Engaging Aging: A Model of Proactive Work Behavior and Engagement with Increasing Age PDF

C 12 g;ng Aging: A Model of Proact· EJ1ga IVe ork sehav,or and Engagement with w, lncreasing Age Arno...

C 12 g;ng Aging: A Model of Proact· EJ1ga IVe ork sehav,or and Engagement with w, lncreasing Age Arnold B. Bakker & Jari J. Hakanen i/rnar schaufeli has proposed an influential conceptualization of work engage- f j Tment. as well as the most aften used instrument. Now that retirement is loom- ff ing on the horizon. it is timely to discus~ th_ e development of work engagement ·f span. Does work engagement change w1th mcreasing age? Which HR practices 01,erthe l,e. ging aging"? What strateg1es can employees use to stay engaged? After a short foster enga art of work engagement. we briefly discuss its measurement, antecedents and srateof the · consequences. Wilmar Schaufeli's theoretica/ work and empirica/ investigations have greatly informed and influenced this literature. The chapter continues by investigating the effects of age. Research has indicated that employees lose and gain resources with increasing age. combining these findings with the proactivity literature, we develop a model of ·engaging aging·. we propose that a loss in personal resources provides a reason to be proactive. whereas a gain in personal resources enables proactivity. Since age is unsystematically related to personal initiative. we argue that age-focused HR practices are needed to ener- gize employees and foster proactive work behaviors, such as (a) selection, optimization, and compensation strategies; (b) job crafting; and (c) proactive vitality management. Employees who use these proactive behaviors can be expected to stay engaged and be productive with increasing age. lntroduction Although Willi.. 1ri1rn am Kahn first introduced engagement in the literature m 199°, it was en ar Schaufeli's definition and measurement instrument that really set off work gageinent re d fi d as "a posi- liiie, /uj. search. Accordingly, work engagement has been e ne.. ¾dab lilüng, Work-related state of mind that is characterized by vigor, dedicaaon, 80 rptio " ( ) In this n Schaufeli, Salanova, GonzáJez-Romá, & Bakker, 2002 P· 74 · 153... " hl h levels of energy and the willingness to invest effort in defirution vigor reiers to g. , '.. c t being strongly involved m one s work. and experienc- one's job. Dedicat1on re1ers o..... thusiasm and inspirat1on. Pmally, absorption refers ing a sense of s1gm6 cance, en '.... d. ork activities whereby time passes qmckly. In the past to bemg fully 1mmerse mw ' ngagement has used the Utrecht Work Engagement two decades most research one ' h c li Bakker & Salanova, 2006) - a brief, valid and reliable ques- Scale (UWES; Se au1e ,...... h ch of the three engagement dimens1ons typ1cally with nine tionnaire t at assesses ea.. three-item version of the UWES was validated (Schaufeli items. Recent1y, a1so a. ,. Sh1mazu, Hak s l anen, a a nova , & De Witte , in press ). Interestmgly, research findings point at a positive relationship between age and work engagement - older employ- ees are slightly more engaged in their work than younger employees (Hakanen, Ropponen, Schaufeli, & De Witte, 2019). Work engagement is different from other positive well-being constructs like hap- piness and job satisfaction in that it is an activated positive affective state. Thus, in contrast with feeling calm, content and happy, engaged individuals feel excited and enthusiastic. Engaged individuals are therefore ready to invest important cognitive and energetic resources in their work activities. Por example, in one of the first qual- itative studies on work engagement, Wilmar Schaufeli and his colleagues describe the vivid experiences of an engaged bus driver. She really likes driving nicely and smoothly so that passengers enjoy the ride and are not being startled by sudden bumps or abrupt brakes (Schaufeli et al., 2001). Research on the antecedents and consequences of work engagement has resulted in a new theory of occupational health and well-being, named Job Demands- Resources (JD-R) theory (Bakker & Demerouti, 2017; Demerouti, Bakker, Nachreiner & Schaufeli, 2001). Accordingly, work engagement is most likelywhen job challenges are combined with personal or job resources. Por example, employees are most engaged when interesting and challenging tasks are combined with job resources such as social support, autonomy and skill variety. Similarly, employees are most enthusiastic about their work when they face work pressure and deadlines on the days they feel optimistic and self-efficacious (i.e. when personal resources are high). When individuals have all the resources needed to adequately deal with their job demands, they can be engaged and may flourish, on a day-to-day basis. Irnportantly, JD-R theory proposes that employees need to be proactive in order to stay engaged- a principle that we will use in this chapter to build a model of engaging aging. Work engagement is so popular because the concept has important consequences for individuals.. and organizations a t large. Por example, work engagement has been p~sitively related to other-ratings of task performance, creativity, and objective finan· c1al results, and negatively rel t d t O. ae di me cal errors and counterproductive wor k behavtors (e g Christian G & t · · ' arza, Slaughter, 2011). These findings clearly indicate tha engaged workers make the diffi t erence for organizations. Moreover, work engagemen 154 G UFE THE FUN AND FRUSTRATION OF MODERN WORKIN  tïvely related to organizational citizenship b h. 0 pos1 e avior pro al b hP bee ti'sfaction, clearly suggesting that engaged k ' soci ehavior uent sa wor ers want to h 1 8,fld c. excellent services. Work engagement is also. e P others deliver a uruque predi t Of ( 8,fld. symptoms and (high) life satisfaction (Hakanen & h. c or low) ressive 8c aufeli, 2012) p· all deP.....,,nt for the current analysis of aging, work eng · m Y, diJJ1po1 """. agement has been linked to 8,fl. al health and seems to have a positive impact on th. li. hys1c.. e me nation to continue P. later in work life (De Wmd, Van der Pas, Blatter & V: d B working ' an er eek, 2016). Resource Loss and Gain with lncreasing Age The average age of the workforce. in industrialized countries is clearly increasing. 'Ibis demographic trend may have important implications for organizations, because individuals lose and gain resources with increasing age. One obvious resource that declines over time is physical ability. Physical changes include reduced visual acuity and reduced hearing ability, muscular changes (reduced strength, power, and bal- ance), reduced VO 2 capacity, and higher blood pressure (Truxillo, Cadiz, & Hammer, 2015). Moreover, a reduced ability to reach homeostasis increases susceptibility to extreme physical work conditions and increases the time needed to recover from a stressful event (Hedge & Borman; 2012). As a consequence, employees may develop several health problems when they become older. Such health problems may be minor(e.g., small aches and pains) or more serious (e.g., musculoskeletal disorders, cardiovascular diseases), and lead to reductions in work ability. Another important resource that changes over time is cognitive ability. Research bas documented that particularly fluid intelligence decreases with increasing age - most likely starting already around the early twenties (Kanfer & Ackerman, 2004). Fluid intellectual abilities refer to working memory, abstract reasoning, attention, and the processing of novel information. Although research generally shows no sig- nificant relationship between age and job performance, older workers most likely need to invest more cognitive and time resources in their work than younger work- ers in order to reach the same performance level. In addit'ion to resource loss in terms of phys1c al and cogni't've 1 ability' individuals Who gr.h ·ng age the number ow older lose important social resources. Wit mcreasi ' of c~ose friends decreases, and children who grow up may have less time to ~ro~_de 80c1al su... pact on older mdiVId- ' PPort for the1r aging parents - haVIng a negative im. Uals quali ) M 0 reover personality r ty of life (Zaninotto, Falaschetti, & Sacker, 2009 · ' h lic esearch.al vitality over t e ie sp suggests that there is a moderate decrease in soci ·t an (TlllJcill to decrease on trai s re\at o et al., 2015). As individuals grow older, they seem h life ed to.. that they approac With I agency and zestful approach to life - indicatmg ess anti ·. cipation, enthusiasm and exc1tement. Ii. tNGAG 155 ING AGiNG  resources with increasing age but also ga.in ·. di.duals do not onlY lose, eaning that there are age-related However, m VI. increases, m stallized intelligence.__..:11 tal 2015). Older employees have prac- For examP1e, cry d m (Tn.uuu0 e.,. dge skills and wis O dge than younger employees. They gains m knoW1e ' e of their knoW1e.. d their skills and make better us 1 dge experience, understanding, common ti ce ing knoW e ,.. better able to think and act us h t develops positively wtth mcreasing are 'ti al resource t a... and insight. Another en c all d fined as relatively stable mdividual sense, ality is usu y e ag e is personality. Although person. tl ss different situations, research has. ted cons1sten y acro. characteristics that are enac d greeableness, and a decrease m neu-. ·entiousness an a shown an increase m consci li & Potter, zon). Tuis means that when fil an (Soto John, Gos ng, roticism over t h e e sp '. ed and more self-disciplined, careful,... ld they are better orgamz. mdiVIduals grow O er,. all b havioral characteristics that can fac11itate oal-oriented, and hard-working - e. h g h. hi her score on agreeableness mdicates t at older work performance. Moreover, t err g.. · t· d can·ng for others - they provide more mstrumental individuals are more altnns ic an. al 'al t to colleagues who need it (Truxillo et al., 2015). Older and emot1on soc1 suppor workers are most likely also better able to help others, because with increasing age, their emotional stability has increased too (Soto et al., 2011). Thus, older workers show lower irritability, fearfulness and social anxiety than younger workers, and have higher self-esteem, a better inhibition of impulses and better coping strategies. These findings are consistent with the results of emotional intelligence studies, showing a positive relationship between age and facets of emotional intelligence (Mayer, Caruso, & Salovey, 1999). Accordingly, when people grow older, they are better in perceiving and regulating emotions. In working life, these competencies are very useful when work involves interacting with other people, including clients, colleagues, and the supervisor. Social stressors (e.g., conflicts with co-workers, social ~mosities at work) may also have a smaller impact on older than on younger indi- VIduals, because older people appraise stressful events less negatively than younger people. Moreover, older individuals are inclined to focus on positive rather than on negative environmental cues. Towards a Model of Engaging Aging Since ::iai · 'd es with important ch ~ng. comc1. employe anges m.. t h at orgaruzations adapt th. t di. e resources, 1t seems cruc1al e1r ra tional hum employees healthy, engaged and d. an resources practices to keep their.. pro uctive (Truxill O use proact1V1ty theory (Parker B' dl et al., 2015). In this chapter, we d ' m e, & Strauss 2 010 ) nee to constantly optimize th. ' to argue that (all) employees and t err work and leisure t'.. per orm well, and that th·. ac lVItles in order to stay engaged p is proactive b h age. roactive behavior at work i e avior is more needed with increasing nvo1ves self-initi t d.. a e ' antic1patory action, and may 156 THE FUN AND FR USTRATION OF MODERN WORKING LIFE  0 de t aki·ng charge, voicing concerns and seeking feedb ac k (Parker & n· dl irtcl iderable evidence that engaging in such b h.. m e, 2017). ere is cons. e aviors Is related to favorabl 1h e outcomes. Proactive behavior improves th fi b e formanc e t etween the indi ·d per. b increases opportunities to use one's resourc d VI ual d the JO ,... es an strengths, and ma an the meanmg of work (KoOIJ, Van Woerkom W'Ik h Y. prove ' 1 en1o , Dorenbosch & iJll. 2017 ). Unfortunately, research on the link between d. ' verussen,.... age an proactive behav-. 1·nconclus1ve, With some studies showmg weak positive and other studi h joflS... ' es s ow- relationsh1ps (Zacher & KOOIJ, 2017 ). These inconclusive findin ing no... gs may suggest rg anizat10ns and their strategie human resource managem t t· that o.... en prac 1ces are onlyp ar tly effective m mcreasmg proactive motivation among thei·r.::,'$lmn gemp1oyees. When people are proactive, they challenge the status quo rather than passively adapting to existing conditions (Crant, 2000 ). Proactive individuals take the initiative to improve their current circumstances - they envision and plan a different future by changing the self and/ or the environment. According to Parker and colleagues (2010 ), there are three key motivational states that prompt and sustain proactivity, namely "can do", "reason to", and "energized to". In this model of proactive motivation, "can do" refers to self-efficacy perceptions, feasibility appraisals, and perceived costs. In our model of engaging aging (Figure 1), "can do'' motivation for proactivity is facilitated by resource gain. Employees who have gained personal resources like emotional stability, self-discipline, and emotion regulation skills, will be well able to proactively adjust their work life. They can conserve their resources so that they stay engaged and perform well. Figure 1 A Model of Engaging Aging Loss of Personal Resources r - - - - - - - - - - - - ~ _Info processing capabilities + - Physical abilities _ Fluid cognitive abilities - Health.. - - - - - - - - - - - - " t " j "reason to" + Work Age-focused Proactive Work Outcomes HR Practices Behaviors Employee +. work engagement Age Health behaviour climate 1-----., - SOC strategles - Creativity · Job crafting training "energized Job crafting. Performance · ldiosyncratic deals to" - Proactive vitality management + "can do" Gain of Personal Resources + _ Job knowledge - - - - - - - - - - - ~ Judgment - Wisdom b'I'.. emotlonal a i 1t1e 5 - SOCIO· 157 12. ENG AGING AGING  se of personal responsibility and. " ctive refers to a sen. an In.te 1h "reason to be proa al. 'tiative. In the model of engaging a.crï... r. e. take person uu t)-l!1g, th nalized motivat10n to. th loss of personal resources. When ern l e..s proVIded by e p oyee reason to be proact1ve I.. bilities or experience more health problern s. al d cogn1t1ve a.. s, they have fewer phys1c an. oactively adjust their JOb characteristics t be select1ve, pr , ort0 have a clear reason °.. h 1th behaVIors. e gr 1h adual loss of physical abilities and a red Uced change therr ea.. se the need to be proactive. By chan.crïn. h homeostas1s mcrea tr'!g the capac1ty to reac t' ly managing one's own energy level (e.g., by tiik work activities, and by proac ive. fi b. ~g.. ) loyees may mcrease the t etween the1r abiliti a regular walk. exerc1smg , emp.. es. t foster work engagement, creatIVIty and perforrnan and the enVIronment so as o... ". ce.. all. p k t al's (2010 ) model ofproact1ve motivation, energized to" re"er Fm y, m ar er e. 11 s to an affective-motivational state that offers individuals the energetic resources to be proactive. However, in our model of engaging aging, we propose that age-focused HR practices initiated by the organization are needed to energize employees to be proactive (see Figure 1). Organizations may use various age-focused HR practices, including age-focused job design (redesigning the structural job demands and resources with special attention for age), and age-focused training and development (e.g., Dikkers, De Lange, & Van der Heijden, 2017 ). Here, we briefly discuss three specific HR practices, namely (a) the creation of a health behavior climate, (b) job crafting training, and (c) idiosyncratic deals, which all boost proactive motivation of "can do", "reason to", and "energized to". Age-focused HR practices First, management may create a h ea1th b eh aVIor. chmate.. Such a climate refers to employee perceptions of or.... fi gamzational pohc1es, practices, and procedures or emp1oyee health behavior, includi. employee beh... ng expectations and rewards that stimulate aVIors amung at health. the strategy and vi promotion. By including health behavior in s1on, management and I d care of their employees' h alth. ea ers can communicate that they take e , which become Further, organizations m.. s more important with increasing age. ay optim1ze the " h · By designing the work. c mee architecture" for health behaviors. environment such th nudged (Thaler & Sunstein ) at younger and older employees are , 2008 to be ph. all organizations may indire tl. ys1c y active and consume healthy food, fi c y optimize I ' d per ormance. emp oyees health, work engagement an em ~ second possible age-focused HR. p oyees redefining their 'oh. practice is job crafting - the process of Bakker, 2010· W. J designs in pe. &. ' rzesmewski & D rsonally meaningful ways (Tirns mtervention utton 20 g. b s, employees learn t 'd '. o1; see also chapter 16). In job craftin Jo resources and h o I entify th. nd ' t en set and i eir most important job demands a mp1ement goal.. 0 as s to optimize their job design 5 158 THE FUN G uFE AND FRUSTRATION OF MODERN woRJ