Although health is among the strongest predictors of retirement timing, organizational effects on this relationship are largely unknown. Based on the theory of work adjustment and socioemotional ...selectivity theory, this study explores the role of human resources practices in the relation between older employees' health and retirement intentions-specifically, their preferred retirement age and their intention to engage in late-career employment after being eligible for pension. Three groups of practices are distinguished: individual development practices (e.g. life-long learning and career development), practices tailoring the transition to retirement (e.g. phased retirement), and practices allowing to continue working in later life (e.g. individualized employment forms). We tested our model with multilevel data from 556 older employees and 661 managers from 101 organizations. Results suggest that healthy employees intend to retire later, if individual development practices are stronger pronounced in the organization. In addition, the positive relation between health and the intention to engage in late-career employment was stronger in organizations that provide more opportunities to continue working. Our findings contribute to a better understanding of retirement intentions and offer practical implications to shape later-life work to the benefit of both organizations and employees.
Knowledge transfer from older to younger employees plays a key role in lessening knowledge loss and maintaining firms' competitiveness. While the disharmony derived from a salient age difference ...between younger and older workers hinders such knowledge transfer. This study aims to construct a rapport model to address it.
Data from 318 respondents in various industries were collected through a questionnaire-based survey to test the proposed model. The research hypotheses were tested using hierarchical multiple regressions.
Our empirical results show that almost all rapport dimensions facilitate such knowledge transfer; The moderating role of supportive climate is strong that it enhances or replaces the effects of rapport dimensions on such knowledge transfer.
This study contributes to research on knowledge transfer and rapport by providing a detailed understanding of the relational mechanism of the knowledge transfer from older to younger employees based on a revised model of rapport. It also serves as a reference for firms to leverage rapport-building and a supportive climate to enhance this invaluable knowledge transfer.
The aging workforce emphasizes the importance of sustainable employment, that is the extent to which workers are able and willing to remain working now and in the future . This raises the question ...how organizations can design work contexts that contribute to sustainable employment. This study investigated the role of a intrinsically motivating job (intrinsic job value) and an age-supportive climate for three indicators of employees' sustainable employment: employability, work engagement and affective commitment. The questionnaire was completed by 119 office employees (response 35%) of a Dutch public transport organization. A SEM analysis revealed that intrinsic job value was strongly and positively related with all three indicators of sustainable employment for employees of all ages. In contrast, an age-supportive climate was especially important for older employees' work engagement and affective commitment. This study has implications for practice and for research of sustainable employment, HRM and aging.
The main aim of this study was to analyze the effects of availability of key information and intergenerational leadership on burnout divided into physical symptoms of burnout and emotional symptoms ...of burnout and work engagement regarding the firm size during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The empirical study included 583 older employees in Slovenia who participated in the survey during the COVID-19 pandemic. Structural equation modeling was used to explore the effects between constructs. We analyzed structural paths for the entire sample and for the two groups (small and large companies). According to the results concerning both groups, the impact of the availability of key information on emotional burnout is negative only for small companies. Contrary to that the negative impact of intergenerational leadership on emotional burnout is much stronger in large companies. Concerning the impact of physical burnout on emotional burnout, the positive impact of physical burnout exists in both types of companies but is stronger in small companies. The findings will contribute to a clearer picture and the adoption of further measures to prevent burnout in the workplace and increase work engagement concerning the firm size, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Summary
Increasing age diversity in the workplace has led to growing research attention to the knowledge transfer between older and younger employees. The existing literature on age‐diverse knowledge ...exchange has mostly focused on knowledge transfer from older to younger employees as a means of knowledge retention. In this study, we change perspectives by aiming to understand how and when older employees' knowledge seeking from younger coworkers is related to their successful aging at work (i.e., the motivation and ability to continue working). Grounded in the self‐regulatory process model of successful aging at work, we predict two countervailing pathways: a positive self‐enhancing path via perceived learning and a negative self‐protective path via embarrassment. In a time‐lagged study with 764 older employees, we found that their knowledge seeking from younger coworkers was positively related to motivation to continue working and workability via perceived learning and negatively related to workability via embarrassment. We further examined older employees' positive intergenerational affect as a boundary condition and found a buffering effect on the negative path to workability. This research shows that knowledge transfer from younger to older employees is a net contributor to successful aging at work and embarrassment can be mitigated by positive intergenerational affect.
The socio-economic benefits of interventions to prevent stress and related mental health problems are enormous. In the labor market, it is becoming desirable to keep employees for as long as ...possible. Since aging implies additional stressors such as increased risk of illness, and added pressure by professional tasks such as transferring knowledge, or learning new technologies, it is of particular relevance to offer stress-reduction to pre-retirement employees. Here, we report the effects of an eight-week Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) intervention on mental well-being in 60–65-year-old work-active Danish employees, compared to a waiting-list control group. We observed improvements in resilience (Brief Resilience Scale) and mental well-being (WHO-5) not only at the end of the intervention, but also at the 12-month follow-up measurement that was preceded by monthly booster sessions. Interestingly, whereas well-being usually refers to experiences in the past weeks or months, we observed increasing Comfort in the MBSR-intervention group during a 5-minute eyes-closed rest session suggesting that this therapeutic effect of MBSR is measurable in how we feel even during short periods of time. We argue that MBSR is a cost-effective intervention suited for pre-retirement employees to cultivate resilience to prevent stress, feel more comfortable with themselves, maintain a healthy work-life in the last years before retirement, and, potentially, stay in their work-life a few more years than originally planned.
Due to an ongoing increase in the average life expectancy and a decrease in the average birth rate, there are less active people that are of working age in the labor market. However, this year's ...Covid-19 pandemic highlighted that older workers are much more vulnerable in an ever-changing labor market. It is therefore essential to analyze how employers create working conditions for more senior employees during a pandemic. As well as the employment opportunities of older workers in the longer term. Applied methods of analysis: scientific literature and analysis of various documents, interviews, and analysis of the research results, their interpretation. The study found that older employees had difficulty adapting to changed working conditions and faced a higher risk of health issues. The article thus showed that existing stereotypes among employers limit the employability of older people.
In an ageing society, organizations must consider the inclusion and effective management of older professionals if they wish to remain competitive. Besides having harmful and far-reaching effects on ...people’s health, age discrimination in the workplace leads to absenteeism, lower levels of productivity, and early retirement. Within such a context, this problematic organizational feature of most Western, now ageing, organizations and labour markets starts gaining more relevance. However, to date there has been little discussion, research, or policy development to ensure that older employees’ skills and capabilities are optimally put to use by organizations without the occurrence of ageism. We present the results of a systematic literature review based on 30 studies in the context of ageing organizations to make recommendations for human resource management. We suggest an approach to effectively manage intergenerational organizations, reducing the occurrence of age discrimination and its related consequences, as well as to achieve high employee engagement. Our review indicates that a strong ethics framework that is continuously followed, disseminated, and updated by management, together with a combination of efforts from all stakeholders, may accomplish the best results towards a culture that respects and values people of all ages at work, positively impacting on productivity.
Abstract Research background Employees of different ages have different needs and capabilities regarding their professional work. Effective age management requires a proper diagnosis of these ...elements. Purpose The article aims to compare the occupational situation of employees of different ages. An attempt was made to verify how representatives of different age groups (young, mature and older employees) perceive their occupational situation. Research methodology Data were collected through an online survey (CAWI) conducted among a representative sample of 1,067 full-time employees in Poland. Respondents rated the different elements that make up their job situation. As the research progressed, the results were aggregated. The mean score in each age group was calculated. Finally, a series of non-parametric analyses of variance (Kruskal-Wallis test) were carried out to check for any differences between the groups. Results Of the 24 components of the occupational situation analysed, only 12 showed statistically significant differences between the groups. Some results confirmed intuitive assumptions (e.g. regarding work experience) and some contradicted them (e.g. regarding familiarity with modern technologies). Novelty: Many common opinions about the occupational situation of younger and older employees are not reflected in reality.
Aim
This study aimed to identify and compare age stereotypes of registered nurses and supervisors in clinical inpatient settings.
Design
Generic qualitative study using half‐standardized interviews.
...Method
Nineteen face‐to‐face interviews and five focus groups (N = 50) were conducted with nurses of varying levels at a hospital of maximum medical care in Germany between August and November 2018 and were subjected to structured qualitative content analysis.
Results
Reflecting the ageing process and cooperation in mixed‐age teams, nursing staff and supervisors defined similar age stereotypes towards older and younger nurses reminiscent of common generational labels ‘Baby Boomers’ and Generations X. Their evaluation created an inconsistent and contradictory pattern differing to the respective work context and goals. Age stereotypes were described as both potentially beneficial and detrimental for the individual and the cooperation in the team. If a successfully implemented diversity management focuses age stereotypes, negative assumptions can be reduced and cooperation in mixed‐age teams can be considered beneficial.
Conclusion
Diversity management as measures against age stereotypes and for mutual acceptance and understanding should include staff from various hierarchical levels of the inpatient setting.
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