Annet de Lange

Older workers motivation to continue to work: five meanings of age: A conceptual review

Purpose: Little is known about the motivation for older workers to work and to remain active in the labor market. Research on age and motivation is limited and, moreover, conceptually diverse. In this study, we address age-related factors that influence the work motivation of older workers. More specifically, we examine how various conceptualizations of the age factor affect the direction and termination of the motivation to continue to work of older workers. Methodology: A literature review of age-related factors and motivation to continue to work. Findings: Results from 24 empirical and 9 conceptual studies indicate that most age-related factors can have a negative impact on the motivation to continue to work of older people. These findings suggest that age-related factors are important in understanding older workers’ motivation to continue to work and that further research is needed to more fully understand the underlying processes that govern how these age-related factors influence the motivation to continue to work. Research limitations / implications: Based on the aforementioned findings, we were able to formulate a research agenda for future research, namely: 1) a need for a meta-analysis on age and motivation to determine the actual effect sizes, 2) additional theoretical attention to the underlying age-related processes, 3) more psychometric studies examining the operationalization and measurement of the age-related variables, and 4) additional empirical research on age-related variables and motivation. Practical implications: Age-related factors identified in this study, such as declining health and career plateaus, should be addressed by HRM policies. HRM practices that could motivate older workers to continue to work include ergonomic adjustments and continuous career development. Originality / value of paper: Research on age and motivation is limited and conceptually diverse. This paper is one of the first studies to explore the relations between different conceptualizations of age and motivation.

Should I stay or should I go? Examining longitudinal relations among job resources and work engagement for stayers versus movers

Abstract This two-wave (16-month lag) Belgian panel study is one of the first to test theory-driven hypotheses on the relations between job resources, work engagement, and actual turnover across time. The study focuses on three groups: stayers, workers who have obtained promotions (“promotion makers”), and external job movers. In line with the Job Demands-Resources model, we hypothesized normal cross-lagged effects of job resources on work engagement for stayers. Based on broaden-and-build theory, a reversed causal effect of work engagement on job resources was predicted for the job changers. Additionally, we examined whether the changes in the job change groups matched the refuge hypothesis (that less engaged workers change to jobs providing more resources) or the positive gain hypothesis (that engaged workers get promoted to jobs having even more resources). The results partially supported our hypotheses. We found that low work engagement, low job autonomy, and low departmental resources predicted actual transfer to another company. Furthermore, for stayers we found positive effects of job autonomy on work engagement, but also reversed causal effects. For external movers and promotion makers the expected reversed causal effects of work engagement were found. The across time mean changes support the positive gain hypothesis for promotion makers, and the refuge hypothesis for external movers.

A hard day's night: a longitudinal study on the relationships among job demands and job control, sleep quality and fatigue

This prospective four‐wave study examined (i) the causal direction of the longitudinal relations among job demands, job control, sleep quality and fatigue; and (ii) the effects of stability and change in demand–control history on the development of sleep quality and fatigue. Based on results of a four‐wave complete panel study among 1163 Dutch employees, we found significant effects of job demands and job control on sleep quality and fatigue across a 1‐year time lag, supporting the strain hypothesis (Demand–Control model; Karasek and Theorell, Basic Books, New York, 1990). No reversed or reciprocal causal patterns were detected. Furthermore, our results revealed that cumulative exposure to a high‐strain work environment (characterized by high job demands and low job control) was associated with elevated levels of sleep‐related complaints. Cumulative exposure to a low‐strain work environment (i.e. low job demands and high job control) was associated with the highest sleep quality and lowest level of fatigue. Our results revealed further that changes in exposure history were related to changes in reported sleep quality and fatigue across time. As expected, a transition from a non‐high‐strain towards a high‐strain job was associated with a significant increase in sleep‐related complaints; conversely, a transition towards a non‐high‐strain job was not related to an improvement in sleep‐related problems.

Moving European research on work and ageing forward: Overview and agenda

This paper summarizes the state of affairs of European research on ageing and work. After a close inspection of the age construct, an overview is presented of research in four areas: the relationship between age and HR-policies, early retirement, age and performance/employability, age and health/well-being. The overview results in a research agenda on work and ageing and in recommendations for practice.

Proactivity, job characteristics, and engagement: a longitudinal study

Purpose – This paper sets out to examine proactive personality in relation to job demands, job resources and engagement.Design/methodology/approach – The current study employed a two‐wave complete panel study among 794 Dutch government employees. Based upon the Job Demands‐Resources (JD‐R) model, previous studies, job crafting theories, and Conservation of Resources (COR) theory, hypotheses on the associations of proactive personality with job demands, resources, and engagement were developed.Findings – Analyses revealed that proactive personality was associated with an increase in engagement 18 months later. Moreover, proactive employees perceiving high social support reported the highest levels of engagement over time.Research limitations/implications – A first shortcoming is that proactive personality was only measured at one point in time, which restricted the testing of causal relationships of proactive personality with engagement. Second, this study only measured engagement as outcome measure and th...