The news that the early retirement trend has been reversed and current older workers plan to work past conventional retirement ages has been widely heralded. Managers have been encouraged to make adjustments to differences in job conditions that are important to older workers. We use social exchange theory and the norm of reciprocity as a framework for examining six dimensions of job quality for their impact on employee engagement among several groups of older and younger workers at different points in the cycle of their careers in a large retail setting. Employees (N ¼ 6047) were surveyed as part of a large-scale research project. Exploratory factor analyses identified commonalities among 27 job quality variables and four reliable factors. Regression analyses estimated the relationship between four job conditions and employee engagement. Although the relative weights of the factors differed by career stage, the same factors: (1) Supervisor Support and Recognition; (2) Schedule Satisfaction; and (3) Job Clarity were significant predictors of employee engagement for all age groups; (4) Career Development was a predictor for all but the retirement-eligible employees. Findings reveal the importance of recognizing age diversity among both young and old employees. Both theoretical and practical implications are discussed.
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between employee perceptions of unfair treatment of older workers and employee engagement. Design/methodology/approach – In a sample of over 4,500 workers, ages 18-94, from a retail workforce across three regions of the USA, the authors examine the relationship between perceptions that older workers are less likely to be promoted and employee engagement, using multilevel mixed effects linear regression models. The authors also examine whether the relationship is different if older workers were seen as fit for promotion, and whether discrimination is: intentional (fit, but less likely to be promoted) or unintentional (unfit, and less likely to be promoted). Findings – Results indicate that perceived discrimination is related to lower levels of employee engagement among workers of all ages. Findings also suggest that for older workers, there is a more negative relationship between unintentional discrimination and employee engagement, while for younger workers the relationship is more negative for intentional discrimination. Research limitations/implications – Age discrimination is a critical issue for managerial psychology. While the authors' study is limited to one organization, the idea of unintentional discrimination may make it easier for managers to recognize and challenge discriminatory attitudes and behaviors in less threatening ways. Originality/value – As older workers of today may not exit the workforce in predictable ways, there is a need to understand potential barriers to continued work. Traditional measures of stereotypes and perceptions of older workers are used here for the first time to construe intentional and unintentional discrimination, which may be one such barrier.
Flexible work options are becoming a popular organizational practice used to assist employees with meeting their work and family responsibilities. However, much of the work-family scholarship and many of the work-family policies offered within organizations focus on forms of workplace flexibility for professional workers, at the exclusion of workers in lower-wage hourly jobs. Using data from interviews with senior managers (N = 40), this paper examines the flexible work options offered to workers in lower-wage hourly positions and the associated benefits and challenges to businesses offering flexible work options. Implications for practice and policy are discussed.Correspondence should be sent to Jennifer E. Swanberg,
Contemporary calendar management: Exploring the intersections of groupware and personal calendars ** Individuals create spatial, temporal, and psychological boundaries to maintain personal role preferences. We analyze semi-structured interviews with 22 working professionals to study how employees manage their electronic calendars to achieve their boundary management preferences. We explore the patterns and tensions in calendar practices, including the processes people use to manage their boundaries and the factors that influence how employees use groupware calendars. The results show that in addition to the classic boundary management preferences for segmentation and integration, individuals also have preferences for keeping group calendar information public or private. We also find that personal boundary management preferences are constrained by organizational systems and norms about calendar use. Key factors in individuals' calendar structures are the technological affordances of visuality, synchronization, and proactivity. Boundary breaches highlight problems with the use of taken-for-granted technologies and spur individuals to develop new processes to work around organizational policies or expectations that do not fit with individual preferences. The study expands boundary management theories by introducing the concept of public and private information.
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