Reference no: EM133177440
Summary
This study contributes to the emerging literature on age diversity effects at the organizational level of analysis by comparing the role of chronological-age diversity versus subjective-age diversity. We hypothesize a multilevel model in which organizational- level subjective-age diversity is negatively related to bonding social capital within organizations, which, in turn, contributes to heightened employee engagement and lowered turnover intentions. The assumed relationships are tested in a multilevel sample of 96 German small- and medium-sized companies with 16,274 employees participating. We gathered data from four different sources to circumvent common source problems and received support for most of the proposed relationships. Given the potentially detrimental effects of high subjective-age diversity in the workplace, the paper concludes with practical recommendations on how to manage subjective- age diversity in companies proactively.
Practical Implications
Many corporate leaders and HR specialists have understood that active management of the demographic change with its rising retirement ages, shortage of skilled labor, and increasing age diversity of the workforce is a crucial necessity to secure the competitiveness of their firms (Dychtwald et al., 2004; Truxillo & Fraccaroli, 2013). Our study's results may support them in these endeavors. First and fore- most, corporate leaders should be aware of the fact that subjective- age diversity bears certain risks for their firms. In this regard, we share the view of Kulik (2014, p. 130), who noted that she is "always a little embarrassed" to confess to HRM professionals that the business case for diversity is only one side of the coin and that diversity can come at some costs, including lower bonding social capital, lower employee engagement, and higher turnover intention. However, our study also points to a powerful and feasible solution to deal with this dilemma. As our results indicate, subjective-age diversity might be more relevant for performance outcomes than chronological-age diversity. Consequently, companies should regularly assess the subjective-age perceptions of their workforce and identify departments with comparatively large spreads among the workforce's age perceptions. Compared with chronological-age diversity, which can only be altered by recruitment or dismissal of certain employee groups (e.g., by introducing early retirement schemes), subjective-age perceptions and the resulting subjective- age diversity might be modifiable through much lighter corporate interventions. As we know from gerontological research, subjective- age perceptions often widely deviate from chronological age num- bers in almost all countries across the globe (Barak, 2009). Also, gerontological research has theorized (Montepare, 2009) and even manipulated individuals' subjective-age perceptions (Stephan et al., 2013). For the workplace, only preliminary evidence exists through which factors subjective-age perceptions of employees might be altered. For instance, as Kunze et al. (2015) have shown, organizations could try to improve employees' perceptions of the value of their individual work goals in relation to their own ideals or standards (Spreitzer, 1995), as this work-related meaningfulness is a trigger of an altered subjective age in the workplace. Such work- meaningfulness could be promoted via special workshops, communication tools, or leadership behavior. Additionally, Goecke and Kunze (2020) and Armenta et al. (2018) recently reported that negative work events, such as negative emotions and perceived stress, increase subjective-age perceptions. Companies might also be able to implement health and stress management systems that reduce such negative events and enable more uniform distribution of subjective age among their workforce.
REQUIRED
Create a review of two hundred to two hundred fifty words of what you have learnt about Diversity so far and what you have observed in the selected OB practice/theory in relevance to Starbucks.