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1 – 10 of over 1000Ewa Soja and Piotr Soja
Adaptation to the requirements of digital economy is especially difficult for older workers, which is a challenge for today’s organizations due to workforce shrinking and ageing…
Abstract
Purpose
Adaptation to the requirements of digital economy is especially difficult for older workers, which is a challenge for today’s organizations due to workforce shrinking and ageing. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to investigate how it is possible to develop older employees’ potential in technology use in the business environment.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors examined how employees at various age perceive barriers during enterprise system (ES) adoption and use. This exploratory study is based on grounded theory and draws from the opinions of 187 Polish ES practitioners.
Findings
With age, emphasis on employees’ perception of mandatory ICT implementation projects is shifting from technology to people-related considerations. For older employees, job security and workload appear the most critical issues in such projects. Age-diverse collaboration appears necessary to address the problems posed by technology-related and demographic changes.
Research limitations/implications
The findings imply that incorporating multiple stakeholder perspectives and age-related considerations into research on ICT adoption appears essential.
Practical implications
ICT adoption in the business environment can be successfully supported by age-balanced team building, cooperation between younger and older employees, and age-adjusted change management initiatives.
Social implications
Supporting older employees during the implementation of mandatory business software should embrace reducing their negative attitudes to ICT-induced change by minimizing their perception of job insecurity.
Originality/value
Unlike many prior studies, the current research places age in the central role and discusses not only how it is possible to support older employees, but also how to leverage their potential in the process of ICT adoption and use in a mandatory setting.
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Tatiana Marques, Inês Carneiro e Sousa and Sara Ramos
The aging of the population is changing the composition of the workforce in most developed countries. With increasingly older and age-diverse workforces, organizations need to…
Abstract
Purpose
The aging of the population is changing the composition of the workforce in most developed countries. With increasingly older and age-diverse workforces, organizations need to redesign jobs to keep their workers healthy, happy and productive across the lifespan. In the current research, the authors integrate socioemotional selectivity theory and selection, optimization and compensation theory with job design to investigate how certain job characteristics influence the work engagement of older and younger workers.
Design/methodology/approach
In a two-wave survey with age-diverse employees from multiple organizations (N = 372), the authors explore how autonomy and feedback contribute to the engagement of older and younger workers, depending on levels of task variety.
Findings
In the case of older workers the relationships between autonomy and engagement, and feedback and engagement are positive when task variety is low but non-significant when task variety is high. Conversely, in the case of younger workers the relationships between autonomy and engagement, and feedback and engagement are positive when task variety is high but non-significant when task variety is low.
Research limitations/implications
The research contributes to the growing body of knowledge on aging and work, particularly the lifespan perspective on job design. Nonetheless, the correlational design warrants caution about drawing causal inferences.
Practical implications
The findings inform managers on how to combine autonomy, feedback and task variety to design jobs that can engage the multi-age workforce.
Originality/value
The research is among the first to investigate the combined effects of different job characteristics on age-diverse employees' engagement at work.
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The purpose of this paper is to pinpoint some key variables that help shape the notion of older workers as a source of organizational wisdom capital.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to pinpoint some key variables that help shape the notion of older workers as a source of organizational wisdom capital.
Design/methodology/approach
Toward that end, the paper reviews a selective bibliography in order to support its arguments.
Findings
The evidence garnered throughout this paper – fundamentally through different lens of analysis – suggests that older workers may be considered as valuable assets. Furthermore, a sizeable number of members of this cohort continue, even in the latter stages of their careers, to be willing, well-equipped, and able to enhance, if properly utilized, companies to achieve other patterns of performance. Accordingly, it is advocated here that their knowledge and expertise constitutes an authentic source of organizational wisdom capital that deserves careful attention from organizations to maintain by means of suitable incentives and training.
Research limitations/implications
This paper highlights other aspects that should not be disdained by organizations such as career-ending, work characteristics, and mastery-avoidance goals. Thus, companies that are interested in keeping older talents must be attuned to their wishes and aspirations, as well as being proactive by offering tailor-made job-products to them.
Social implications
Given the trend of aging workforce, it is likely that organizations will be increasingly impacted by societal demands and public policies toward benefiting and respecting older talents.
Originality/value
This paper advocates that older workers are usually living memories of organizational life. Rather, they tend to keep in their minds those failures and successful ideas, projects, initiatives, and leaderships, which added or not value throughout their trajectories, as well as things that worked out or not. Fundamentally, they are able to provide answers to vital questions.
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Wilson Amorim, AndréLuiz Fischer and Fabiana Bitencourt Fevorini
This paper deals with the insertion of workers aged 50 years or more in the Brazilian labor market. Considering this question, the purpose of this paper is to raise evidence about…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper deals with the insertion of workers aged 50 years or more in the Brazilian labor market. Considering this question, the purpose of this paper is to raise evidence about the existence of ageism – prejudice against that age range. The paper identifies the characteristics of participation by workers age 50 or older in Brazil’s formal labor market. The paper also identifies whether and how the specific issues of these workers are handled in the individual employment contract, with the human resources management (HRM) policies and practices of a group of companies.
Design/methodology/approach
The study applied a quantitative approach in an analysis of the older population in the Brazilian labor market (Annual Social Information Report (RAIS) database and “MEPT” survey database – 2011/2016). The RAIS data are collected annually by the Ministério do Trabalho e Emprego – MTE, coming from all establishments with or without formal employees, whether statutory (public servants) or private organizations. MEPT survey is an annual study focused on quality of the organizational environment and HRM practices (organizations participate voluntarily). A qualitative approach was applied also in a document content analysis on information about HRM policies and practices based on MEPT companies’ research evidence reports.
Findings
There is evidence of ageism among private companies in Brazil with better HRM. These companies hire proportionally less old workers than the market and their HRM policies and practices scarcely handle with employees. The workers age 50 and over among the workers employed (private and mixed capital companies) have growing participation in the labor market. The profile of these workers is predominantly male, higher level education considering the market average, and working under longer lasting formal contracts comparing all workers combined. People involved in the individual hiring of workers from this age group do not even give this subject much attention.
Research limitations/implications
The specific objective of verifying if and how the specific issues that workers of 50 years and older are dealing; in the individual hiring for work, encountered limitations based on the restricted character of the data presented. In particular, the information related to the best companies (MEPT) is representative only of its own group and thus is restricted to the private sector. Although this cannot be generalized, they offer support for reflections on the subject.
Practical implications
This paper shows how companies with advanced HRM handle with older workers in their policies and practices.
Social implications
This work points out that that the aging of workers will be a problem to be discussed by the companies HRM in the future.
Originality/value
This paper identifies the need to study how companies will deal with the increasing number of older workers.
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Piret Masso, Krista Jaakson and Kaire Põder
The study's objective is to estimate the association of specific perceived employer-provided benefits on employees' intention to leave in different age cohorts during coronavirus…
Abstract
Purpose
The study's objective is to estimate the association of specific perceived employer-provided benefits on employees' intention to leave in different age cohorts during coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Informed by the psychological theories of ageing, the authors propose three age-cohort-specific hypotheses in three motivational domains: security and health benefits, flexible work arrangement and education-related benefits.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors use a large survey of employees in Estonia (n = 7,209) conducted in 2020 and test the association of specific benefits and their interactions with age on employees' intention to leave.
Findings
The results show that older cohorts are generally less prone to leave their jobs. Benefits that employers could use during the COVID-19 crisis generally had negative associations with the intention to leave, but age-specific differences were negligible; only the perceived provision of flexible work arrangements reduced the younger cohort's intention to leave relatively more.
Originality/value
This study is one of the few that allows us to make inferences regarding the benefits preferences amongst the working population during an unprecedented health crisis.
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Nanna Gillberg and Ewa Wikström
This study was undertaken in order to show how talent management (TM) was performed in practice in a multinational organization as well as how the TM practices affected both…
Abstract
Purpose
This study was undertaken in order to show how talent management (TM) was performed in practice in a multinational organization as well as how the TM practices affected both different groups of workers and the perception of talent within the organization.
Design/methodology/approach
Performing talent management was reassessed in the relationship between TM practices, view and identification of talent, attributed positioning and self-positioning of older and younger workers; retrieved from an exploratory single case study in a multinational organization, based on interviews.
Findings
The findings illustrate that despite the struggling to fill key positions with skilled workers, the studied organization adopted approaches to TM that excluded older workers' talent. First, central to performing TM was how talent was viewed and identified, and second, two types of positioning acts were important: the organizations (re)producing of talent management through attributive positioning acts on older/younger workers and older workers' self-positioning of their own talent. The two sides of performing talent management were complex and intertwined resulting in an age-based devaluation of talent at work.
Practical implications
The study points to important issues in designing and performing TM that may be useful to HR and managers as a point of departure in the development of more inclusive approaches to TM.
Originality/value
The concept “performing talent management” was developed as an intertwined relationship between on-going positioning acts and (re)production of status, talent and age at work; recognizing preferences of what was viewed and identified as valued talent as main drivers made it possible to develop an understanding of exclusion and inclusion mechanisms in performing TM.
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Gerry Larsson, Malin Mattson Molnar, Helena Tinnerholm Ljungberg and Christina Björklund
The study represents a theory-based leadership approach in exploring the subordinate's perceptions of leadership behaviors in relation to age, gender and type of work environment…
Abstract
Purpose
The study represents a theory-based leadership approach in exploring the subordinate's perceptions of leadership behaviors in relation to age, gender and type of work environment. The aim was (1) to compare subordinates' ratings of their respective leaders' leadership behaviors based on of the leaders' age and gender, controlling for type of work environment and (2) to analyze the relationship between the subordinates' ratings of their leaders' leadership behaviors and their ratings of the outcome of these leadership behaviors.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected using the Developmental Leadership Questionnaire (DLQ) from a sample of Swedish leadership course participants (n = 10,869) and their respective subordinates (n = 97,943). The DLQ measures leadership behaviors designed to reflect the following leadership styles: developmental leadership, conventional-positive leadership, conventional-negative leadership and destructive leadership.
Findings
Results showed that older leaders (51 years or older) were rated less favorably than younger (29 years or younger) and mid-aged leaders. Female leaders received more positive ratings than male leaders. A 3-way analysis-of-variance showed strong main effects for age, gender, and type of work environment and no significant interaction effects. A significant model with high equivalents of R2 coefficients (Cox and Snell, 1989; Nagelkerke, 1991) was obtained in a logistic regression analysis. Developmental leadership and conventional-positive leadership made significant positive contributions to the subordinates' ratings of the outcome of their leaders' leadership behaviors. Destructive leadership behaviors contributed negatively to the outcome ratings.
Research limitations/implications
Weaknesses include the cross-sectional study design. The large sample size is a strength, and the results have novel implications for leadership theory related to subordinates' view on leadership.
Practical implications
Counter-stereotype age and gender findings may have implications for organizational decisions and processes regarding selection of managers. Development programs are suggested for all categories but for older, male leaders with a focus on reducing their use of leadership behaviors perceived negatively by their subordinates, whereas younger female leaders should be encouraged to continue to develop their positive leadership behaviors.
Originality/value
The theory-based approach on subordinates' perceptions of leadership behaviors with a simultaneous focus on age, gender and type of work environment, based on a large-scale data set, is new.
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Maria Jose Tonelli, Jussara Pereira, Vanessa Cepellos and João Lins
This paper aims to show which factors influence the perception of human resources professionals about managers over 50 years old and which factors guide the age management…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to show which factors influence the perception of human resources professionals about managers over 50 years old and which factors guide the age management practices adopted in the surveyed companies.
Design/methodology/approach
To this end, a survey was conducted with 140 companies accessed from a database of a human resources association. Through the answers obtained through the online questionnaire, an exploratory factor analysis was made with the aid of Software R.
Findings
Thus, it was possible to identify four factors that explain the work posture of professionals 50 years of age and older (company expectations, performance, morality and knowledge and professionalism) and three factors that guide the adoption of age management practices in organizations (recruitment & selection and integration, retention and continuity in the company, adaptation to the needs).
Originality/value
The results suggest that, even considering the high performance of older managers, perceived by HR professionals, the adoption of age management practices is still insufficient, making it difficult for these professionals to enter and remain in organizations. Moreover, it can be inferred that such posture indicates biases of discrimination and age stereotypes.
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Phudit Tejativaddhana, Nalinee Nakittipha Chuakhamfoo and Man Thi Hue Vo
This paper aims to explore the aging society situation, long-term care (LTC) policy preparation, COVID-19’s impact on older people, and post-pandemic preparations in Thailand and…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to explore the aging society situation, long-term care (LTC) policy preparation, COVID-19’s impact on older people, and post-pandemic preparations in Thailand and the implications for The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries.
Design/methodology/approach
Online databases from international, national, academic agencies and SCOPUS database from January 2019 to July 2021 were utilized for analysis. Relevant literature and data were selected for review.
Findings
The evidence suggests that the proportion of the aging population is increasing due to declined fertility and rising life expectancy. Current and future demand for effective healthcare in ASEAN will be better achieved with policies like the Universal Health Coverage and Primary Health Care system. While some countries, specifically Thailand, are developing and expanding their LTC policies, some concerns regarding the active aging policy remain. Most ASEAN countries are using public domain for LTC policies. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has posed a major challenge in implementing LTC and affected the vulnerable aging population in many aspects, including social protection issues in Thailand.
Originality/value
With the support from international organizations, ASEAN countries have framed several policy strategies in response to the increasing aging population, such as providing more LTC in the community. The unexpected challenges from the COVID-19 pandemic compel policymakers to consider resource allocations and community-based services. On the positive side, as the pandemic has made the vulnerable group exposed, social protection issues have been brought to the forefront of the political debate and called for an appropriate policy response.
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The purpose of this study is to propose the notion of the value and contribution of the wisdom of older workers in working life.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to propose the notion of the value and contribution of the wisdom of older workers in working life.
Design/methodology/approach
Using a framework of organisational aesthetics, this paper presents an empirical case study analysing the material collected from Finnish municipal home care services and sheltered accommodation designed for older people. Through the analysis of the stories of older and younger employees, the case study shows how workers construct ideas of skills related to ageing, how the wisdom of older workers has been transformed into practices and how aesthetic wisdom might benefit this social process.
Findings
The findings reveal three characteristics of ageing wisdom – caring, graceful and joyful wisdom – that all present focused sensitivity, emphasizing the subject’s experience, feelings and emotions. The findings also illustrate how the authority of older workers made visible this feeling-driven wisdom and values, and through these means, enhanced the skills of younger employees.
Social implications
The present paper challenges the debate on ageing which has mainly focused on the problems of older workers in a social context.
Originality/value
This paper provides new insights into the skills of older workers in the empirical and theoretical framework of organisational aesthetics.
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