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Jörg Korff
Torsten Biemann
Sven Voelpel
Eric Kearney
Christian Stamov Roßnagel
* * *
HR Management for an Aging Workforce -
A Life-Span Psychology Perspective
Jörg Korff (j.korff@jacobs-university.de)
Dr. Torsten Biemann (t.biemann@jacobs-university.de)
Prof. Dr. Sven Voelpel (s.voelpel@jacobs-university.de)
Dr. Eric Kearney (e.kearney@jacobs-university.de)
Prof. Dr. Christian Stamov Roßnagel (c.stamovrossnagel@jacobs-university.de)
Jacobs Center on Lifelong Learning and Institutional Development
Jacobs University Bremen
Campus Ring 1
28759 Bremen
Running head: HR MANAGEMENT FOR AN AGING WORKFORCE
HR Management for an Aging Workforce -
A Life-Span Psychology Perspective
Running head: FUTURE TIME PERSPECTIVE’S MEDIATING EFFECTS
1
Abstract
Strategic human resource management (SHRM) research has provided evidence for a positive
association between HR practices and organizational performance. However, theory-building
has not considered developmental dynamics across the working life and its implications for
the association between HR practices and organizational outcomes. We call for an extension
of current SHRM approaches and suggest adopting a life-span psychology perspective on age-
related changes of cognitive capabilities, personality, and affect. Integrating the constructs of
job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and work motivation establishes a conceptual
framework that helps to explain the association of HR practices with performance in an age-
differentiated manner. Pertinent propositions address essential facets of the framework for the
age-related alignment of HR practices. We discuss directions for further research.
Zusammenfassung
Forschung zum strategischen Personalmanagement konnte zahlreiche Belege für den
Zusammenhang zwischen Personalpraktiken und Unternehmenserfolg liefern. Es fehlt aber in
bestehenden theoretischen Ansätzen die Berücksichtigung altersbezogener Entwicklungen der
Mitarbeiter und deren Einfluss auf die Verbindung zwischen Personalpraktiken und
Unternehmenserfolg. Wir schlagen vor, in bestehende Ansätze zum Strategischen
Personalmanagement Erkenntnisse aus der Psychologie der Lebensspanne einzubeziehen, die
altersbedingte Veränderungen von geistigen Fähigkeiten, Persönlichkeit und Emotionen
thematisieren. Darüberhinaus integrieren wir Arbeitszufriedenheit, organisationales
Commitment und Arbeitsmotivation in bestehende Modelle zum strategischen
Personalmanagement, um so die altersabhängige Wirksamkeit von Personalpraktiken auf die
Leistung zu erklären. Die theoretischen Ausführungen werden in Propositionen verdichtet und
Vorschläge für weitere Forschungsbemühungen entwickelt.
Key words
- strategic human resource management
- human resource practices
- life-span psychology
- aging workforce
- work-related attitudes
- work motivation
Running head: FUTURE TIME PERSPECTIVE’S MEDIATING EFFECTS
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1. Introduction
In many highly developed countries, the overall population as well as the workforce of
most companies is aging rapidly (Alley & Crimmins, 2007). These demographic changes
entail both opportunities and risks. In the upcoming decades, it will be a major challenge for
politicians, managers, HR practitioners, and social scientists to find ways of turning this
increasing mean age into an asset rather than a liability (e.g., Leibold & Voelpel, 2006;
McEvoy & Cascio, 1989; Shultz & Adams, 2007; Strack, Baier, & Fahlander, 2008). For
example, organizations will have to develop new and better ways to cater to the needs of
increasing numbers of older employees. Aside from a rising mean age of the workforce in
most organizations, there will be stiff competition over attracting well-trained younger
applicants.
Against this backdrop, in the present article we consider two complementary perspectives.
First, strategic human resource management (SHRM) research investigates how to manage
people in organizations in ways that optimize HRM outcomes and hence organizational
performance. There is a voluminous literature that addresses the relevance of single or
combined HR practices and their systematic implementation (e.g., Becker & Gerhart, 1996;
Delery & Doty, 1996; Green, Wu, Whitten, & Medlin, 2006; Guest, 1999, 2002; Huselid,
1995; Paul & Anantharaman, 2003; Schuler & Jackson, 2007; P. M. Wright, Gardner,
Moynihan, & Allen, 2005; Youndt, Snell, Dean, & Lepak, 1996). While scholars are
beginning to address the HRM side of an aging workforce (e.g., Hedge, Borman, &
Lammlein, 2006; Staudinger, Roßnagel, & Voelpel, 2008), there still exists a gap in the
SHRM literature in that it has thus far largely ignored the question of how age affects the
relationship between HR practices and important outcomes, both at the individual and at the
organizational level.
Second, findings from life-span developmental psychology have identified various
systematic age-related changes in basic human functioning (e.g., Baltes, Lindenberger, &
Staudinger, 2006; Barnes-Farrell & Matthews, 2007; Maurer, 2007). Other psychological
research supports the assumption that trajectories of work-related attitudes and work
motivation are likewise systematically tied to employees’ life-span (e.g., Kanfer & Ackerman,
2004; Rhodes, 1983). These insights have not yet been adequately taken into account by most
HR practitioners and management researchers.
Hence, we extend extant SHRM approaches to include psychological processes and help
build a theoretical foundation that explains how the effectiveness of HR practices is
contingent on employee age. Important theoretical approaches of SHRM research address the
Running head: FUTURE TIME PERSPECTIVE’S MEDIATING EFFECTS
3
mediating processes between HR practices and organizational performance (Evans & Davis,
2005; Guest, 1997, 2001; Paauwe & Richardson, 1997; P. M. Wright & McMahan, 1992). We
posit that job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and work motivation constitute
important mediators in this regard. We will present a theoretical rationale for why we assume
that these mediators fit well into a framework that includes age as a moderator of the
relationship between HR practices or HR systems on the one hand and performance on the
other.
We argue that an integration of the respective literatures on HR practices, age-related
changes in human functioning, and workers’ attitudes and motivation is needed to explain and
predict the moderating effects of age on the relationship between HR practices and individual
work performance, which in turn influences organizational outcomes. We therefore aim to
contribute to a more fine-grained and at the same time comprehensive understanding of how
best to manage an aging workforce. In the following, we will outline SHRM approaches and
subsequently discuss findings from life-span developmental psychology. Based on these
perspectives, we will then present propositions regarding what managers should do in order to
successfully meet the demands and challenges engendered by the ongoing demographic
changes.
2. Human Resource Practices and Strategic Human Resource Management
There is widespread agreement that employees – regardless of their age – constitute the
most important asset for almost every organization and that the successful management of
these “human resources” is critical for an organization’s performance (Coff, 1997).
Organizational efforts aimed at influencing employees’ skills and behaviors in order to foster
performance have a long tradition (cf. Becker & Gerhart, 1996; Schuler & Jackson, 2007).
Much evidence supports the applied aspects of the association between HR practices and
organizational performance. Early research analyzed the link between isolated HR practices
and organizational performance (e.g. Russell, Terborg, & Powers, 1985). Huselid (1995)
published a groundbreaking study that documented how numerous HR practices – which the
author referred to as High Performance Work Practices – were related to different
organizational outcomes such as turnover, profits, and firm market value. He found that
implementing HR practices in the areas of recruiting efforts, personnel selection, employee
training, performance appraisal, incentive compensation, job design, grievance procedures,
information sharing, attitude assessment, labor-management participation, and promotions
criteria had a measurable impact not only on single outcome variables, but on several
Running head: FUTURE TIME PERSPECTIVE’S MEDIATING EFFECTS
4
different important criteria simultaneously. A factor analysis of the applied HR practices
identified two factors, which Huselid named “employee skills and organizational structures”
and “employee motivation”. Huselid’s (1995) research was complemented, replicated, and
differentiated by subsequent studies on the influence of HR practices on performance. A
meta-analysis (Combs, Yongmei, Hall, & Ketchen, 2006) summarized empirical findings of
92 studies. According to this study, the overall correlation between HR practices and firm
performance is .20.
We consider further theoretical advances in the field of SHRM to be important bases for
examining the moderating role of employee age in a framework that also addresses how (i.e.,
through what mediators) HR practices are linked to outcomes. Becker and Gerhart (1996)
provided a systematic overview of the HR practices that had been studied extensively. These
authors emphasized the need to open the “black box” between the implementation of HR
practices and organizational outcomes: “Unless and until researchers are able to elaborate and
test more complete structural models – for example, models including key intervening
variables – it will be difficult to rule out alternative causal models that explain observed
associations between HR systems and firm performance” (1996, p. 793). Guest (1999)
summarized the various measures of corporate performance and likewise emphasized the need
to develop theory concerning the association between HR practices and performance.
According to Guest (1999), the preponderance of previous research had focused on the direct
relationship between HR practices and organizational performance, without taking into
account possible intervening processes: “At present the studies report a promising association
between HRM and outcomes, but we are not yet in a position to assert cause and effect. We
need to develop theory which integrates aspects of strategy and strategic integration with
something like expectancy theory to create specific hypotheses about linkages” (Guest, 1999,
p. 188). Guest (1997; 2001; 2002) recommended to incorporate a worker-oriented perspective
into HRM research and consider to a greater extent the role of worker attitudes such as work
satisfaction and commitment as intervening variables that mediate between HR practices and
performance.
Delery and Doty (1996) focused on the distinctive modes of theorizing in the field of HR
research. They described and tested three different approaches of studying HR practices and
identified a universalistic, a contingency and a configurational perspective. These models can
most easily be distinguished by the level of complexity that they assume with respect to the
interrelations between HR practices and performance. The universalistic – and most basic –
approach addresses the association between single practices and performance and aims to
Running head: FUTURE TIME PERSPECTIVE’S MEDIATING EFFECTS
5
identify best practices. According to this perspective, applying such practices enhances
performance under all conceivable circumstances. Moderating influences are not considered
(see Figure 1). By contrast, the contingency perspective takes into account such linkages
among practices, performance, and third variables. This second approach posits that the
influence of HR practices on organizational performance is moderated by, for example, a
firm's strategy. Proponents of this perspective argue that the impact of an HR practice or a
combination of practices is more substantial in the case of vertical fit – that is, an appropriate
alignment of practices with an organization's strategy (e.g., with respect to cost minimization,
product differentiation, or market focus; M. E. Porter 1980). In addition to the vertical fit, the
configurational perspective also takes into account the horizontal fit – that is, the
configuration of and interrelations among all applied HR practices. This third model
emphasizes a holistic approach and defines specific patterns of multiple independent variables
and their association with a dependent variable. Such patterns of independent variables
include HR practices as well as strategies, structures, cultures, and processes forming "ideal
types that are theoretical constructs rather than empirically observable phenomena" (Delery &
Doty, 1996, p. 809).
(Insert Figure 1 about here)
On the one hand, the configurational view most appropriately captures the complexity and
uniqueness of organizations. On the other hand, however, it creates nearly intractable
challenges for managers aiming to translate the tenets of this model into action.
Each of the three theoretical perspectives describes the association between HR practices
and organizational performance as a direct relationship. Although the alignment of HR
practices is explicitly taken into account with respect to vertical (i.e. strategy) and horizontal
(i.e. internal consistency) fit, none of the three outlined perspectives differentiates HR
practices with regard to variations of the human resources that they are aimed at. Indeed,
Delery (1998) elaborates particularly on issues of horizontal fit – that is, various effects of
additive and interactive relationships among HR practices. Not addressed, however, are
mediating processes that could explain the interactive effects of HR practices and employee
age on effectiveness. We argue that such mediating variables "are clearly important in that
they provide the answers as to how HRM policies and practices can influence firm
performance" (Delery, 1998, p. 295). Mediators which capture pertinent psychological
processes provide valuable information for both the age-differentiated selection of HR
practices from HR principles and policies (for a summary of levels of abstraction in the HR
system cf. Colbert, 2004) and the adequate alignment of such practices. Complementary
Running head: FUTURE TIME PERSPECTIVE’S MEDIATING EFFECTS
6
theoretical perspectives of SHRM research (cf. P. M. Wright & McMahan, 1992) have
likewise emphasized the importance of studying intervening processes and suggest the
integration of additional parameters such as, for example, the internal social structure (Evans
& Davis, 2005) or HR outcomes such as turnover, absenteeism or employee involvement/trust
or loyalty (Paauwe & Richardson, 1997).
In sum, empirical strategic human resource management research has provided
compelling evidence for a generally positive association between HR practices and individual
and organizational outcomes. Findings have shown this positive relationship to hold
regardless of organizational size, type of organization (i.e., private versus public),
qualification level of employees, and organizational culture (Combs, et al., 2006; Guest,
2002; P. M. Wright, et al., 2005). Theoretical frameworks in the field of SHRM take
intervening processes into account and allow for extensions such as the incorporation of
further parameters. Nevertheless, the potential moderating effect of age on the association
between HR practices and performance remains largely unexplored. We argue that a life-span
psychology perspective helps to better understand how the aging of the workforce affects the
impact of HR practices on individual and organizational outcomes.
3. Central Tenets of Life-Span Psychology
Life-span psychology investigates constancy and change in behavior throughout the life
course (Baltes, 1987). Two fundamental ideas of life-span psychology and its
conceptualization of aging are particularly germane to HR practices and SHRM in general.
First, unlike earlier approaches within developmental psychology, life-span psychology no
longer views ontogenesis as development on one single dimension. The earlier notion of an
individual's development as holistic and unidirectional growth has been broadened
substantially (Baltes, 1987; Baltes & Baltes, 1990; Baltes, et al., 2006; Featherman & Lerner,
1985). Current perspectives define "development as selective age-related change in adaptive
capacity" (Baltes, et al., 2006, p. 582) and acknowledge that an individual's development
involves a wide variety of functions and various different resources. These resources, which
individuals deploy to attain their goals, are subject to continuous variation. They include
intellectual capabilities and psychological functions as well as social relations, economic
conditions, and cultural premises. Accordingly, life-span psychology describes human
development along differential trajectories that entail gains on some dimensions of human
behavior and stability and/or losses on other dimensions (Baltes, et al., 2006). Biological as
well as contextual influences are described as (1) normative age-graded (e.g., memory
Running head: FUTURE TIME PERSPECTIVE’S MEDIATING EFFECTS
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decline, reaching retirement age), (2) normative history-graded (e.g., malnutrition after times
of war, public child care), or (3) idiosyncratic (e.g., loss of a limb in an accident, career
success) (Baltes, 1987; Baltes, et al., 2006). Moreover, life-span psychology addresses
individual differences that affect personal capacities, goals and strategies. In sum, life-span
approaches regard development as multidimensional, multidirectional, and oftentimes
discontinuous.
Second, life-span psychology builds on the notion of developmental regulation: people use
a variety of strategies to match their resources to external demands. Ontogenesis is
conceptualized as a lifelong process of actively coordinating and allocating resources in order
to adapt to ongoing processes resulting in gains and losses. In the life-span perspective, aging
is no longer primarily described as a process of decline – as, for example, in a biological
sense. Instead, aging involves the active regulation of growth and development in different
domains, as well as maintenance, recovery (resilience) and dealing with or compensating for
losses (Baltes, 1987; Baltes, et al., 2006). The SOC model (e.g., Baltes & Baltes, 1990) posits
that people Select subjectively important goals, Optimize their strategies for goal attainment,
and Compensate for age-related losses.
Taking into account (1) age-related variations in cognitive abilities and personality as well
as (2) the assumption of active developmental regulation has implications for the management
of human resources in organizations. As discussed in more detail below, insights from life-
span psychology suggest that the effectiveness of HR practices can be improved if single
practices as well as entire HR systems are tailored to the actual needs of the workforce of an
organization. We argue that such an approach is more promising than either deploying the
same HR practices in relation to employees of all age groups or, even worse, designing HR
measures based on the by now obsolete deficit model of human aging that merely emphasizes
losses without considering gains across the life-span (cf. Ng & Feldman, 2008).
In the following, we outline age-related changes in cognition, affect, and personality.
Cognitive and affective processes are the basis for the formation and activation of attitudes
(e.g., Ajzen, 2001; Zajonc, 1980). Moreover, cognition and affect to a large extent determine
human motivation (e.g., Latham & Pinder, 2005; Locke & Henne, 1986). Against this
backdrop, we then examine the developmental trajectories of job satisfaction, organizational
commitment, and work motivation. We discuss how these variables affect the association
between HR practices and organizational outcomes and what role they play as part of an age-
differentiated SHRM approach.
Running head: FUTURE TIME PERSPECTIVE’S MEDIATING EFFECTS
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3.1. Age-Related Changes in Cognition
Cognitive capacities can be separated into two distinct components - fluid intelligence
(Gf), or mechanics, on the one hand, and crystallized intelligence (Gc), or pragmatics, on the
other (Baltes, 1987, 1993; Cattell, 1971). The latter component primarily pertains to culture-
and person-specific knowledge that is expressed in, for example, reading and writing skills,
educational qualifications, and professional skills. By contrast, the former component “is
indexed by the speed, accuracy, and coordination of elementary processing operations as they
can be assessed in tasks measuring the quality of information input, sensory and motor
memory, discrimination, categorization, and selective attention, as well as reasoning ability in
highly overlearned or novel domains” (Baltes, et al., 2006, p. 597). Over the life course, these
two components develop differentially. Both capacities increase in the first two and a half
decades of life. Thereafter, the mechanics' component declines slowly, but continuously,
whereas the pragmatics component increases slightly and remains stable into late adulthood
(e.g., Li, et al., 2004).
Aside from formal qualifications, the cognitive capacities of employees are critical
prerequisites for organizational outcomes. Jobs vary with respect to the demands they place
on the cognitive abilities of employees. When hiring new personnel, organizations oftentimes
gauge candidates' cognitive abilities to achieve the best possible demands-abilities fit – that is,
a close match between individuals' knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) and job demands.
Indeed, demands-abilities fit has been shown to be positively related to outcomes such as job
satisfaction (ρ = .41), organizational commitment (ρ = .31), turnover intentions (ρ = -.23) and
overall performance (ρ = .12) (Kristof-Brown, Zimmerman, & Johnson, 2005). However,
since cognitive abilities do not only vary in quantity over the life course – that is, fluid
intelligence decreases – but also in quality – that is, the relationship between fluid and
crystallized intelligence changes – organizations must aim to maintain a fit between an
employee's KSAs, and the demands of his or her tasks. A declining fit of employees' abilities
and task demands, for example, is likely to impair work motivation (Kanfer & Ackerman,
2004). Despite a need to actively establish and continually readjust this fit, pertinent HR
practices such as personnel selection and personnel development are less frequently
implemented in the case of older employees (Maurer, 2007). As a result, a fit between
demands and abilities that deteriorates over time is generally likely to impede individual
performance and increase frustration and withdrawal behaviors. Hence, we assume:
Proposition 1: Age-related changes in cognitive abilities continuously
modify the demands-abilities fit.
Running head: FUTURE TIME PERSPECTIVE’S MEDIATING EFFECTS
9
An informed and active implementation of HR practices that takes age-related changes in
cognitive abilities into account can help to prevent detrimental effects resulting from a
deteriorating fit between demands and abilities. Practices in the domains of job design,
employee training, and promotions and compensation criteria can help to ensure compatibility
between employees’ cognitive resources and their task assignments. Correspondingly,
planning aging employees' career development in ways that allow for adjustments of
responsibilities and, concurrently, avoid social and financial demotion could help to assure a
proper fit. Generally, tasks that predominantly require fluid abilities – such as air traffic
controllers’ monitoring activities – are better suited for younger employees. In contrast, tasks
that primarily require crystallized abilities – such as teaching or mentoring – may be better
suited for older employees (Kanfer & Ackerman, 2004).
3.2. Age-Related Changes in Personality and Affect
Age-related changes have also been shown to occur in regard to personality (Jones &
Meredith, 1996). With respect to the ‘Big Five’ traits, neuroticism appears to decrease in the
course of adulthood (Mroczek & Spiro III, 2003), openness to new experiences seems to
decline in later years, agreeableness and conscientiousness both increase during adulthood,
and extraversion seems to remain fairly stable (Helson & Kwan, 2000). Staudinger and
Kunzman (2005) provided an overview of the literature on personality changes over the life
course, with a particular emphasis on adjustment and growth. Concerning stage-based
personality models, there seems to be a curvilinear (inverted U-shaped) relationship between
age and generativity (i.e., a tendency to provide emotional support to others) (Erikson, 1964),
with lower levels for young and old adults and the highest levels for middle-aged persons
(McAdams, de St. Aubin, & Logan, 1993). Organizations could benefit from these insights
by, for example, giving their middle-aged employees the opportunity to mentor co-workers.
Moreover, work-related decisions such as choice of occupation, where to apply for a job,
whom to hire, as well as how to develop one’s career depend on (vocational) personality.
Specific occupations such as teacher, salesperson, or police officer require certain personality
traits and values if there is to be a high fit between the person and his or her job (cf. Holland,
1997).
Another important change occurs with respect to affect. Socio-emotional selectivity
theory (SST) (Carstensen, 2006) predicts that the nature of subjectively important goals will
change across the life-span as people’s general sense of time shifts from “time since birth” to
“time until death” around mid-life. Consequently, there are shifts concerning the goals related
Running head: FUTURE TIME PERSPECTIVE’S MEDIATING EFFECTS
10
to the acquisition of knowledge and goals pertaining to the regulation of positive emotional
states. When time is perceived as open-ended, prioritized goals relate to “investments,” focus
on gathering information, on experiencing novelty, and on expanding skills and knowledge.
By contrast, when time is perceived as constrained, goals that relate to “harvesting” and can
be realized in the short term become more salient. Examples include regulating emotional
states to optimize psychological well-being. Thus, while younger individuals exhibit a
stronger growth orientation, older persons place more emphasis on maintenance and loss
prevention. Moreover, in comparison to younger adults, older persons have fewer negative
emotional experiences and control their emotions to a greater extent (Carstensen, 2006; Gross,
et al., 1997).
Age-related changes in personality and affect are likely to affect the value system, which
in turn influences work-related attitudes and motivation. The literature on person-job fit has
also examined the relationship between personality and individual work-related outcomes.
Conceptualizations of the person-job fit that emphasize needs, desires, and preferences (i.e.,
the needs-supplies fit) show an even stronger relationship with job satisfaction (ρ = .61),
turnover intentions (ρ = -.50), and overall performance (ρ = .20) than do those
conceptualizations that accentuate knowledge, skills, and abilities (i.e., the demands-abilities
fit) (Kristof-Brown, et al., 2005).
Overall, implementing HR practices in ways that take age-related changes in personality
and affect into account is likely to benefit important outcomes. Hence, we assume:
Proposition 2: Age-related changes in personality and affect
continuously modify the needs-supplies fit.
Since they are important antecedents of work-related attitudes and work motivation, age-
related changes in basic psychological functions such as cognitive abilities, personality and
affect need to be taken into account. Next, we discuss the role of job satisfaction,
organizational commitment, and work motivation as mediators of the link between HR
practices and performance. We outline how these psychological predictors of performance
systematically change across the life-span.
3.3. Work-Related Attitudes: Job Satisfaction and Organizational Commitment
HR practices do not result in higher firm performance, per se, but rather shape a firms'
human resources (e.g., Delery, 1998). It is these resources and employee behaviors that
ultimately lead to better or worse performance (Combs, et al., 2006; P. M. Wright, McMahan,
& McWilliams, 1994). In line with these insights and theoretical frameworks of SHRM
Running head: FUTURE TIME PERSPECTIVE’S MEDIATING EFFECTS
11
research that call for a focus on intervening variables to explain how HR practices affect
organizational performance, we argue that work-related attitudes and work motivation
constitute such mediators. As we will outline below, we submit that each of these parameters
is influenced by HR practices and at the same time predicts organizational performance. On
the other hand, HR practices pertaining to personnel selection, training, and compensation
level affect employees' knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs); practices focusing on
incentive compensation and promotion policies motivate employees to leverage their KSAs
for the firm's benefit; and practices comprising employment security, flexible work schedules,
participation, and grievance procedures empower employees to realize the potential entailed
by their respective KSAs (Combs, et al., 2006; Liu, Combs, Ketchen, & Ireland, 2007). For
example, fixed or incentive compensation may be perceived as acknowledgment of individual
contributions and cause a boost in job satisfaction and commitment, which in turn may result
in increased individual effort and performance. Similar mechanisms might operate with
respect to grievance procedures, employment security, and participation programs. Each of
these may augment job satisfaction and/or organizational commitment, which in turn may
engender heightened efforts. Moreover, work-related attitudes and work motivation exhibit
age-related trajectories contingent on age-related changes in cognition, personality, and affect.
In the following, we outline research findings that underscore the promise of the proposed
integration of age as a moderator of the association between HR practices and organizational
performance.
Job satisfaction is one of the most-researched and most central constructs in I/O
psychology (Harter, Schmidt, & Hayes, 2002). One research focus has been on the
relationship between job satisfaction and organizational outcomes. In their meta-analysis,
Judge and colleagues (2001) found a robust positive association (ρ = .30) between overall job
satisfaction and performance in 312 independent samples with more than 54,000 participants.
Consistently, organizational commitment, defined as “the strength of an individual’s
identification with and involvement in a particular organization” (L. W. Porter, Steers,
Mowday, & Boulian, 1974, p. 604), has been shown to be linked to organizational
performance. In their comprehensive meta-analysis, Cooper-Hakim, and Viswesvaran (2005)
demonstrated organizational commitment to be significantly related to outcomes such as job
performance (ρ = .17), turnover (ρ = -.23), and turnover intention (ρ = -.57). However, the
association between organizational commitment and job performance seems to be moderated
by tenure. This correlation is greatest for new employees and decays over time (T. A. Wright
& Bonett, 2002). A corresponding meta-analysis that combined both work-related attitudes
Running head: FUTURE TIME PERSPECTIVE’S MEDIATING EFFECTS
12
provided further evidence of their strong influence on job performance. Harrison, Newman,
and Roth (2006) showed that the overall job attitude – comprising job satisfaction and
organizational commitment – is associated with individual effectiveness (r = .59), which in
turn consists of various performance measures.
Complementary evidence is available for various intrinsic job characteristics that resemble
HR practices, for example skill variety, autonomy, supportiveness, participation, and task
significance. These intrinsic job characteristics were likewise shown to influence both
employees' job satisfaction and organizational commitment (Eby & Freeman, 1999).
Accordingly, other HR practices as well as SHRM were shown to be associated with job
satisfaction (Gould-Williams, 2003; Guest, 2001; Nishii, Lepak, & Schneider, 2008; Stevens,
Oddou, Furuya, Bird, & Mendenhall, 2006). Rayton (2006) provided evidence that both job
satisfaction and organizational commitment are co-determined by further parameters,
including HR practices. According to his study, levels of pay, job involvement, and job
routinization, respectively, are associated with both commitment and satisfaction. However,
managerial support and the provision of career opportunities are associated with satisfaction,
but not with commitment. By contrast, peer support and job expectations enhance employee
commitment, but not job satisfaction. In line with these findings, a meta-analysis of work
design studies revealed that work characteristics that might be subsumed under HR practices
were closely related to behavioral and attitudinal outcomes (Humphrey, Nahrgang, &
Morgeson, 2007). These 14 motivational, social, and work context characteristics explained a
total of 43% of the variance of workers’ attitudes and behaviors. Again, HR practices such as
autonomy, skill variety, task variety, significance, task identity, feedback for the job,
information processing, job complexity, specialization, and problem solving accounted for
25% of the variance in subjective performance, 34% in job satisfaction, and 24% in
organizational commitment. Social characteristics such as interdependence, feedback from
others, social support, and interaction outside the organization explained an incremental 9%
of the variance in subjective performance, 17% in job satisfaction, and 40% in organizational
commitment.
In sum, these findings underscore that the work-related attitudes of job satisfaction and
organizational commitment are not only inextricably linked with performance, but also with
HR practices. Consequently, we argue:
Proposition 3: Job satisfaction mediates the association between HR
practices and performance.
Running head: FUTURE TIME PERSPECTIVE’S MEDIATING EFFECTS
13
Proposition 4: Organizational commitment mediates the association
between HR practices and performance.
Concerning the relationship between age and job satisfaction as well as organizational
commitment, a life-span perspective helps to make sense of a pattern of findings that appears
to be less straightforward than initially assumed. Rhodes’ (1983) early meta-analysis had
shown age and job satisfaction to be positively associated. This finding has been replicated
and extended several times (e.g., Cunningham & MacGregor, 2000; Kirkman & Shapiro,
2001; Schwoerer & May, 1996). At the same time, however, there have been findings
showing that the relationship might actually be U-shaped (Oswald & Warr, 1996), while still
other studies reported no association between age and job satisfaction at all (Cleveland &
Shore, 1992; Glisson & Durick, 1988; Spreitzer, Kizilos, & Nason, 1997). On the one hand,
Rhodes’ (1983) findings support a consistent positive association between age and overall job
satisfaction on the basis of predominantly bivariate analyses. However, her analysis suggests
that needs (see L. W. Porter, 1963) and preferences change with age. More specifically, needs
for security and affiliation tend to increase with age. Also, "preferences for extrinsic job
characteristics and having friendly coworkers and supervisors" (Rhodes, 1983, p. 356)
increase. More limited support was found for a decrease in need for self-actualization and
growth, along with a decrease in preferences for opportunity for growth. Finally, in
multivariate studies, satisfaction with extrinsic facets of work, such as pay, promotions,
coworkers, and supervision does not show the same consistent pattern, but yields rather mixed
results. These findings are consistent with the aforementioned socio-emotional selectivity
perspective (cf. Carstensen, 2006), which assumes that short-term intrinsic goals that enhance
psychological well-being gain importance with age. “Taken together, findings pertinent to
aging and job satisfaction suggest that although the general relationship between worker age
and overall job satisfaction may be positive, there is much more to the story” (Barnes-Farrell
& Matthews, 2007, p. 141). Consequently, these authors suggest that researchers take a closer
look at intrinsic versus extrinsic facets of work.
Similar to job satisfaction, there exists evidence for a positive association between age and
organizational commitment: 17 out of 21 studies in Rhodes’ analysis (1983) found
commitment to increase with age. A meta-analysis of the association of organizational
commitment and age confirmed these findings and reported a moderate positive relationship
(ρ = .19) (Cohen, 1993). Finegold et al. (2002) showed that older workers had a higher degree
of commitment and that the source of commitment differed across age groups. Whereas
Running head: FUTURE TIME PERSPECTIVE’S MEDIATING EFFECTS
14
younger workers' commitment was predicted by their work-life balance, older workers'
commitment was most strongly predicted by job security. To a greater extent than their older
colleagues, younger workers demonstrated an emphasis on growth-related goals such as skill
development and voiced a willingness to change companies in order to reach their goals.
The discussed age-related changes in personality, affect, and values strongly suggest that
the effects of HR practices on work-related attitudes depend on workers' age. The employees'
perceptions of HR practices are likely to change as they age and abilities and needs change
systematically. For example, the promise of an attractive bonus in the case of extraordinary
sales efforts, the prospect of being promoted to a prestigious new position, or the freedom to
organize one's own work schedule might be appreciated differentially by employees
depending upon, for instance, the number of family members financially dependent on them,
their overall financial situation, past achievements, and expectancies concerning their
individual future – all of which are partially age-related. As individuals grow older, their job-
related demands, expectations, prospects, and evaluations are likely to change along with their
abilities, personality, and affect. Such age-related differences in the perception of HR
practices can actively be addressed by sophisticated HRM systems that appropriately
distinguish among members of the workforce. Overall, an age-differentiated emphasis on
extrinsic and intrinsic HR practices is more likely than is a uniform set of HR practices to
prevent a decline in organizationally valued performance as employees grow older. The
former approach makes it possible to, for example, develop intrinsic practices specifically
tailored to the needs of older workers. Practices pertaining to autonomy, participation,
affiliation, and supportiveness are likely to enhance older employees' job attitudes. It is yet
unclear, however, to what extent extrinsic practices may likewise be suitable for age-
differentiated implementation. Nevertheless, work-related attitudes such as job satisfaction
and organizational commitment constitute mediators that help explain the age-differentiated
association between HR practices and organizationally valued performance. Accordingly, we
assume:
Proposition 5: Age moderates the association between HR practices and
job satisfaction such that the association between intrinsic HR practices
and job satisfaction increases with age.
Proposition 6: Age moderates the association between HR practices and
organizational commitment such that the association between intrinsic
HR practices and organizational commitment increases with age.
Running head: FUTURE TIME PERSPECTIVE’S MEDIATING EFFECTS
15
3.4. Work motivation
Work motivation can be defined as the set of psychological processes governing the
direction, intensity, and persistence of work-related behaviors (see Pinder, 1998). Positive
relationships of work motivation with a variety of performance dimensions have long been
established (for overviews, see Churchill Jr, Ford, Hartley, & Walker Jr, 1985; Fried & Ferris,
1987; Stajkovic & Luthans, 1998). In more recent studies, Millette and Gagné (2008) showed
that motivation was positively associated with performance in volunteer work, and Kuvaas
(2006a) demonstrated this relationship for bank employees’ performance.
The influence of HR practices on work motivation has been of interest ever since Hackman
and Oldham’s (1976) classical Job Characteristics Model (JCM) was first published and
subsequently boosted work design research. Extending the JCM, Morgeson and Campion
(2003) suggested that work design beyond the physical attributes of a job includes social
dimensions that engender a significant incremental impact on behavioral and attitudinal
outcomes (Humphrey, et al., 2007). Consistent with this approach, job design itself is
considered to be a human resources practice (e.g., Paul & Anantharaman, 2003) that can be
used to manage employees. Kuvaas (2006a; 2006b) showed associations between work
motivation and pay administration and performance appraisal. Moreover, Dysvick and
Kuvaas (2008) found training opportunities provided by an organization to positively affect
motivation.
Data on age-related changes in work motivation are scarce (e.g., Rhodes, 1983), but
theoretical approaches (e.g., Carstensen, Mikels, & Mather, 2006; Kanfer, in press; Kanfer &
Ackerman, 2004; Warr, 2001) suggest that work motivation changes with age both in a
qualitative and a quantitative way. Concerning quantitative changes, Kanfer and Ackerman
(2004) suggested two routes whereby work motivation deficits might occur in older workers.
In jobs placing strong demands on fluid intelligence, increased effort may only partially offset
performance declines. This could lower self-efficacy and eventually motivation. By contrast,
in jobs which place strong demands on crystallized intelligence, performance levels are often
maintained with relatively low levels of effort. Accordingly, demands are not perceived as
more difficult, performance does not diminish, and motivation remains stable. Nevertheless,
in these jobs work motivation deficits may occur as a consequence of boredom and
insufficient job challenge. However, motivation deficits are only one of several possibilities.
Alternatively, workers might launch compensatory activities in other tasks. Indeed, in their
meta-analysis of age and job performance, Ng and Feldman (2008) found a positive
relationship between age and contextual performance indicators (e.g., Organizational
Running head: FUTURE TIME PERSPECTIVE’S MEDIATING EFFECTS
16
Citizenship Behavior, OCB), whereas a null relationship emerged for age and core task
performance. They conclude that older workers might “consciously engage in discretionary
behaviors to compensate for any losses in technical core performance” (p. 403). Age-related
changes in work motivation might thus best be understood as outcomes of active regulation,
rather than of passive responses to personal (e.g., capability declines) and environmental (e.g.,
altered work demands) changes (Stamov Roßnagel, in press).
Such compensatory and active regulation activities are closely related to qualitative
changes in work motivation. To the extent that older workers put extra effort in certain tasks
to compensate for performance decline in other tasks, they might develop an individual
motivation profile with increased levels of motivation in some work tasks and stable or lower
motivation in other tasks. Such a profile is likely to differ systematically from younger
workers’ motivation profiles (Stamov Roßnagel, in press). Given that motivation is positively
related to work conditions, which protect and promote a positive self-concept (see Kanfer &
Ackerman, in press), older workers might experience high levels of motivation for “people
tasks” (e.g., job roles involving advising and guiding others), but lower levels of motivation
for learning-related tasks (see also Kanfer & Ackerman, 2004).
A related qualitative change in motivation might concern the locus of regulation. Gagné
and Deci (2005) posit that work motivation might range from controlled motivation to
autonomous motivation. Whereas in the former the level of motivation is determined by
contingencies of reward and punishment, autonomous motivation results from the coherence
of a worker’s goals and values and an organization’s regulations. Autonomous motivation
might better suit older workers’ need for positive self-concept regulation than controlled
motivation, which might influence the development of older workers’ motivation profiles.
Motivation levels might rise for tasks providing autonomy, but might decrease for externally
controlled tasks. Such qualitative changes suggest that work motivation might be undermined
by managerial tools – that is, HR practices which are not adequately adjusted to age-related
shifts in affect regulation and work-related values (see Eby & Freeman, 1999).
Companies develop and apply single HR practices or comprehensive HR systems aimed at
enhancing employees' motivation with the goal to optimize firm performance (Michie &
Sheehan, 2005). Various practices such as incentive compensation, performance appraisal,
and internal promotion policies "are thought to offer incentives to aid motivation" (Combs, et
al., 2006, p. 503). Furthermore, "employment security, flexible work schedules, procedures
for airing grievances, and high overall compensation can also increase motivation" (Combs, et
al., 2006, p. 503). These HR practices typically do not acknowledge age-related changes in
Running head: FUTURE TIME PERSPECTIVE’S MEDIATING EFFECTS
17
cognitive abilities, personality and affect as well as age-related individual life situations such
as family status, economic requirements, or personal expectancies. For example, an increasing
need for meaningfulness of job-related tasks (Rhodes, 1983), a changing perception of time
(Carstensen, 2006), and quantitatively and qualitatively changing patterns of cognitive
abilities (Li, et al., 2004) are likely to cause changes in work motivation that are relevant for
the successful management of aging workforces. In sum, we therefore suggest:
Proposition 7: Work motivation mediates the association between HR
practices and performance.
Proposition 8: Age-related changes moderate the association between
HR practices and work motivation such that the association between
intrinsic HR practices and work motivation increases with age.
4. Summary and Conclusion
The aging of the workforce is a major challenge for societies and organizations. HR
practices aimed at improving organizational outcomes need to take into account shifts in
cognitive abilities, personality, and work-related attitudes and motivation as the mean age of
workers increases. SHRM research has demonstrated the positive relationship between
individual and combined HR practices and various outcomes, both at the individual and at the
organizational level. With this article, we bridge two major gaps that are evident in this
literature. Firstly, human development across the life-span and attendant changes in needs and
resources have thus far been mostly ignored. Secondly, there is currently no theoretical model
that addresses the moderating role of age on the association between HR practices and
organizational outcomes and at the same time includes mediators that help explain this
moderating effect.
Life-span developmental psychology has documented age-related changes in (1) basic
human functions – for example, cognitive abilities, personality, value orientations, and
emotional regulation – and (2) work-related psychological variables such as job satisfaction,
organizational commitment, and work motivation. Integrating these insights into current
SHRM approaches helps to fill the identified gaps. The extant literature suggests that HR
practices influence work motivation, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment – and
that these mediators in turn affect organizational performance. We argue that much could be
gained by theoretically and empirically exploring the moderating effect of age on the HR-
practices-performance relationship. Figure 2 depicts our integrated model that integrates
insights from both the SHRM and the life-span developmental psychology literature.
Running head: FUTURE TIME PERSPECTIVE’S MEDIATING EFFECTS
18
(Insert Figure 2 about here)
With respect to practical implications, knowledge of how age affects the impact of HR
practices on different outcomes can help managers to better tailor their efforts to the specific
needs of employees. The integration of such knowledge into HR management would be an
important step forward in meeting the demands entailed by an aging workforce. Barnes-
Farrell and Matthews (2007, p. 140) summarize: “In particular, a clearer understanding of the
attitudes and motives of older workers can help to guide management practices and
organizational policy aimed at meeting the needs of an aging workforce and encouraging
older workers to remain engaged and active members of the workforce.”
Future research is needed to examine the validity and practical utility of a comprehensive
SHRM model that includes both moderators and mediators. Moreover, the differentiation of
HR practices in terms of their intrinsic and extrinsic facets requires further empirical
elaboration. In addition, research aimed at better understanding the perception and impact of
extrinsic practices is needed. Finally, the proposed moderating effect of age should be
afforded closer examination because age can always be only a proxy for other underlying
processes of human development.
Running head: FUTURE TIME PERSPECTIVE’S MEDIATING EFFECTS
19
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Running head: FUTURE TIME PERSPECTIVE’S MEDIATING EFFECTS
24
List of Figures
HR practice performance
universalistic approach
configurational approach
HR practices
- HRP 1
- HRP 2
- HRP 3
- HRP 4
-...
performance
contingency approach performance
strategy
HR practice
strategy
Figure 1. Basic SHRM approaches
HR practices performance
mediation processes
•work motivation
•job satisfaction
•organizational
commitment
age
Figure 2. SHRM model regarding lifespan development perspective
