new management an approach to diversity, taking into account the specific needs and expectations of new entrants and seniors, acquire and appropriate methods and tools for the cohesion, motivation and performance of an intergenerational team. All the results were shared during the monthly conference calls, the transnational meetings and the dissemination events. Activities implemented: Scientific study on the following variables: diversity practices by age, climate in work organisation, learning climate, acceptable distance (depending on corporate culture) between employees and management, strengthening leadership, innovative team behaviours and related performance; Analysis of training needs and psychosocial aspects to develop the sectoral training needs matrix (questionnaire, study, research) and mapping of the current situation in postal organizations; Development of a roadmap for the volunteer team to help co-build training programs and identify case studies; Selection and development of case studies and production of a pedagogical movie; Development of the training programme based on the macro-competences identified to be developed through this prototype; Development of a test prototype and design of the toolbox; Assessment of the impact of the training prototype on the teams; Communication and dissemination of project results via partner communication media; Dissemination meetings coordinated by a communication committee. Results: The Training Program was formalized as a prototype. A part of the prototype (test modules) was implemented by the six postal partners, adapted to the reality of each operator and tested by the volunteer teams. The evaluation of these tests has improved the training programme by identifying areas for improvement or consolidation. The evaluation confirmed the importance of this training to help managers improve the management of multi-generational teams and foster inclusion and innovation. Project Outreach: Partnership with OSHA and its “Healthy Workplaces for All Ages” campaign, EYDAP SA, Athens Water Company, “Intergenerational HR Club”, and the University of Aix-Marseille has also shown its interest. Visibility of results: Meetings with external stakeholders: kick-off, closing conference, Multiplier events in Athens, Rome and Strasbourg; Use of websites, social networks... Two initiatives, one national pilot implementation initiative in Greece and the final multiplier event of the project, put in place in the framework of the Innov’Age project have been approved and registered successfully as events of the European Vocational skills week organized by DG Employment on 14-18 October 2019. The approval of both submitted events confirms their relevance in terms of training and innovation. Registering to this European-wide initiate coordinated by DG Employment is a further way to raise awareness about our work in the field of vocational education especially towards other sectors and stakeholders. The next step of Innov’Age 1 would be the certification of this training. (Innov’Age 2 – awaiting for funding).