Hardback

The Multi-generational and Aging Workforce

Challenges and Opportunities

9781783476572 Edward Elgar Publishing

Edited by the late Ronald J. Burke, formerly Professor Emeritus, Schulich School of Business, York University, Canada, Cary Cooper, Alliance Manchester Business School, University of Manchester, UK and Alexander-Stamatios G. Antoniou, Associate Professor of Psychology, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece

Publication Date: 2015 ISBN: 978 1 78347 657 2 Extent: 448 pp

The workforce is aging as people live longer and healthier lives, and mandatory retirement has become a relic of the past. Though workforces have always contained both younger and older employees the age range today has expanded, and the generational gap has become more distinct. This book advocates the need for talented employees of all ages as a way to prevent potential skill shortages and considers both the challenges and opportunities that these changes raise for individual organizations. The benefits they discuss include greater employee diversity with regards to knowledge, skills experience and perspectives, whilst challenges involve potential generational tensions, stereotypes and age biases. The book further places an emphasis on initiatives to create generation-friendly workplaces; these involve fostering lifelong learning, tackling age stereotypes and biases, employing reverse mentoring where younger employees mentor older employees, and offering older individuals career options including phased retirement, bridge employment and encore careers.

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Critical Acclaim

Contributors

Contents

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The workforce is aging as people live longer and healthier lives, and mandatory retirement has become a relic of the past. Though workforces have always contained both younger and older employees the age range today has expanded, and the generational gap has become more distinct. This book advocates the need for talented employees of all ages as a way to prevent potential skill shortages and considers both the challenges and opportunities that these changes raise for individual organizations.

The expert contributors discuss benefits including greater employee diversity with regards to knowledge, skills experience and perspectives, as well as challenges involving potential generational tensions, stereotypes and age biases. They further place an emphasis on initiatives to create generation-friendly workplaces; these involve fostering lifelong learning, tackling age stereotypes and biases, employing reverse mentoring where younger employees mentor older employees, and offering older individuals career options including phased retirement, bridge employment and encore careers.

This wide-reaching book will be of use to academics, PhD students, human resource specialists, managers and government policy makers interested in the aging and multigenerational workforce.

Critical Acclaim

''. . . the topics addressed are highly relevant and will appeal to both workforce practitioners and academic researchers''
– Jaya Soni, Ph.D., International Social Science Review

‘The Multi-generational and Aging Workforce provides a much needed comprehensive review of the causes and consequences of the demographic reality facing organizations of all types today. This edited volume presents an in-depth analysis and understanding of this demographic phenomenon. Most importantly, the implications, opportunities and challenges facing organizations and management with respect to talent management, leadership development, organizational culture and performance, and many other topics, are thoroughly and insightfully discussed.’
– Mitch Rothstein, University of Western Ontario, Canada

Contributors

Contributors: A.-S.G. Antoniou, B. Baltes, J. Benson, S. Bisom-Rapp, R.J. Burke, L. Calvano, D. Campbell, C.L. Cooper, J.B. Cunningham, M. Dalla, J. Field, L. Fiksenbaum, A. Furnham, E.R. Greenglass, B.M. Hughes, J.K.Q. Katter, J. Kroeker-Hall, L.A. Marchiondo, J. McGinnis-Johnson, T. McNamara, D.M. McPhee, E.S.W. Ng, M. Pitt-Catsouphes, S. Sandhu, M. Sargeant, S. Sastrowardoyo, F. Schlosser, C. Scott-Young, S. Sweet, G. Thrasher, K. Zabel

Contents

Contents:

PART I SETTING THE STAGE
1. Managing an Aging and Multi-generational Workforce: Challenges and Opportunities
Ronald J.Burke

PART II UNDERSTANDING THE LARGER CONTEXT
2. Unemployment in the Digital Age
Adrian Furnham

3. Surviving in Difficult Economic Times: Relationship between Economic Factors, Self-esteem and Psychological Distress in University Students
Esther R. Greenglass, Joana K.Q. Katter, Lisa Fiksenbaum and Brian M. Hughes

4. Economic Crisis, Recession and Youth Unemployment: Causes and Consequences
Alexander-Stamatios G. Antoniou and Marina Dalla

5. Cause, Effect and Solution? The Uneasy Relationship between Older Age Bias and Age Discrimination Law
Susan Bisom-Rapp and Malcolm Sargeant

Part III UNDERSTANDING THE NEEDS OF YOUNGER EMPLOYEES
6. Millenials: Who are they, How are they Different, and Why Should We Care?
Eddy S.W. Ng and Jasmine McGinnis Johnson

7. Complexity in Multigenerational Organizations: A Socio-political Perspective
Sukhbir Sandhu, John Benson, Saras Sastrowardoyo and Christina Scott-Young

PART IV UNDERSTANDING THE NEEDS OF OLDER EMPLOYEES
8. Balancing Eldercare and Work
Lisa Calvano

9. Motivational Goals and Competencies of Older Workers who Re-engaged in the Workforce
J. Barton Cunningham, Diana Campbell and Jennifer Kroeker-Hall

10. Resilience at Work for Older Employees
Gregory Thrasher, Keith Zabel and Boris Baltes

11. Age Stereotypes and Discrimination
Lisa A. Marchiondo

12. Meeting the Needs of an Older Population and an Aging Workforce
Ronald J. Burke

13 Retaining Aging Workers in the Workplace – Stakeholder Initiatives
Deborah M. McPhee and Francine Schlosser

Part V CREATING THE AGE-FRIENDLY WORKPLACE
14. Lifelong Learning and the Multigenerational Workforce
John Field

15. Workplace Learning: Vital at all Ages
Ronald J. Burke

16. Leveraging an Aging and Multigenerational Workforce
Ronald J. Burke

17. Getting a Good Fit for Older Employees
Marci Pitt-Catsouphes, Tay McNamara and Stephen Sweet

Index