Perceived qualities of older workers and age management in companies

Abstract

Purpose – To explore whether the ages of human resources (HR) managers has an impact on their perceptions of the qualities/characteristics of older and younger workers (i.e., manager attitudes) and on the implementation of age management initiatives to the benefit of older workers (i.e., manager behaviors). The paper aims to discuss this issue. Design/methodology/approach – Based on theories concerning the origins of stereotypes and the concept of “in-group bias”, three hypotheses were tested on a sample of HR managers from 516 Italian companies extracted from the Gfk Eurisko database by using factor analyses and bivariate and multivariate tools. Findings – The age of an HR manager seems to influence his/her attitudes towards older and younger workers, because HR managers judge workers of a similar age to them more positively. In contrast, the age of an HR manager does not seem to play a particular role in the implementation of age management initiatives. In the companies considered, however, there is a tendency to adopt early retirement schemes when the HR managers concerned are younger, while in general there is a tendency to implement age management initiatives and show a greater appreciation of older workers in larger companies. Practical implications – The implementation of age management initiatives to the benefit of older workers may improve HR managers ' perceptions of those workers ' positive qualities. Furthermore, specific training may help HR managers recognize that both younger and older workers have useful albeit different strengths. Originality/value – This study provides new empirical evidence from the Italian context on the largely under-investigated issue of the role played by age in shaping HR managers ' attitudes towards older workers, and age management policies in particular.

The Age Management philosophy and the concept of Work-life balance in the selected Czech banking institutions

“…It is necessary to realize that the corporate culture is very important and its quality affects the existence of the whole not only of a banking institution. The formulated rules and philosophy not only of a banking institution should correspond with the actual atmosphere and practices in the workplace, which is also documented by the following: Morawitzová (2014), Mezinárodní projekt MUME (2014), Principi et al (2015) and others.…”

“…(Kulik et al, 2014) The aging of the European population is a demographic trend that is expected to continue in the coming decades, and is reflected in the ever growing number of older workers. (Principi et al, 2015) The Czech society is growing old, that being more significant than in the case of populations in other countries of our cultural circle. If the Czech Republic wants to be achieving economic growth in the future, it will need to make use of the potential of 50+ employees more.…”

Working time organisation of senior workers in agricultural companies with a focus on age management

“…Results are mainly in line with the literature. The importance of age management for all age groups, regardless of the sector, is documented by Principi et al (2015) and Riva et al (2014). It is, therefore, necessary to focus on the examined issue of age management also in agricultural companies.…”

“…As confirmed by many studies (Galea et al, 2014;Askenazy, 2013;Mohrenweiser and Zwick, 2009), the agricultural sector is no exception in this regard. Although the use of flexible working time organisation is also influenced by the type of a job, a wide range of flexible working time organisations makes it possible to use them in agriculture, especially for different age groups (Principi and Fabbietti, 2015;Ciutiene and Railaite, 2015;Froehlich et al, 2015;Urbancová and Hudáková, 2017).…”

Factors Influencing Age Management in Organisations in the Czech Republic

“…Kociánová (2012) also adds a fourth level, the collective level. The importance of the organisational level is emphasised by Principi, Fabbietti, and Lamura (2015), whose research has shown that age management has not yet been fully integrated into personnel management strategies within organisations. Based on these results, employees possessing knowledge that younger employees do not possess still retire early.…”