Age Management within Organizations – Employees’ Perceptions of the Phenomenon – Research Report

Abstract

This article discusses the issue of age management in organizations and presents research results concerning workers’ perceptions of the phenomenon. The aim of the research was to study the perceptions of Polish employees of various professional fields, check employees’ level of knowledge of the age management issue, determine the variables differentiating this knowledge and verify whether employees consider age management to be useful and how they perceive experienced workers. The first part of the article presents concepts explaining what age management is in the context of demographic changes in European societies. Age management is a term encompassing a range of methods aiming at the possibly most effective use of human capital in organizations, irrespective of employees’ age, so that their work is efficient, profitable for the company as well as satisfying for the workers themselves. Strategies referring to age management should consider the perspectives of the company, employee, job market policy and demographic and economic situation conditions. In the later part of this article, the authors present the results of exploratory research into the level of knowledge of age management, the way it is perceived in organizations around Poland, mostly in international corporations. The research included employees of business and budget sectors. Respondents answered questionnaire questions by estimating, on the Likert scale, how they assess age management measures taken in their workplace, the need to use experienced workers’ potential, etc. In the authors’ opinion, because of the importance of the problem of efficient personnel management and promoting and applying age management programs, it is necessary for both employees and managers to have awareness, knowledge and positive attitude towards methods activating the potential of employees from various age ranges.

Age management and its architecture in polish traditional versus knowledge-based companies

“…From this perspective, ageing can be seen as an opportunity. One of the biggest benefits of this trend is the development of knowledge-sharing companies (Fornalczyk et al, 2015). Mature workers can become mentors or consultants who support younger co-workers.…”

“…Mature workers can become mentors or consultants who support younger co-workers. Meanwhile, research shows that companies do not fully utilise this potential in elderly workers (Fornalczyk et al, 2015 andJedrych, 2015). The age of employees is one of the dimensions of diversity management, and it can have a positive impact on a company's performance and enable the effectiveness of human resources management (Kopeć, 2016;Rakowska, 2014;Borkowska and Jawor-Joniewicz, 2016).…”

Managing the Age Diversity of Employees as a Remedy for the Aging of the Society from an Intergenerational Perspective

“…There are many harming stereotypes that older people over 50 have to face in the workplace on a daily basis (Grima, 2011). Some think that older people are less productive, do not want to upskill, and are more expensive for employers due to their length of service and professional experience (Fornalczyk et al, 2015). As a result, employers do not provide appropriate training courses to this group of employees, which leads to a decrease in their productivity, motivation to act and confidence in their abilities (Taylor, 2008).…”

How to Manage People Underutilization in an Industry 4.0 Environment?

“…Demographic changes are reshaping work design. It is estimated that by 2050 around 20% of the world population will be aged 60 years or older [16]. Several changes take place in the human body as age increases, and some of them are significant for the working environment, e.g.…”