Case study

Nordam Group Blackwood

The Blackwood (Nordam Europe Limited) facility's prime role is the overhaul and repair of jet engines. The Blackwood division employs 180 workers, 16 of whom are aged 50 and over.

Business benefits: Even though this company is relatively young it has nonetheless demonstrated its commitment to older workers. It has found great value in recruiting older workers who have brought wide, generic experiences from other industries and has used those "life experiences" and levels of flexibility to fill key posts. "When I was made redundant I thought it would be difficult to find another job because of my age. There can be great frustration in knowing the level of your own competence yet not getting the chance to demonstrate it at an interview. Nordam gave me that opportunity" The company say that they believe older workers appreciate the opportunities they are given and in return repay the company with loyalty. This study presents an excellent example of how older workers can make a significant contribution to a new, developing and expanding organisation.

HUMAN RESOURCE POLICIES:

Nordam Europe Limited is an autonomous unit and is responsible for its own local Human Resource policies. The Human Resources Department take the lead in developing and reviewing H R policies. As a relatively young company, Nordam Europe's human resource policies have had to be developed quickly during the formative days of the business. However the HR Department is currently in the process of reviewing most of the company's HR policies as part of a wider exercise to develop a Staff Handbook that will incorporate a synopsis of all employee related policies. The HR department, in the development of company employee policies has consulted widely, networked with and benchmarked against other organisations' policies in order to seek out best practice both within the industry and the locality. After this stage of policy development the Managing Director, the Head of Support Services and any appropriate departmental manager will be responsible for the final approval of the draft document. The Head of Support Services is presently formulating a review process by which all policy documents will be examined annually.

Equal Opportunities Policies

In addition to references to race, religion, colour, gender, nationality, country of origin and handicap, age is specifically mentioned within the company's Equal Opportunities policy. As with most other HR policies within Nordam, this policy was developed during the company's early stages of set-up in 1997. The Head of Support Services is currently reviewing this with a view to further refinement.

HUMAN RESOURCE PRACTICES:

The company's early approaches to human resource management were dictated by the necessity of rapid expansion. The appointment, via promotion, of the Head of Support Services has seen a new controlled and systematic approach towards developing and upgrading all aspects of its employee related management. Nordam's attitude in all of its workings with employees has been completely non-discriminatory in nature; the company judges everybody on the basis of their ability, attitude, skills, commitment and general approach to work.

Recruitment

During early formative years Nordam used a recruitment agency, but more recently it has taken the policy decision to place all recruitment advertising for operative staff with the local JobCentre. The company has a good relationship with the JobCentre and is satisfied that referrals are made on a non-discriminatory basis. For certain posts Nordam continues to use some recruitment agents and at senior management level the company has made use of a headhunting agency. Nordam is sensitive to the nature of the advertisements it places, in particular the wording of such advertisements. The HR department has been vigilant in avoiding the use of direct or indirect reference to age. For all vacancies the company develops both job and person profiles; age related descriptions, direct or indirect are avoided.

Selection

On receipt of a potential employee's CV the appropriate departmental manager and personnel officer sift and develop a short list of those they would like to interview. Sifting of CVs is undertaken on the basis of suitability for the job on offer - assessment is made against the individuals' previous background and relevant job or technical experience. The sift process does not take into consideration race, gender, nationality, disability, religion or age. All short-listed applicants are invited for interview with the departmental manager and personnel officer. The personnel officer is a trained, experienced interviewer who provides consistency within the interviewing process, ensuring that equal opportunity issues are taken into consideration where appropriate. The company is clear that all decisions relating to job offers are made on the basis of suitability for the post and that age is irrelevant. The company has recently employed a part-time Health, Safety and Environmental Officer in his late 50s. This person was recruited because of his technical expertise and because he brought with him a great deal of maturity, acquired via his general "life experiences" that the company felt would be of great benefit within the workplace. A further example of the company's willingness to the recruit older workers is the case of Nordam Europe's Head of Support Services. After 30 years in the automotive industry, where he worked primarily in finance, administration and operational areas, he accepted voluntary redundancy and sought alternative work in the area. He circulated his CV to numerous companies, but was concerned that his age (50) would count against him. The individual was pleased to be asked to visit the company for an informal chat. He was however, surprised, to be offered a role in the production-engineering department. Although new to the area, Nordam felt that he would be able to make a valid contribution to the business, because of his previous experience and administrative skills. He commenced work on a three-month temporary contract. After approximately four weeks, Nordam recognised his capabilities and offered him a permanent position within the company, which he accepted.

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Retention

The nature of Nordam Europe's business is based on safety, quality and working to precise standards to maintain aircraft jet engine nacelles and thrust reversers. It is essential to have a stable workforce and Nordam continues to work on policies that will provide stability.

Training and Development

Training and development forms an integral part of life at Nordam Europe. The highly sensitive nature of the work, in terms of safety and precision of standards, means that there is an ongoing training requirement in respect of technological advances in the context of repairs to aircraft engine nacelle and thrust reversers. There is a formal Training and Development Policy Statement and all employees receive a copy of this as part of their company induction pack. There is an annual staff appraisal system that includes a measurement of performance and provides an opportunity to identify training and development needs in line with the company's business objectives. There is a high expectation placed on all shop floor workers to undertake training, particularly in the context of maintaining their technical approvals to work on jet engines. All workers, including older workers, readily involve themselves in the training made available by Nordam.

Promotion

There is little opportunity at this stage in the company's development for a formal promotion structure, although there has been a small number of individuals promoted to fill key, vacated posts. Age is never a factor in selection for promotion. The company's Head of Support Services, having joined the company on a three-month temporary contract and subsequently offered permanent work, was invited by the new managing director to take responsibility for the company's Human Resource Department. Despite not being an HR specialist the company felt that his previous experience would provide a good core competence, particularly in the area of "managing people". In December 1999 a further promotion opportunity was offered. The post of Head of Support Services was created, which he filled. This is clearly an excellent example of how the previous experiences of an older worker have been recognised by a company and used to good effect in filling a variety of posts in which, previously, the individual had had little experience. "I was able to offer a range of experiences and a high degree of flexibility to an organisation that was developing and growing".

Redundancy

Recently the company faced the situation of having to make several employees redundant. The company's redundancy policy had several options including seeking volunteers, a reduction in the scale of working and the application of objective selection criteria. The objective selection criteria was used in this situation. No worker was selected for redundancy on the basis of their age.

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