Based on a new model of productivity in age diverse tams, ¿ndings from a six-year research program are reported in which data from more than 745 natural teams with 8,848 employees in three different ¿elds (car production, administrative work, ¿nancial services) were collected. Moreover, central assumptions of this model were tested with a representative survey of the German workforce (N = 2,000). Results support both signi¿cant advantages and disadvantages for age-mixed teams. Based on the findings, the following preconditions for the effectiveness of age diverse teams are identi¿ed: high task complexity, low salience and high appreciation of age diversity, a positive team climate, low age-discrimination, ergonomic design of work places, and the use of age differentiated leadership. Based on these insights, we developed a new training for supervisors, which addresses the aforementioned aspects and seeks to improve team performance and health of team members. It was found that the training reduces age stereotypes, team conflicts and enhances innovation. Thus, we can conclude that effective interventions for a successful integration of elderly employees in work groups are available and that combinations of measures that address ergonomic design issues, team composition and leadership are to be strongly recommended for practice.

Applying social identity theory and the relational demography approach, this paper proposes that the effect of age diversity on individual team members' health is contingent on the individual age as well as on age stereotypes. We suggest that younger and older employees' health is negatively associated with age diversity, while middle-aged team members' health is not affected. We further postulate that age stereotypes strengthen the negative effect of age diversity for the younger age group, while they weaken the effect for older employees. For middle-aged team members, age stereotypes are expected not to determine the relationship between age diversity and health. We tested our hypotheses based on data from a representative sample of the German workforce (n = 1,214). The results fully confirmed our hypotheses.

No abstract

Abstract The ongoing demographic change in most European countries increases the proportion of older employees and the prevalence of age diversity in work groups. As the diversity literature supports theories predicting negative effects of age diversity in teams, practical interest is growing how to influence these groups to perform at their best. In this article, we present a model of productivity in age-diverse teams, which we used as the platform for conceptualizing a new training for leaders. The training aims at improving attitudes toward older employees, appreciation of team diversity, and performance in age-diverse teams. We evaluated this training in a public administration in Germany with a training–waiting control group design (47 leaders, 221 employees) including a follow-up measure after 1 year. Results revealed that the training increased appreciation of age diversity and reduced age stereotypes in leaders. Team members’ ratings of age stereotypes and conflicts were also positively influenced, in particular for younger team members who suffer most from working in age-diverse teams. Thus, the newly developed training is a recommendable intervention for leaders of age-diverse teams.

Zusammenfassung. Die Erfassung psychosozialer Belastung bei der Arbeit im Rahmen der Gefährdungsbeurteilung psychischer Belastung (GBU) verfolgt das Ziel, arbeitsbedingte psychische Belastungen zu messen und mögliche Gefährdungen zu verringern oder gänzlich zu vermeiden. Gängige Verfahren der GBU sind allerdings noch nicht an das veränderte Arbeitsumfeld angepasst, welches im Zuge der fortschreitenden technischen Entwicklung unter dem Schlagwort Industrie 4.0 zusammengefasst wird. Auf Basis von qualitativen Interviews mit 38 betrieblichen und überbetrieblichen Expert_innen des Arbeits- und Gesundheitsschutzes zeigt sich, dass Anpassungen bei der GBU bezogen auf deren Durchführungsprozess und deren Inhalte notwendig sind, um den Herausforderungen, die durch die veränderte Arbeitswelt entstehen, zu begegnen. Die Expert_innen benennen neuartige, veränderte Belastungen sowie konkrete Anforderungen an den Prozess der GBU. Die Ergebnisse der qualitativen Interviews werden abschließend kritisch reflektiert und mit bestehender Forschung verknüpft.