THE ROLE OF HUMAN DIGNITY AS A VALUE TO PROMOTE ACTIVE AGEING IN THE ENTERPRISES

The organizations have always taken care of the workers’ careers from two points of view: on one side, the individual one and on the other side the organizational management. As a matter of fact, the employee is responsible for his career and he must manage his employability to develop his identity according to the working environment around. At the same time, the organizations have an important role because they offer growth prospects to their employees in line with their business goals. In the current landscape, what I just said is the core of a farsighted human resources management that today must face the challenges of an ageing population as well. Since the ageing workforce is increasing in number and the legislative reforms are answering this problem moving the line of retirement, companies are obliged to keep people active and motivated at work. The age is usually seen as a factor of diversity and potential discrimination: anyway, I will try to argue that a conscious policy age oriented could transform the idea of ageing into an opportunity. Older workers like young employees are first of all people and the starting point of my dissertation is that the respect of human beings, regardless of the age, must be the core of a business organization. In the first chapter, the respect of human beings is justified in the light of the topic of dignity as it was conceived from Greek philosophy to modernity. Dignity is an inner value of the person, an absolute value of human beings and thanks to Kant it will become the common character to all human beings. If they are equal, it is due to their dignity. In addition, humans may never be used as means to an end and I will try to clarify this aspect. After arguing about sense and meaning of human dignity, in the second chapter, I will discuss the relationship between dignity and workplace. Nowadays, if it is said that the workplace is a community of people, an important dimension of the dignified life of a person rather than a mere instrument for profit, that is due to the way of conceiving dignity according to the Greek idea: dignity is an inner value of the person and a social value as well. Thus, the respect of human dignity is a crucial point for today’ organization but it is often misunderstood. In the era of globalization where the money is the absolute value, the human beings, the workers risk becoming a means to reach wealth and they lost their real worth. Otherwise, the respect of dignity, of an anthropological richness, is the underpinning of a workplace ‹‹conducive to human growth and fulfilment›› (Giovanola, 2009, p. 2). Dignity can be operational at work if its value is understood and not forgotten. how? The concept of a humanistic management, that I will introduce, is the practice to preserve dignity of the worker and to promote the development of an economic system at the service of human flourishing. At this point, the topic of Corporate Social Responsibility will arise. Indeed, the humanistic management, a human-centred philosophy is the core of a socially responsible enterprise which thinks that work is one of the place where people can express themselves, their identity, skills and knowledge. Furthermore, since nowadays the workforce is ageing and young people are hiring, as I wrote before, today’ organizations are communities for all ages. In such a situation, to be completely responsible for the needs of the surrounding environment, an enterprise must take care of all workers, regardless of the ages. That is its biggest challenge. Organizations must pay attention to older workers’ needs that are different from those of young people. Thus, in the third chapter, the idea of Corporate Social Responsibility is analysed in its link with the topics of active ageing and the workplace diversity. There are many reasons of difference at work because of gender, culture, ethnicity, skills and knowledge of people but the age is the one I will focus on. It could be obvious that older workers have an idea of the work that isn’t the same of young employees and that their attitude to work is different. This depends on their experience, their longer life but the idea that they have is neither worst or better than the one of young people. A socially responsible enterprise knows it and starts to use practices and tools which create a collaborative working environment where there aren’t intergenerational conflicts. The theory of Diversity Management and Age Management that will be introduced, are two of the practices thanks to which the organizations can enhance the performance of all employees. They concern some human resources tools which enable older workers to remain active at work and share their skills and knowledge. Finally, the fourth and the last chapter is about the case study of my research. During my PhD program I have worked both with Macerata University and with Loccioni, an Italian company. Thus, I could study an enterprise interested in the issue of active ageing and which is developing a project focused on older workers. The project is called Silverzone and it can be proposed like a way to answer the problem of retired people’ employability. Silverzone is a network of retired or almost retired people above 65 years old who are still active after their retirement. To justify this project like a practice of older workers’ involvement, I conducted two qualitative surveys: one to managers and the other one to “silver men”. The aims of the interviews are mostly two: knowing how many silver men work in this network and which are the projects that they are developing; in addition, understanding if people involved in it can test dignity at work. I talked with 16 managers and asked them the following questions: 1. Who are Silvers in your Business Area? Which the projects where are they involved? 2. Which is the value of their support for Loccioni? On the other hand, are there any difficulties while working? 3. How often do you meet them? 4. Why do we need this kind of partnerships? In the last chapter I will show the results of these surveys just as I will show the answers that the 81 silver men gave to other questions that are: 1. What is your name? 2. When were you born? 3. Which is your hometown? 4. What is your training? 5. Where have you worked and what were your main tasks? 6. How and when is your first contact whit us occurred? Who was your first contact? 7. How have you been known Silverzone project? And thanks to? 8. With who have you worked? 9. In which projects are you involved? 10. Could you describe Silverzone project with three words? 11. What is the meaning of being part of this project? 12. In our opinion what is the meaning of Silver man? 13. What kind of relations have you got with Loccioni collaborators and the others silver? 14. Which kind of human dimensions (gift, relation, community, respect) and professional dimensions (innovation, technology, network) come out working within Silverzone project? The interviews allowed me to assess the quantitative and qualitative impact of the project on Loccioni. Silverzone is a good practice to keep older workers proactive because working after the retirement, in a comfortable and respectful work environment, allows people over 65 years old to be still essential for today’ organizations and to reach important goals. Silverzone could be considered a practice of age management used in an enterprise that is socially responsible and where the necessity to make profit is not ignored or underestimated but is subordinated to the higher value of contributing to human needs fulfilment.