Age diversity: an inconvenience for the organization?

Transcription

1 Age diversity: an inconvenience for the organization? Insights from research to practice Prof. Donatienne Desmette 1

2 The context Challenges related to populations ageing - workforce ageing (raising pension age/non mandatory retirement) - increasing age diversity (more co-working age groups: younger/middle-age/older/ old-old workers) Activity rate years old, Belgium Eurostat, Aim of the presentation Understanding possible traps and levers of (the management of) age diversity 2

3 Content overview I. Age diversity : an introduction II. Ageism in the workplace - The role of the manager - The role of the older worker III. Approaches of age diversity management IV. Conclusion and discussion 3

4 Age diversity : an introduction 4

5 The inconvenience of age diversity HEALTH INDIVIDUAL Age diversity - health : Age diversityabsenteism : ORGANISATION ABILITY SUSTAINABLE EMPLOYABILITY AGILITY RESILIENCE Age diversity - performance: no relation or Age diversity - innovation: no relation or Age diversity - turnover : See Boehm & Kunze (2015)

6 Theoretical approaches Negative effects of age diversity can be explained by several theories : Social identity and self-categorization approach (Tajfel & Turner, 1986; Turner, 1999) People classify themselves and others in groups ; people of the same group are perceived as similar and favoured Age is one of the most basic criteria for social categorization (Brewer & Lui, 1989) The age-anxiety based approach ( Terror management theory ; Martens et al., 2005) People feel personal anxiety related to aging characteristics The institutional age segregation Western modern societies have made old age an isolated island (Hagestad & Uhlenberg, 2005) predict ageism toward the older workers 6

7 Ageism in the workplace 7

8 Ageism Process of systematic stereotyping and discrimination of people because they are (perceived as) old (Butler, 1987) Stereotypes Compared to younger workers (YW), older workers (OW) are perceived as (see Posthuma & Campion, 2009) : - lower in performance - more resistant to change - less able to learn, - having a shorter tenure - a higher cost - dependable more negative than positive stereotypes stereotypes predict behavior

9 From stereotypes to behavior The stereotype content model In the workplace Two-dimension competence - Higher work efficiency (i.e., experienced, think before acting) - Lower adaptability (i.e., the ability to quickly learn and be creative) (Warr & Pennington, 1993) Older workers are less performant Older workers are dependable Older workers are experienced The role of the context - adaptability often more important than efficiency ( young-typed job ) (Fiske et al ; Cuddy et al., 2002) 9

10 Effects of ageism on the employer Age discrimination Compared to YW, the OW are less hired, they are dismissed from jobs, denied promotions, trainings or other career development opportunities (Posthuma & Campion, 2009) The role of the context Age discrimination is stronger when age-based categorization processes are activated - direct social comparison between younger and older workers - limited individuating information is limited - (see the meta-analyses of Bal et al., 2011; Gordon & Arvey, 2004) 10

11 Method Effects of ageism on the older worker : example with a study (Gaillard & Desmette, 2010) Sample : workers 45+ Experimental design : Activation of - positive stereotypes - negative stereotypes - Age (no text) Results 4,27 Early retirement intentions 5,38 5,42 positive stereotypes negative stereotypes age Explicit negative stereotype = disengagement Age = implicit activation of negative stereotypes Measure of consequences : intention to retire early (for similar findings with perceived discrimination, see Laplante et al., 2010 ; von Hippel et al., 2013) 11

12 To sum up at this point Adapted from Ries et al. (2011) Age diversity Age categorization «This worker is older» Activation of age stereotypes «Older workers are less» Age biased behavior toward the older workers Denigrating langage, discrimination, Reaction of the prejudiced older worker Withdrawal, lower motivation, 12

13 Approaches of age diversity management How to reduce ageism and to benefit from the advantages of age diversity? 13

14 1. Age tailored practices Age tailored HR practices HR practices that aim at specifically fulfilling older workers needs in order to reduce job demands (e.g., flexible work-schedules, reduced working hours) (e.g., Armstrong-Stassen & Schlosser, 2010 ; Paullin & Whetzel, 2012) Positive effects on : - intentions to remain (Armstrong-Stassen & Schlosser, 2010 ; Zaniboni et al., 2010) - Perceived organizational support (Armstrong-Stassen & Schlosser, 2010) Possible pernicious effects of preferential treatment Favoring individuals on the basis of their group membership (i.e. preferential treatment) = negatively affects perceptions of beneficiaries whose competence is questioned (e.g., Crosby et al., 2003; Heilman & Welle, 2006) 14

15 Age-tailored practices and ageism (Iweins, Desmette, & Yzerbyt, 2012a) Study 1 Participants : younger workers in a Belgian hospital (mean age : 30) Measure of perceived age-tailored practices In my organization, specific policies for older workers are implemented Study 2 Participants : Younger workers (Mage = 33) Experimental design : Activation of : Preferential treatment «was hired in agreement with an employment policy that favours workers over the age of 50.» Merit «was hired in agreement with an employment policy that favours the most competent workers.» Age-tailored HR management : likely to increase ageism Should we be blind to age? 15

16 2. Denying age differences Being blind to age differences may not avoid the risk of ageism because of implicit age categorization age categories will continue to exist does not help to cut the deleterious cycle of ageism segregation and discrimination Ageing process : Employability/sustainability issue Age (diversity) can not be ignored 16

17 3. The multi-age perspective The multi-age climate Based on the multiculturalism (e.g., Wolsko et al., 2006) and integration & learning perspective (Ely & Thomas, 2001) : Organizational support to age diversity that recognizes and values each age group as contributing to the development of the organization e.g. In its age management diversity, my organization considers that recognizing the specificity of each generation leads to harmony between workers (Iweins et al., 2013) Intergenerational contact = added-value for the organization 17

18 Multi-age climate and ageism Study 1 Results Iweins, Desmette, Stinglhamber, & Yzerbyt (2013) Participants : younger workers (Mage=37) The multi-age climate reduces ageism through: - inclusive self-categorization - perceived organizational justice Positive impact on employability Perceived multi-age climate Dual identity Organizational justice Lower negative stereotypes on OW Lower intentions to quit Study 2 Iweins, Desmette, & Yzerbyt (2012b) Participants : workers aged from 22 to 63 ans (Mage=42 ans) Multi-age HR is a buffer against age discrimination (see also Kunze et al., 2013) Effects are similar for younger workers and older workers Engagement 6 5,5 5 Low Discrimination Low Multi-âge High Multi-âge High Discrimination 18

19 Discussion From research to practices and vice versa 19

20 The multi-age climate interventions Adapted from Ries et al. (2011) See also Truxillo et al. (2015) Age categorization «This worker is older» Sharing common social identity... Training to age diversity management... Age biased behavior toward the older workers Denigrating langage, discrimination, Activation of age stereotypes «Older workers are less» Affirming positive social identity... Informing about age differences... Reaction of the prejudiced older worker Withdrawal, lower motivation, 20

21 Thank you for your attention 21

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