One person may feel challenged by management expectations, be stimulated by current work assignments, be involved in fitness activities, and participate in training and education opportunities. Another person may be depressed, feel that work assignments are not challenging, feel unsupported by the supervisor, have no desire to engage in physical activities, and see little reward for participating in training and education activities within the workplace environment.

However, research suggests that, by offering training and education opportunities in the workplace to older adults, even those disengaged may reach out for that training.

Education and training provide important opportunities to facilitate career development at all periods in the work life. Many of today's older adult workers who are in need of training are casualties of a failure of the workplace, over many decades, to invest in future-focused training programs. A major issue today is ensuring equitable access to training opportunities for older adult workers.

The design of an effective training program for older workers draws on principles used to design any effective training program. In general, an effective training program for older workers is effective for all workers. The design of any training program should start with a needs analysis to determine where training is really necessary in the organization. The second step is a job analysis to identify what should be included in the training. The job analysis results in a job description that identifies the relevant tasks performed and the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to perform the job. The third step is a person analysis to identify who should be trained. This analysis is carried out through performance appraisal and testing appropriate for the older worker.

The adult and older adult training and retraining literature has documented a number of dimensions for successful training programs. Seven areas emerge that need to be considered when designing training programs. These include motivation, structure, familiarity, organization, time, active participation, and learning strategies.


 MOTIVATION
Older workers are least likely to volunteer for instruction, so trainers may need to encourage them to participate more than others. Their desire to learn may be impeded by fear of failure or feelings of inadequacy as compared to younger workers. Older workers possessing little formal schooling may have particularly low self-esteem. Motivation and self-concept can influence training involvement and success. Trainers can help alleviate feelings of fear or inadequacy by providing continuous positive feedback and reminders of training goals. Trainers should also ensure that managers and co-workers give support and encouragement..

STRUCTURE
The training program should be relevant to the job, based on careful job analysis. This analysis can assist in the arrangement of training sequences. Participant anxiety can be reduced by ensuring that the trainee masters each simple component of a task before moving on. This mastery also gives trainers opportunities to provide positive feedback. One approach that has been found effective is to arrange the training sequence according to increasing complexity. That must be based on a very careful task analysis. The task or material to be learned is then carefully introduced, presenting easier aspects first. After mastery of the basic skills, more difficult aspects are then introduced until the task or material is mastered. Past work on training interventions has led to the conclusion that older adult learning can be improved. A reliance on task analysis appears to be a strong predictor of the success of the training program, especially for complex tasks. The program structure should also allow for varying the time needed for individual trainees.

FAMILIARITY

If possible, trainers build on the past knowledge and abilities of participants. Providing relevant or generalizable examples during training may also increase participant's attention, which improves training effectiveness.

ORGANIZATION

Cognitive research has shown that older adults have difficulty organizing information effectively. As a result, trainers should organize the material being presented to help retention and comprehension by placing material into meaningful groupings. Teaching older trainees ways to organize what they learn is another effective option in training..

TIME

Behavioral research consistently indicates slowing of reaction time and increases in learning time with age. Thus, slower presentation of training material and provision of longer study and test periods should aid older workers. Given sufficient time, older learners perform as well or better than younger learners. Self-paced learning for older workers is optimal. Trainers, however, should not just add more time without teaching the older adult efficient time use.

ACTIVE PARTICIPATION

Active participation is desirable for older trainees, because lecture or rote memorization formats may cause difficulty. Active participation builds self-confidence and reduces cautiousness and hesitancy. Additionally, older workers' wealth of life and work experience should enhance group discussion and learning.

LEARNING STRATEGIES

Training on the subject of learning strategies is a fairly new and rapidly developing area. The rationale behind learning strategies training is that we expect people to learn, but infrequently show them how to learn. Adults may need training in learning strategies--because either they never developed them or they have forgotten them through lack of use. Examples of learning strategies include simple tasks such as rehearsal strategies. A simple example is to repeat the names of things to memorize. An example of a complex strategy is outlining or creating categories. An example of a motivational strategy is overcoming computer, test, or math anxiety.

Attitudes toward career development activities and mobility relate to such factors as current employment, tenure or stage in career, need for achievement, and need for growth. In addition, fear of stagnation, marketability perceptions, job-market conditions, and chance encounters may play a role in decision making.

A career-goal decision, such as the decision to engage in training or retraining, can lead to identity growth and enhanced self-esteem. Enhanced self-esteem, in turn, may lead to greater commitment to future career development goals.

The baby boom generation represents a talented and competitive cohort that is more educated and possibly more willing to work to maintain their skills. Therefore, it is important for managers to be aware of this group of experienced workers and be sensitive to needed changes in the job task to retain older workers. In addition, it is important for managers to accommodate the needs of older workers for those workers to function at a higher level. Thus, facilitating older adult learning can be a rewarding, challenging, and exciting experience for trainers.

Excerpted, with permission of the publisher, from Working Longer: New Strategies for Managing, Training, and Retaining Older Employees by William J. Rothwell, Harvey Sterns, Diane Spokus, and Joel Reaser. Copyright 2007. Published by AMACOM