Aging and training and development willingness: Employee and supervisor mindsets

Vianen, A.E.M. van; Dalhoeven, Betty A. G. W.; Pater, Irene E. De

doi:10.1002/job.685

Cited by 75 publications

(30 citation statements)

References 61 publications

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“…This is in line with previous reports of negative effects of chronological age on the undertaking of formal learning activities (Kanfer and Ackerman, 2004;Warr, 2001) and positive effects of formal learning activities on employability (Groot and Van den Brink, 2000;Sanders and De Grip, 2004;Van der Heijden et al, 2009). One reason for the reduced participation in formal learning activities of older employees is the unwillingness of employers to send older people to trainings (Grima, 2011;Van Vianen et al, 2011), often due to non-inclusive and discriminatory employer attitudes and policies (Billett and Van Woerkom, 2008). Informal learning, however, is less dependent on the employers' resources and we did not find information, feedback, and help seeking to mediate the relationship between chronological age and employability.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 90%

“…With respect to the relation between age and formal learning, most studies indicate that older people are less interested in attending formal trainings (Kanfer and Ackerman, 2004;Livingstone, 1999;Warr and Birdi, 1998;Warr, 2001) and also are offered fewer opportunities to do so (Grima, 2011;Urwin, 2006;Van Vianen et al, 2011). This negative relationship may be explained by negative stereotypes against older workers (Kunze et al, 2013;Maurer et al, 2003;Wrenn and Maurer, 2004) and by financial considerations, as the potential pay-off period for any investments in employees is shorter the closer the employee is to retirement age.…”

Section: Chronological Age Learning and Employabilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

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Learning to stay employable

Froehlich¹,

Beausaert²,

Segers³

et al. 2018

Preprint

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Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of chronological age and formaland informal learning activities on employability. Furthermore, indirect effects of age on employabilityvia learning activities were tested.Design/methodology/approach – The authors conducted quantitative, cross-sectional surveyresearch (n¼780) in three Dutch and Austrian organizations to study the relationship betweenchronological age, formal and informal learning activities, and employability using structural equationmodeling.Findings – The authors find that both formal and informal learning increase employees’ employability.However, each type of learning contributes to different components of employability. Additionally, theauthors find indirect effects of chronological age on employability via formal learning.Research limitations/implications – The results question the focus on chronological age inorganizational and political decision making and contribute new insights for the management of anincreasingly older workforce.Practical implications – The findings question the predominant use of chronological age asdecisive criterion in organizational and national policies and call for closer examination of stereotypesagainst older employees. Employees should be supported in pursuing learning activities – irrespectiveof their chronological age. The implications of limiting employees’ access to formal learning activitiesmay limit their future employability. Individual employees, however, are in control of their informallearning activities, and this is a very important lever to maintain and develop employability.Social implications – Given the increasing dependency of social welfare systems on older people’sactive participation in the labor market, this study stresses that it is not chronological age per se thataffects people’s employability. This diverges from the way of how chronological age is used in policymaking.Originality/value – This study contributes further evidence for the relationships of age and formaland informal learning on employability. Additionally, it extends previous literature by examiningdifferent effects on different facets of employability, criticizing the prevalent use of chronological age,and investigating potential mediation effects.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 90%

Section: Chronological Age Learning and Employabilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Learning to stay employable

Froehlich¹,

Beausaert²,

Segers³

et al. 2018

Preprint

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“…First, the finding that older workers are expected to contribute their knowledge, but might not be considered appropriate knowledge recipients by their colleagues, might have detrimental effects on older workers’ perceived developmental opportunities. As these opportunities have been shown to be important for many older workers who wish to develop their knowledge and skills until retirement (Armstrong‐Stassen & Stassen, ; Van Vianen, Dalhoeven, & de De Pater, ), organizations should be careful not to disregard older workers when creating opportunities for development. Second, organizations can offer awareness trainings in which employees reflect on the age norms that guide their knowledge transfer behaviour at work.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Being perceived as a knowledge sender or knowledge receiver: A multistudy investigation of the effect of age on knowledge transfer

Burmeister

Fasbender

Deller

2018

J Occupat & Organ Psyc

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As a result of demographic changes, workforces are becoming older and more age diverse. While interactions between workers from different age groups can provide opportunities for mutual learning through bidirectional knowledge transfer, research has yet to investigate how age influences knowledge transfer between age‐diverse colleagues. Building on the organizational theory of age effects, we conducted two studies to examine how age influenced the roles assigned to individuals in knowledge transfer processes, that is, whether they were perceived as knowledge senders or knowledge recipients. In Study 1, we used an experimental vignette design with 450 employees to assess how age affected perceived ability and motivation to share and receive knowledge. Further, we tested the extent to which trustworthiness moderated these relationships. In Study 2, we extended these findings using a dyadic research design with data from 53 age‐diverse knowledge transfer dyads. We examined through which mechanisms the age of one's colleague affected one's knowledge transfer behaviour. We found that the age of one's colleague had a positive effect on one's knowledge receiving behaviour and a negative effect on one's knowledge sharing behaviour. Further, perceived ability to receive knowledge and perceived motivation to share knowledge mediated these effects.

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“…This learning value depends on key features of the work, such as high quality job assignments and the degree of challenge and growth potential, especially with regard to the ability to utilize one's knowledge and skills. Supervisors fulfill a crucial role with regard to the assignment of challenging tasks and activities (Van Vianen et al, 2011). However, Maurer (2007) found that older workers more often receive routine tasks rather than complex and challenging job assignments that stimulate development (p. 168), herewith endangering their future employability (Van der Heijden et al, 2009a).…”

Section: Theoretical Background and Formulation Of Hypothesesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Learning Climate Perceptions as a Determinant of Employability: An Empirical Study Among European ICT Professionals

et al. 2018

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This study investigated the role of age in the relationship between perceptions of learning climate and self- and supervisor-rated employability among European Information and Communication Technology (ICT) professionals. The psychological climate for learning was operationalized by three indicators, namely the perceptions that employees have of the learning value of their job, supervisor support for learning, and the organizational support for learning. As hypothesized, a Structural Equation Model demonstrated that the relationship between age and perceptions of learning climate was negative. The model also showed a strong positive relationship between learning climate and self-reported and supervisor-rated employability. Furthermore, learning climate perceptions appeared important for employability irrespective of life or career stage. An explorative bootstrapping-based test suggested that older workers with managerial responsibilities profit less from psychological learning climate for self-reported and supervisor-rated employability than older workers at non-managerial levels. These findings have important implications for human resource practices that aim to increase lifelong employability.

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Aging and training and development willingness: Employee and supervisor mindsets

Cited by 75 publications

References 61 publications

Learning to stay employable

Learning to stay employable

Being perceived as a knowledge sender or knowledge receiver: A multistudy investigation of the effect of age on knowledge transfer

Learning Climate Perceptions as a Determinant of Employability: An Empirical Study Among European ICT Professionals

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