Purpose Employee engagement studies are popular in contemporary research because of the complexity organizations face in nurturing the performance and productivity of multi-generations of workers. The purpose of this paper is to assess association of age and dimensions of work engagement. Design/methodology/approach In total, 181 participants completed the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES) to measure work engagement including the dimensions of absorption, vigor and dedication as well as demographics. One-way ANOVA and post hoc tests were conducted to examine the relationship between age and work engagement. Findings Employees 50 years of age and older were found to have statistically significant higher work engagement scores than the employees under the age of 50. Statistically significant scores were also found to be higher in absorption and dedication. Originality/value The workforce is aging with older employees becoming larger populations in organizations. Understanding how age influences employee work engagement supports human capital management strategy within organizations. HR professionals can also use the findings to develop targeted employee engagement to leverage the dedication and talents of older employees.

Purpose This study aims to examine the impact of leadership development programs on organizational outcomes and organizational effectiveness. Design/methodology/approach Using a grounded theory approach, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 15 executive leaders from aviation firms in Brazil with employees participating in a leadership development program. NVivo12 was used for coding and managing the data. Thematic analysis was performed to determine themes and categories. Findings The leadership development program was found to influence organizational level outcomes identified as themes of internal impact, external impact, skill development and capacity. The interviews also found that executive leaders perceived the leadership development program to impact organizational effectiveness. Connections to human capital, social capital and collective leadership were found as outcomes of the leadership development program contributing to organizational effectiveness. Research limitations/implications The findings are dependent upon the executive leaders’ interviews and are limited sample size. The protocol of subjective inter-coder reliability was followed supporting the credibility and dependability of the findings; however, researcher bias may still be present in qualitative studies. Generalizability outside of the Brazilian aviation context is cautioned until further studies in additional contexts and industries are completed. Practical implications The findings of this study support leadership development programs as impactful on organizational outcomes and effectiveness. Incorporating leadership development programs as part of human capital management strategies supports organizational effectiveness through increased collective leadership capacity, human capital development and social capital. Originality/value A large amount is known regarding the outcomes for individuals as a result of leadership development programs with less examination on the contribution to organizational level outcomes and organizational effectiveness. This study aids in bridging this gap.

Purpose This paper examines the role of human capital management strategy in shaping organizational resilience. Resilient organizations thrive in uncertain and adverse conditions. The organization’s capacity for resilience can be developed through human capital management strategies that are focused on employee capabilities, training, and development. When individual capabilities and resilience are developed, those can be aggregated at an organizational level to develop the capacity in an organization for resilience. Design/methodology/approach A review of relevant studies and literature was conducted to develop strategies and insight into developing the human capital of an organization to support organizational resilience. Findings Supporting individual capability development and resilience builds the organization’s capacity for resilience. By shifting human capital management strategies to building capabilities and then skills, organizations develop individual resilience and then organizational resilience. The implications of how to build such human capital management strategies are presented. Originality/value This paper provides support and guidelines for building individual capability and resilience to enhance an organization’s resilience.

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Contractual, short-term employees are increasingly utilized to support organizational performance. The employee's perception of the psychological contract were explored in this qualitative study through semi-structured interviews of 22 contractual workers. Psychological contract was fulfilled through transactional job tasks and psychological contract breaches were found in relationships with leadership and the organization. An exploratory examination from the contractual worker lens helped to influence the psychological contract on the employee performance and its use in leveraging this workforce to improve organizational performance.