YES! demographics initiative wins award
September 22, 2017
“YES” stands for “Young and experienced: successful together!” Mercedes-Benz started the initiative in order to actively take advantage of the opportunities of the demographic change. YES has now been awarded the renowned Deutscher Personalwirtschaftspreis 2017 [German Human Resources Prize 2017] in the “Occupational Health” category in the context of the “Zukunft Personal” [HR in the future] trade fair in Cologne. Part of the initiative is the “EY ALTER” exhibition brought to life in cooperation with Jacobs University.
To initiate a cultural change, a change in thinking - that is one of the aims of the initiative. It emphasizes the positive aspects of aging as well as the individual potentials of each person and counters the prevailing pessimistic stance towards aging. The automobile manufacturer instituted around 200 individual measures in order to strengthen the sense of togetherness between young and old.
The measures were accompanied by the “EY ALTER” exhibition in Bremen and Stuttgart, which more than 350,000 people attended. “The award confirms our concept”, says Prof. Dr. Sven C. Voelpel, Professor of Business Administration at Jacobs University Bremen and one of the co-initiators of the exhibition.
Science has long proven that aging does not automatically entail degenerative processes, says Prof. Voelpel. “In fact, our attitude determines our life. If we replace these negative associations with a differentiated, positive view that describes the degenerative and growth processes equally, attitudes will change and generate a positive life with increased growth processes – especially in the later years”.
More information:
http://svoelpel.user.jacobs-university.de/
http://www.eyalter.com/de/