Retaining retirement-eligible older workers through training participation: The joint implications of individual growth need and organizational climates.

Abstract

As the workforce ages, organizations are increasing their efforts to retain retirement-eligible workers to avoid human capital shortages and preserve knowledge reservoirs. Nevertheless, the potential factors and underlying mechanisms relating to the retention of retirement-eligible workers have rarely been examined. The current research investigates how retirement-eligible workers may be retained by the organization through human capital development activities. Specifically, we draw upon the motivated choice framework to investigate the joint implications of individual (i.e., individual growth need) and organizational factors (i.e., climate for developing older workers and age-inclusive climate) for retirement–eligible workers’ training participation and thereby retention. We tested our hypotheses with two samples in the Netherlands. Study 1 utilized the two-wave, multilevel survey data (2015–2018) from the Netherlands Interdisciplinary Demographic Institute Pension Panel Study (N = 3,200 older workers from 409 organizations). We found that individual growth need and climate for developing older workers had positive associations with training participation, which in turn was positively related to older workers’ decision to stay (vs. retire) despite retirement eligibility. In addition, age-inclusive climate amplified the positive relationship between individual growth need and training participation. Study 2 utilized the two-wave Longitudinal Internet studies for the Social Sciences panel data (N = 301 older workers). We replicated result patterns from Study 1 and found that person-organization fit and needs-supplies fit mediated the relationship between training participation and retirement-eligible workers’ intention to stay.

The “double-edged sword” effects of career support mentoring on newcomer turnover: How and when it helps or hurts.

“…This study offers a meaningful replication of Study 1, and incorporating internal and external career advancement expectations helps unpack the theoretical mechanisms linking received career support mentoring to the two forms of proactive career behaviors based on social cognitive theory. Limitations of Study 2 are that we were unable to capture the mediators (i.e., perceived internal and external marketability) linking proactive career behaviors to newcomer turnover and that we measured newcomer turnover intention along with these proactive behaviors at Time 3 without capturing actual turnover behavior (capturing turnover behavior requires a relatively long time span—6 months at least and 12 months or more in most cases—to generate sufficient variance; Lee et al, 2017; Li et al, 2023). Nevertheless, the two studies complement each other in testing the proposed dual-pathway model and yield consistent findings.…”

Practicing Responsibility in Business Schools

“…In Norway, this occurs more often for men than for women. For instance, Li et al (2022) showed that an age-inclusive organisational climate oriented towards developing older workers interacted with individual growth needs and was positively related to training participation and to continuing working despite eligibility for the retirement pension.…”

New insight regarding the ageing workforce: it is time to close this knowing-doing gap

“…In Norway, this occurs more often for men than for women. For instance, Li et al (2022) showed that an age-inclusive organisational climate oriented towards developing older workers interacted with individual growth needs and was positively related to training participation and to continuing working despite eligibility for the retirement pension.…”