Rita Chiesa

Comparison between the Spanish and Italian early work retirement models: A cluster analysis approach

Purpose – The aim of this study is to compare the Spanish and Italian early work retirement (EWR) models in a sample comprising individuals from both countries based on the level of voluntariness involved in labour market exit, psychosocial outcomes, perceived consequences, socio‐demographic variables and motivation.Design/methodology/approach – The authors used a cluster analysis approach to carry out a cross‐sectional study based on a total sample of 1,131 early retirees (605 Spaniards and 526 Italians) drawn from different industries.Findings – In the Spanish but not in the Italian case, EWR was predominantly perceived as forced. K‐means cluster analysis identified four groups of early retirees in both countries based on perceived outcomes of EWR. Two of these clusters represent extreme positive and negative assessments of early retirement consequences, while the remaining two reflect intermediate positions.Research limitations/implications – These results show that the involuntary Spanish EWR model is...

Positive Aging in Demanding Workplaces: The Gain Cycle between Job Satisfaction and Work Engagement

Nowadays organizations have to cope with two related challenges: maintaining an engaged and highly performing workforce and, at the same time, protecting and increasing employees’ well-being and job satisfaction under conditions of a generalized increase of job demand, in an increasingly growing older population. According to the motivational process of the JD-R model, a work environment with many organizational resources will foster work engagement, which in turn will increase the likelihood of positive personal and organizational outcomes, such as job satisfaction, performance, and intention to stay. However, it is not clear how this motivational process could work in different age cohorts, as older workers may have different priorities to those of younger colleagues. Postulating the existence of a gain-cycle in the relationship between work engagement and outcomes, in this study we tested a longitudinal moderated mediation model in which job satisfaction increases over time through an increment in work engagement. We hypothesized that this process is moderated by job demand and aging. We collected data in public administrations in Northern Italy in order to measure work engagement and job satisfaction. 556 workers aged between 50 and 64 replied to the survey twice (the first time and 8 months later). The findings confirmed a moderated mediation model, in which job satisfaction at time 1 increased work engagement, which in turn fostered job satisfaction 8 months later, confirming the hypothesized gain-cycle. This relationship was shown to be moderated by the joint influence of job demand intensity and age: higher job demands and younger age are related to the maximum level of level gain cycle, while the same high level of job demands, when associated with older age, appears unable to stimulate a similar effect. The results confirm that, on one hand, older workers cannot be seen as a homogeneous group and, on the other hand, the importance of considering the role played by the gain cycle of resources. Our findings show that age matters, and that greater consideration should be devoted to age differences in order to design appropriate human resources practices that foster work engagement and satisfaction.

Prepararse para la jubilación: el papel del apoyo social en la gestión de la ansiedad

Retirement can be considered a transition that implies losing one?s work role and therefore there is a need to be capable of restructuring one?s systems of personal roles and activities. This study used a sample of 250 employees of public administration aged over 48 to find the extent to which work and non-work sources of social support can affect anxiety during the period of preparation for retirement. In addition, the study explored the relation between social support and intended retirement age. LISREL structural equation model analysis shows that supervisor?s social support and job involvement increase the anxiety resulting from identity loss, whereas family social support decreases this anxiety. Moreover, friends? social support reduces the anxiety owing to anticipated social exclusion. Finally, retirement related anxiety predicts intended retirement age.

Real and perceived employability: a comparison among Italian graduates

ABSTRACT The research undertaken for this article aims to analyse the correspondence between perceived employability and the actual national employment rate among Italian students and graduates undertaking different courses in a large Italian university. Data were collected through a cross-sectional survey of 2087 students in 19 faculties, and compared with the national indicators of employment rate for each faculty. Using faculty as unit of analysis, the results indicated a significant correlation between participants’ perceived employability and national employment rate. This trend was similar for both genders. However, the results showed a difference between bachelor’s and master’s degrees: the correlation between perceived and actual employability was not significant among bachelor’s participants while it remained significant among master’s participants. The results suggest that graduates are only partially aware of their possibility to enter the labour market and this, in turn, highlights that universities have only partially met the goal to increase awareness about the chances of finding a job among students and graduates.

Older workers: stereotypes and occupational self-efficacy

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between organizational age stereotypes and occupational self-efficacy. First, the authors intend to test the measurement invariance of Henkens’s (2005) age stereotypes scale across two age group, respectively, under 50 and 50 years and older. Then, the moderator role of age groups in the relationship between age stereotypes and occupational self-efficacy is investigated. Design/methodology/approach The survey involved a large sample of 4,667 Italian bank sector’s employees. Findings The results show the invariance of the three dimensional structure of organizational stereotypes towards older workers scale: productivity, reliability and adaptability. Furthermore, the moderation is confirmed: the relationship between organizational age stereotypes and occupational self-efficacy is significant only for older respondents. Research limitations/implications Future studies should aim to replicate the findings with longitudinal designs. Practical implications The study suggests the importance to emphasize the positive characteristics of older workers and to reduce the presence of negative age stereotypes in the workplace, especially in order to foster the occupational self-efficacy of older workers. Originality/value The findings are especially relevant in view of the lack of evidence about the relationship between age stereotypes and occupational self-efficacy.

Happy employees in a resourceful workplace: just a direct relationship?: A study on the mediational role of psychological capital

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the positive association between job resources, i.e. autonomy and co-workers support, and psychological capital (PsyCap). In addition, it is aimed to assess the mediational role of PsyCap in the relationship between job resources, on the one hand, and work engagement and psychological distress on the other hand. Design/methodology/approach A sample of 235 employees working in a large-scale retail company completed a structured questionnaire. To test the hypotheses, the collected data were analyzed with structural equation modeling. Findings The results fully supported the hypotheses and showed that autonomy and co-workers’ support were positively associated with PsyCap. In addition, PsyCap fully mediated the effect of job resources on work engagement and psychological distress. Research limitations/implications The results indicate that a greater degree of autonomy allowed to employees in performing their work, and social support from co-workers may significantly contribute to building employees’ personal resources such as PsyCap. This positive association between job resources and PsyCap, in turn, leads employees to feel more engaged in their work and prevents them from harmful outcomes such as symptoms of psychological distress. Originality/value This study extends prior research on the motivational process of the job demands-resources model. Furthermore, it develops the notion of resources caravans postulated by the conservation of resources theory in its attempt to examine PsyCap as a mediator in the association between job resources and different individual outcomes.

Financial Planning for Retirement: Age-Related Differences Among Spanish Workers

This article tests an integrated model of financial planning for retirement (FPR), with 948 Spanish workers aged between 30 and 63. Overall, the three model dimensions—capacity, willingness, and opportunities to plan and save—show a significant association with financial planning for retirement. The moderator role of age in the relationships between antecedents and financial planning was tested. Consistent with our hypothesis, younger participants showed a greater level of FPR if they were characterized by a high level of education. The interaction between both age and psychological preparation for retirement and retirement goals clarity failed to reach statistical significance. We discuss how financial planning effectiveness could be increased based on the results of importance-performance map analyses.

Self‐efficacy and justice perceptions in personnel selection: A moderated mediation model

The study investigated the role of self-efficacy (general and task-specific) and justice perceptions in determining the expectations of success in personnel selection procedures. We hypothesized that personnel selection self-efficacy mediated the relationship between general self-efficacy and outcome expectations, and that justice perceptions moderated these relationships. Our sample consisted of 206 respondents who had just graduated or were about to graduate and had previous experience in selection procedures. The moderated mediation model indicated that personnel selection self-efficacy mediated the relationship between general self-efficacy and outcome expectations, but only in the case of high justice perceptions, whereas general self-efficacy had a direct effect on outcome expectations only in the case of low justice perceptions. The findings encourage more research on applicants’ expectations.

“If it is dreamable it is doable”: the role of desired job flexibility in imagining the future

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to compare how the dimension of attitudes toward future that consists in perception of dynamic future may be affected by desirable goals (desired job flexibility) and probable events (probable job flexibility) in a group of permanent vs temporary employees. Moreover the aim is to explore the gender differences in respect to variables studied. Design/methodology/approach – The data were collected using self-report questionnaires on a sample of 710 employees, of which 63 percent women, 57.2 percent permanent employees, and 42.8 percent fixed-term employees. Findings – The results showed that probable job flexibility mediated the relationship between desired job flexibility and the perception of a dynamic professional future. In addition, the type of contract moderated the interaction effect of job mastery on the relationship between desired and probable flexibility. Job mastery, however, has a direct effect on probable flexibility only on women in fixed-term employment...