The relevance of job design and human resource development for the innovative and adaptive ability of older employees

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1 The relevance of job design and human resource development for the innovative and adaptive ability of older employees Professor Dr. Karlheinz Sonntag & Dr. Ralf Stegmaier Unit of work and organizational psychology Psychological Institute of the University of Heidelberg

2 Agenda Introduction of the work group Heidelberg Research design Research questions Research methods Methods of analysis 2

3 Project team Project leader: Professor Dr. Karlheinz Sonntag Mail: Fon: / (Sekretariat: ) Dr. Ralf Stegmaier Mail: ralf.stegmaier@psychologie.uni-heidelberg.de Fon: Project assistants: Dipl. Psych. Beate Molter Mail: beate.molter@psychologie.uni-heidelberg.de Fon: Dipl.- Psych. Katrin Noefer Mail: katrin.noefer@psychologie.uni-heidelberg.de Fon:

4 Research design A data collection by questionnaire is planned at two points in time Dates of examination: twice at intervals of 12 months Groups of examination: and years of age, each with mental (e.g. administration, financial service) and physical jobs (e.g. production) Method of examination: By questionnaire, the participants, co-workers acquainted with the workplace, and supervisors are interviewed Cooperation partners: Three organizations out of the fields: administration, public transportation services, production of technical semi-finished goods Planned (expected) sampling size: 240 (740) older employees, plus one co-worker and one supervisor for each participant 4

5 Research questions In which way do work situation and productive potentials change with age? Question perspective 1 Job features Features of HRD Participation in human resource development Age Productive potentials Example questions: In what way do job performance, innovation and adaptability change with age? Are older employees able to profit from their experience at work? Is the performance of older employees valued? To which extent do older workers have autonomy at work? What are learning expectations towards older employees? To which extent do older employees participate in human resource development (HRD) activities? 5

6 Research questions In which way do job design and HRD contribute to the development of productive potentials? Question perspective 2 Job features Features of HRD Participation in HRD Age Productive potentials Example questions: How much variety at work supports older employees productivity? How important is the integration of HRD, job and career design for older employees adaptability? Does the participation in training effect the innovative performance of older employees? Do older employees deal with changes more successfully if their work experience is valued? 6

7 Research questions How does the type of work affect productive potentials? Question perspective 3 Job features Features of HRD Participation in HRD Type of work Productive potentials Age Example questions: Do older employees with mental and physical tasks differ in regard to their adaptability? How important is HRD for older employees with mental (e.g. administration, service) and physical (e.g. production) jobs for innovative performance? Do the effects of time pressure and complexity of work on productivity differ in mental and physical jobs? 7

8 Research questions Altogether ca. 35 subdimensions with about 100 statements are examined Work Characteristics Physical activity Mental activity Mental activity with time pressure Complexity Variability Autonomy Person Characteristics Self-Efficacy for development Commitment to change Resistance to change Supervisor feedback Co-Worker feedback Use of work experience Possibilty of arranging own work Time pressure Personnel Development Characteristics (PD) Learning demands on older employees Support of horizontal mobility Relevance for current activity Integration of personnel development and career design Integration of personnel development and task design Organization Specific Questions Participation in PD Training related types of PD Learning on-the-job Computer supported types of PD Characteristics of Change Processes Extent of change Consequences of change Adaptive Ability Person-Job Fit Person-Organisation Fit Dealing with uncertain and unpredictable situations Learning of work tasks, technologies and procedures Interpersonal adaptive ability Innovative Ability Idea generation Idea implementation Objective indicators Work Performance Task performace Contextual performance 8

9 Research Methods The different dimensions are measured with established instruments Supervisor / Co-Worker Feedback Extent & Consequences of Change Self-Efficacy for development Commitment to Change Resistance to Change Adaptive Performance Idea Generation Idea Implementation Dimension Work Type (physical/mental) Work Complexity and Variability, Scope of Design, Time Pressure Reference Based on Ilmarinen (2002) ISTA (Semmer et al., 1998) JDS (Kleinbeck & Schmidt, 1979) Caldwell et al., 2004 Maurer et al., 2003 Herscovitch & Meyer, 2002 Oreg, 2003 Pulakos et al., 2000, Caldwell et al George & Zhou, 2001 Based on BIFI (Krause, 2005) 9

10 Research Methods Established Scales are supplemented with self-developed items Use of the questionnaire in a pilot study with 100 participants: Validation of several questionnaire scales through the analysis of deductive and creative thinking (ASK, Schuler & Hell, 2004) Validation of several questionnaire scales through expert ratings Item analysis After selecting the most suitable items: - Ca. 100 statements for the older employees - Ca. 60 statements for the supervisor - Ca. 50 statements for the co-worker 10

11 Methods of Analysis The constructs are tested by using different analysis methods Simple Relations Differential Effects Moderator Effects Mediator Effects Correlations Uni-Factorial analysis of variance Procedures of regression analysis Multivariate analysis of variances Analysis of covariance Procedures of regression analyses Differential tests based on partial groups Procedures of regression analyses Complex Causal Relations Structural equation models 11

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