Leading Change in a Complex World

When it comes to defining "older employees", there is no clear consensus, and the literature contains various categorisations for such employees. Herein, an older employee is defined as one 50 years old or older, because at this point, there is a declining trend in labour-market participation. Although ageing is universal, the changes related to ageing differ between individuals. These changes do not only concern biological and physiological changes, but also psychological and social ones. How old age and ageing are perceived and experienced varies societally and individually.

In the field of HRM, a growing number of studies have focused on the challenges and complexities related to retaining older employees. For instance, organisation-level HRM studies have focused on identifying so-called age-inclusive HRM practices. In general, these practices aim to support the needs and preferences of older employees as well as those in other age groups in the organisations. As Mahon and Millar noted, "thoughtful ageing policies must deal with the entire spectrum of ageing and levels in the organisational hierarchy". These HRM practices include, for example, non-discriminatory recruitment, selection, performance, and rewarding as well as training and development practices. In addition, flexible work practices relating, for example, to the possibilities to combine work and family responsibilities have also been highlighted. In practice, flexibility can mean an individual's ability to influence one's own working hours or working methods. The theoretical background for these studies is based frequently on the social exchange theory and the psychological contract perspective. In other words, HRM practices are seen as a way to maintain and strengthen the reciprocal relationship and mutual trust between employees and their organisation. 

So-called age management studies have also identified HRM practices as important to support longer working careers and abolishing obstacles, such as ageist practices in organisations. For example, in some cases, older individuals may encounter career plateaus in organisations or challenges related to job changes and re-employment opportunities if they are unemployed. The theoretical background for these age management studies often relies on studies of work ability. As a concept, work ability illustrates the balance between an employee's resources and his/her job demands. While the work abilities of individuals tend to decline with age, the variation among individuals is great. Furthermore, both the individual employee and the organisation can promote work ability. 

In line with the work ability approach, recent HRM studies have stressed the importance of continuous person-environment fit to maintain workability as well as to support successful ageing in the work context. Individual-level HRM studies have also highlighted the importance of examining how older employees perceive HRM practices as well as their own active role in managing late careers. Attention has been paid, for example, to the changing life goals of older employees, the use of various strategies to compensate for changes related to aging and the significance of both of these to late-career choices. In other words, older employees are no longer seen merely as the passive objects of HRM practices and policies. Instead, they are considered actors which can take part in the process of creating an atmosphere and HRM practices that are more age-friendly. 

Supporting longer working careers in organisations can be considered as a complex problem given that the late-career choices of older employees are influenced by a number of factors that may or may not be related to work. For example, there is evidence that the retirement plans of female employees are often more strongly influenced by marital status, education, and income than those of male employees. Besides the diversity of older working populations, there are also differences between industry sectors and organisations in terms of willingness and readiness to support longer working careers. All the aforementioned makes it difficult to identify "best HRM practices" for retaining older employees and supporting longer working careers.