Age as moderator in the relationship between HR development practices and employees’ positive attitudes

Abstract

Purpose -Drawing on social exchange theory, prior research suggests that the adoption of human resources (HR) practices in the areas of training and development helps to maximize employees' positive work attitudes. However, while research has generally assumed that HR practices influence all employees in the same way, there is much evidence that employees' motives and needs change with age, suggesting that older workers may react differently to the same HR practices as compared to younger colleagues. This study seeks to shed light on this important and under-explored issue, analyzing whether the effect of HR development practices on job satisfaction ( JS) and affective commitment is moderated by age in a sample of 37 companies located in Italy, involving a total of 6,182 employees. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach -Applying a multilevel approach, the results confirm a positive influence of HR development practices in increasing JS and affective commitment and show that this positive relationship weakens with age. Findings -Indeed, HR development practices were associated with lower JS and affective commitment for the oldest employees. Theoretical and managerial implications are discussed suggesting the need to attribute greater consideration to age diversity when tailoring HR practices to improve their effect on employees' positive work attitudes. Originality/value -At the theoretical level, the paper contributes to the HRM literature debate, as the role of intervening variables -such as age -in the relationship between HR practices and employees' attitudes is still an open issue. At the methodological level, the paper tested the hypotheses using a multilevel regression model. The paper combined data at individual and the organizational levels and adopted a multilevel approach in order to provide a better understanding of the way age can moderate the HRM-employee attitudes relationship.

Retaining an ageing workforce: The effects of high‐performance work systems and flexible work programmes

“…Similarly, although younger employees may be lured by possibilities of promotion and the higher income associated with motivation-enhancing practices, these are less likely to appeal to older ones, either because their career perspectives are more limited (Ng & Feldman, 2013) or they give less importance to the performance feedback designed to improve their output and professional development (Findley, Giles, & Mossholder, 2000), or simply because they may have already reached the top of the ladder and have fewer financial concerns (Kanfer & Ackerman, 2004). Finally, whereas younger employees may welcome the participation-enhancing practices that allow gaining experience, developing a broad view of the organisation, and expanding their personal social network (Baron & Kreps, 1999), older ones tend to attach less value to this, given their lower expectations of advancement (Innocenti, Profili, & Sammarra, 2013;Kooij, Jansen, Dikkers, & De Lange, 2010) and their preference for dealing with colleagues they already know (Drabe et al, 2015) and value more (Fung et al, 2001).…”

Framework for the Study of Employee Commitment

“…On average, people generally stop being described as young at approximately 40 years of age (Abrams, Vauclair & Swift, 2011). Age represents the evolutions taking place in people's life over time, in terms of biological, psychological and social functioning (Innocenti, Profili & Sammarra, 2013). Thus, age is related with affective and normative occupational commitment because the age of an individual in terms of affective commitment is an indicator of them getting a better position in the organisation or profession and gaining tenure (Benligiray & Sonmez, 2013).…”

Retaining an age-diverse workforce through HRM: The mediation of work engagement and affective commitment

“…Human Resource Management (HRM) can have a fundamental role in age-diversity management by creating and adapting organizational policies and practices that contribute to the alignment between workers' needs and the organization's strategy and mission (Hertel et al, 2013;Riach, 2009). In fact, previous investigation has shown that workers' age has an effect on the associations between perceived human resources (HR) practices and job attitudes and behavior (Innocenti et al, 2013;Kooij et al, 2010;Kooij et al, 2013). Researchers have been especially striving to understand how organizations can encourage older workers to stay active for longer and to postpone retirement (e.g., Armstrong-Stassen and Ursel, 2009;Bal et al, 2012;Pak et al, 2019).…”