James W. Walker

Retirement style and retirement satisfaction: retirees aren't all alike.

Postretirement patterns of work-employment for pay, voluntary activities, or no work-like activities-were examined for 1511 recent retirees from major corporations. A related typology of retirement style-reorganizer, rocking chair, holding on, and dissatisfied patterns-was also used. These patterns were examined in terms of preretirement characteristics of the respondents, postretirement attitudes about retirement, and retirement satisfaction. Multivariate analyses comparing the salience of retirement style with health, income, occupation, and preretirement feelings about retiring for predicting retirement satisfaction indicated that retirement style was a significant predictor of overall retirement satisfaction, and the subscales of satisfaction with activities and satisfaction with finances. Implications of these findings for preretirement counseling and retirement policies are discussed.

Human Resource Planning, 1990s Style

Human resource planning (HRP) is necessary to support the implementation of business strategy. In the rapidly changing context of the 1990s, however, traditional approaches are yielding to more flexible forms of planning. This article describes how companies are using HRP to address the impact of change: simpler, shorter-range planning; a focus on issues; focused data analysis; and emphasis on action planning.

Appropriate Staffing Levels for the Human Resource Function: Is There a Magic Ratio?

Corporations generally are seeking to reduce staff costs and improve effectiveness of staff operations. The human resource function, in particular, is a focus of attention in many companies. Management of human resources is acknowledged to be an important and growing concern among top executives, yet the function is considered one of the most difficult to measure and manage (Walker, 1986).