Abstract
IntroductionSE is a topic of vital importance to individual employees, organizations and society alike. It generally refers to employees' capacities to function in work their working life. As participation in work is important for individuals, organizations, and society as a whole, individuals' ability to function in work is essential. For individuals, work provides meaning, financial security as well as social contacts. Organizations need productive employees to survive. Also from a societal perspective, it is important that as many people as possible participate in the labor market to maintain economic welfare (1). Moreover, as a consequence of population aging (2-6), longevity, rapid changes in technology (7, 8) and changes in the nature of work (1), both the need to promote sustainable employability of individuals in society and the complexity to succeed in doing so increase even further.Only recently, van der Klink et al provided the first definition of the concept in the international scientific literature (1, p74): Sustainable employability means that their working lives, workers can achieve tangible opportunities in the form of a set of capabilities. They also enjoy the necessary conditions that allow them to make a valuable contribution through their work, now and in the future, while safeguarding their health and welfare. This requires, on the one hand, a work context that facilitates this for them and, on the other, the attitude and motivation to exploit these opportunities.This definition is accompanied by an equally recent operationalization of SE as a set of capabilities (9). Moreover, the definition itself also appeared in an earlier Dutch publication (10), which other international publications about SE most commonly refer to [ie, in comparison with other definitions in the non-international (eg, Dutch) literature] (11-13). As mentioned, the present paper provides a critical reflection on van der Klink et al's aforementioned definition of SE (1).MeritsVan der Klink et al's definition of SE (1) has three important merits. First, SE is seen as a multidimensional construct. It is presented as consisting of a broad set of opportunities for employees to create value for themselves and for their employer that cover various aspects of working. Moreover, the individual's health and well-being as well as attitudinal and motivational aspects are included in the definition as well. This acknowledgement of the multidimensionality of SE is favorable, as it illustrates the complexity of the construct and of what constitutes functioning in work. This is in accordance with the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) (14), in which functioning is seen from three different perspectives (body, activities, and participation). The ICF underlines the multifaceted and complex nature of functioning in which disease, environmental factors, and personal factors play a role. Similarly, the multifaceted nature of functioning is also illustrated by the fact that different disciplines focus on different aspects to understand functioning at work (15, 16).Second, SE is (partially) defined as the degree to which (i) employees are able to work their entire working lives, and (ii) their work context enables them to do so. This suggests that SE is a set of interacting characteristics of the employee and the work context that codetermine the opportunities and conditions affecting employees' capacity to participate in the labor market their working As such, the definition describes an equal responsibility for employee and employer to maintain the employee's ability to work. This could be considered as a great merit, as research shows how strongly an employee's ability to function is influenced by both the individual, work and work-contextual factors (17).Third, van der Klink et al's definition recognizes that SE is an inherently longitudinal construct as clearly embedded in the words throughout their working lives. …
Highlights
Sustainable employability (SE) is a topic of vital importance to individual employees, organizations and society alike
Until now there has been only one attempt to define SE in the international literature [1]. This first definition is a valuable contribution to the field as it rightfully describes SE as a multidimensional concept, recognizes the importance of both employee and work characteristics, and acknowledges the inherently longitudinal nature of SE. We argue that this definition of SE has some serious omissions that are important in capturing SE comprehensively
We argue that the definition could be improved in various ways, namely, it should: (i) clarify which aspects of employment constitute someone’s SE; (ii) not counterintuitively treat SE as a characteristic of both the job and the employee simultaneously; (iii) not be based on the insufficiently tested assumption that achieving value in work inherently leads to SE; (iv) be formulated in a way that SE can apply to unemployed individuals; and (v) adequately specify how the inherently longitudinal dimension of SE should be addressed
Summary
SE is a topic of vital importance to individual employees, organizations and society alike. Sustainable employability (SE) is an important topic as it deals with employees’ abilities to function adequately at work and in the labor market throughout their working lives.
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