Only 38% of over 50s work in France even though 63% would like to continue working. From January 1st 2010, the law will make it compulsory for organisations to promote the employment of senior citizens otherwise they will be liable for a fine.
In this framework, the HR Clubs at EDHEC, ESCP, ESC Reims and ESC Rouen jointly organised a conference on October 15, 2009 on “Les entreprises face au Plan Seniors” (business organisations and the seniors’ employment project). The aim was to bring together specialists in the sector to discuss the concrete implications of the new law and to offer businesses some useful answers.
The speakers presented the current state of affairs regarding the question of seniors in their society to a packed house. Those taking part included:

• Jose Milano Director of HR Development, AXA France
• Susanne Ohn (1980) Training & Development Specialist, Ipsen Pharma Laboratory Group 
• And a panel of Human Resource experts: Annabelle Rouault (Nayan), Caroline Young (Expertconnect) and Christophe Vicel (IFCEP), with the participation of DECOMMEDIA, corporate theatre agency.

There was considerable consensus between the participants on the need to see the upcoming project as an opportunity to give back to seniors their rightful place in the company rather than as a legal constraint, and also on the need to ensure the transmission of know-how before they retire.
Secondly, the sharing of best-practice revealed a number of original, tried and tested solutions, such as:

• the “Ressources Plus” scheme at AXA, whereby seniors are invited to try out a job for 10 days before deciding to accept it…which also helps those who may initially be reticent to change, to retrain in another area.
• or at IPSEN, a training scheme for them to become trainers themselves … an initiative that enables the seniors to transform a lifetime of experience into training courses for the current teams.  

The quality of the speakers, the diversity of activity sectors and the interactivity with the audience contributed significantly to the success of the debate.
The evening ended with a lively cocktail, riding on a new wave of multi-school networking!
We look forward to the next session …

by Sophie Baqué (2004)