Older workers as a source of wisdom capital: broadening perspectives.
| Autor | Vasconcelos, Anselmo Ferreira |
Introduction
Older workers (i.e. 55 years old and/or more) have handled with problems related to agism when they search for employment (Berger, 2009; Vasconcelos, 2012), age-based stigma (Kang and Chasteen, 2009), the perceived kinds of age discrimination (Billett et al., 2011; Kunze et al., 2011), the challenge of widening the employment opportunities available to older workers (Vickerstaff et al., 2007), among other things. In addition, there is a widespread demographic phenomenon of aging workforce in the industrialized countries and most emerging economies (Vasconcelos, 2015a). In this sense, the theorists noted that, on one hand, people are living longer and (in general) have more years of health and vitality than in the past, and, on the other hand, norms about what older adults want to do, can do, and should do have shifted (Pitt-Catsouphes et al, 2012). Such dramatic increase of older workers has prompted some US companies, for instance, to put into practice organizational policies labeled as older worker friendly (OWF). These OWF organizations are striving to provide policies or benefits that are specifically targeted to, or directly benefit, older workers such as include retirement health insurance, phased retirement, training to upgrade skills, and workplace accommodations (e.g. Cochran et al, 2012).
However, there are scant research efforts toward aging theorizing, particularly concerning to the usage of older workers' value, i.e., focusing on their potentialities, capabilities, and skills. In fact, members of this cohort generally gather meaningful knowledge and extremely important experience to organizations achieve better results, as well as helping to hone young talents. Such an expertise may be regarded as a kind of wisdom capital[1] and, as such, it must be appropriately utilized in favor of the future of companies. On the face of it, the purpose of this paper is to pinpoint some key variables that help shape the notion of older workers as a source of wisdom capital. As a viewpoint paper, it reviews a selective bibliography in order to support its arguments.
As wisely posited by Peeters and van Emmerik (2008, p. 359), older workers are a type of human capital which is able to create value for organizations and numerous positive organizational outcomes such as increased employee loyalty, decreased employee turnover, retention of institutional knowledge, memory, as well as increased employee productivity. Following this line of reasoning, older workers are also a huge asset for almost any organization. Their contributions are clearly highlighted in terms of work ethic, absenteeism, turnover and, first and foremost, they score better than their younger peers; nonetheless, they are not identical to their younger colleagues (Cappelli and Novelli, 2010, p. XVII; see also Warhurst and Black, 2015). Evidence also indicates that older workers often perform on jobs as effectively as their younger counterparts. Such a trend may be noted particularly when they avoid suffering the physical and cognitive declines; have a relatively high degree of experience and expertise in their job; show some flexibility to approach and accomplish their job; demonstrate a high motivation on the job; have a job marked by few change; receive management and coworker support at work; and get the appropriate job training that meets their special needs (Hedge et al., 2006, pp. 61-62).
Thus, the premise here is that it would be unwise to rule out older workers' feelings, perceptions, opinions, narratives, and life lessons. In addition, they know the organizational culture better than any other group inside companies. Nonetheless, scholars argue that "[...] today, there still exist many misperceptions and misunderstanding about what contributions can and should be expected from older workers [...]" (Hedge et al., 2006, p. 6). Accordingly, this paper intends to contribute to the theory by clarifying which features older talents hold that can be useful for organizations. More specifically, it argues that older workers may play much more than supporting roles like mentoring and advising younger generations. On the other hand, it is worth pointing out that the general situation of Brazilian older workers is absolutely uncomfortable, as well as in other nations. Some studies suggest the lack of suitable organizational policies toward this cohort's needs (Vasconcelos, 2012; Cepellos, 2013; Instituto Ethos and Banco Interamericano de Desenvolvimento, 2016; Kulik et al., 2016). Thus, this paper is organized as follows. First, it discusses the perspective of older workers as valuable assets. Second, it explores how this cohort judges themselves. Third, it analyzes their potential strengths, capabilities, and attitudes. Finally, it suggests an alternative theoretical approach to focus on them and presents some paths to future research.
Older workers as valuable assets
By treating older workers as a valuable asset allow us to address a salient topic through a richer way. Regarding the demographic change aforementioned, which also affects Brazil, organizations should collect accurate information about each of their older workers (internal clients) in order to find out their intentions, expectations, and aspirations. For their part, managers should start individual conversations with their older workers aiming to explore different options and possible new roles. By identifying the talented older workers remain the challenge to reach an agreement in which the employment options are suitable for all parties (Patrickson and Ranzijn, 2005). Furthermore, the most appropriate human resource policies should focus on crafting jobs that fit into the preferences of older workers. Therefore, it is essential that firms should be creative and open-minded, given that a range of factors affect older workers' decisions about employment, namely, financial resources, physical and mental health concerns, job satisfaction, and family (Smyer and Pitt-Catsouphes, 2007, p. 25). Similarly, Jex et al. (2007) suggest that organizations can enhance health and well-being of older workers by redesigning jobs toward reducing physical and/or cognitive processing demands of them.
By the same token, other initiatives may be tailored to the needs of older employees, namely, climate change, training, health promotion, legal mandates, and employee assistance. For instance, by taking into account "the time and loyalty older employees have often put into an organization, it is certainly the right and moral thing for organizations to do" (Jex et al., 2007, p. 219). In turn, Charness et al. (2007) point out pivotal aspects that should be considered when designing training programs for older, i.e., pacing, the timing and amount of feedback, amount of practice, practice schedule, organization of the learning material, and design of support materials. They also suggest allocating 1.5-2 times the training time expected for young adults. It is clear that older talents deal with technology, but it is expected a lag in technical expertise between younger and older workers given that the technological advancements are unstoppable. For this reason, organizations cannot neglect to provide effective opportunities for training and retraining of older people, especially designing training programs that meet the learning needs and preferences of older adults (Charness and Czaja, 2006).
Importantly, mature workers are not a homogeneous group (Armstrong-Stassen, 2008a; Bal, 2015). Further, companies must pay attention to the fact that "It is of major importance that employers demonstrate to their older employees that they are valued and respected [. ]" (Armstrong-Stassen, 2008b, p. 607). In fact, in terms of HR practices, both recognition and respect represent just a low cost to any organization provide (Armstrong-Stassen, 2008c). In addition, it is imperative that organizations train their supervisors and managers to carry out fairly and accurately performance appraisals that reflect the performance of older employees (free from age bias), as well as providing older employees with useful feedback. However, there is some evidence showing that HR practices designed to accommodate the needs and desires of older workers are not the pattern (Armstrong-Stassen, 2008c).
Fundamentally, it is important to bear in mind that older workers show willingness, capability of engaging in work activities, learning new skills, knowledge, and expertise. In addition, there is scarce evidence suggesting that productivity declines with age. Taken as a whole, older workers tend to be more reliable and show lower rates of absenteeism. Given the age-related declines in strength, stamina, and response speed, jobs that are physically demanding or highly paced may be unsuitable for older workers. In contrast, flexible work schedules or alternative work arrangements (e.g. working from home) may also be suitable for older people (Charness et al, 2007). Researchers are also concerned with older workers' obsolescence. Admittedly, this possibility constitutes a nightmare for any worker in this world, particularly for older workers that need to continue to work. In a similar manner, one may infer that long unemployment periods may eventually damage careers. With regard to older workers, it is posited that just informal development opportunities through their job may be a better way to prevent their skill obsolescence (Armstrong-Stassen and Schlosser, 2008).
Taken together, employers should look for strengthening older workers' development orientation along with a supportive development climate so as to foster older workers' commitment and intention to remain (Armstrong-Stassen and Schlosser, 2008). Meanwhile, many jobs require cognitive and social-emotional competencies and less for physical power and speed, but there are others that fit into the arrangement of physically demanding activities for long periods...
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