Perspectives: Aligning Business Needs with Older Workers\u27 Preferences and Priorities

Perspectives: Aligning Business Needs with Older Workers’ Preferences and Priorities An Issue Brief Prepared by Marcie Pitt-Catsouphes and Michael A. Smyer for What An Aging Workforce Can Teach Us About Workplace Flexibility July 18, 2005

Age & Generations: Understanding Experiences at the Workplace

Examines differences in employees' perceptions of the quality of their jobs by generation, career stage, whether they have dependent care responsibilities, and length of tenure. Discusses elements of employment quality, including flexible work options

Legal and Research Summary Sheet: Phased Retirement

During the first decade of the 21st century, significant attention has been paid to the widely anticipated retirement of the Baby Boom generation from the U.S. workforce. Employers and policymakers have considered important questions such as: What percentage of older workers are likely to retire on a full-time basis between the ages of 62-65? What might the implications of a “mass exodus” of Baby Boomers mean for different types of businesses? Which types of policies and practices might encourage some older workers to extend their labor force participation, thereby enabling employers to retain the knowledge and skills of these experienced workers? Of course, older workers are also engaged in conversations about workplace innovations that might offer them more employment and employment-to-retirement choices. Surveys consistently find that older workers (particularly those aged 50 and older) plan to work past the traditional retirement ages of 62-65 years. However, the majority of older workers indicate that they would prefer not to work on a full-time or year round basis. As indicated by Figure 1 below, a recent Merrill Lynch Survey conducted by Harris Interactive & Dychtwald (2006) found that 38% of Baby Boomers would like to be able to cycle in and out of work

The Meanings of Work for Older Workers

Several elements influence the meanings of work: the basic psychological processes of aging; the cohort or generation of the worker; the ecology of the work itself; and the larger social context of managing the risks of aging. This article discusses the meaning of work across the lifespan, and then reviews each of these elements to describe the meanings of work for older workers. The authors summarize data from multiple sources to answer several related questions: Why do older workers continue to work—beyond the solely monetary motivation? How do older workers\u27 meanings of work vary by financial, health, job satisfaction, familial, or workplace concerns? What are the implications of these findings for employers and employees

Discussing Work-Life Fit: Factors That Predict Supervisor Promotion of Flexible Work Arrangements.

Purpose: Increased access to flexible work arrangements has the prospect of enhancing work-family reconciliation. Under consideration is extent that managers assumed lead roles in initiating discussions, the overall volume of discussions that occurred, and the outcomes of these discussions. Methodology approach: A panel of 950 managers over one and a half years examines factors predicting involvement in a change initiative designed to expand flexible work arrangement use in a company in the financial activities supersector

Perspectives: Aligning Business Needs with Older Workers\u27 Preferences and Priorities

Perspectives: Aligning Business Needs with Older Workers’ Preferences and Priorities An Issue Brief Prepared by Marcie Pitt-Catsouphes and Michael A. Smyer for What An Aging Workforce Can Teach Us About Workplace Flexibility July 18, 2005

Successes in Changing Flexible Work Arrangement Use: Managers and Work-Unit Variation in a Financial Services Organization

This study identifies factors associated with flexible work arrangement (FWA) use in the context of the “Supervisor-Promoted Flexibility” program implemented by an employer in the financial activities supersector. This change initiative involved supervisor-initiated discussions that explored prospects for supervisee FWA use. Discussions increased the odds of FWA use expansion, but changes occurred at different rates among work units. Managers’ gender, age, and attitudes toward FWAs corresponded with changes observed. When managers believed that supervisee FWA use reflected favorably on prospects for their own careers, they were more likely to expand use over time

Introduction: Cultivating organizational change and advancing public policy

The contours of the work-family area of study have been dynamically shaped by business practitioners and policymakers as weH as by academics. Each of these different stakeholder groups has contributed unique perspectives and different types of leadership that have enhanced our understanding of work-family phenomena

Manager attitudes concerning flexible work arrangements: fixed or changeable?

Flexible work arrangements (FWAs) present a vehicle for supporting caregiving responsibilities, but have yet to be widely implemented, in part, because of limited support from managers. This study examines transformation of manager attitudes toward FWAs in the context of a change initiative. Panel surveys of 721 managers revealed positive and negative attitudes concerning the use of FWAs and predictors of changes in these attitudes. Over the course of one year, the attitudes shifted in positive and negative directions consistent with conservation of resources and symbolic interactionism theory. Experience in supervising workers in FWAs, exposure to training, and perceived career rewards predicted favorable changes in attitudes. Findings offer support for advocacy for FWAs on the basis of a positive spiral of affirmation that connects experience and attitudes toward FWAs. The viewing of a personalized report on support of flexible work use by peers predicted development of more favorable attitudes in the merits of schedule flexibility. Findings indicate that manager attitudes about FWAs can be influenced, which in turn has potential to enhance family responsive employment practices