Hanna Salminen, Monika E. von Bonsdorff, Deborah McPhee and Pia Heilmann
By relying on a sustainable career perspective and recent studies on senior employees’ late career phase, this study aims to examine senior (50+) nurses’ late career narratives in…
Abstract
Purpose
By relying on a sustainable career perspective and recent studies on senior employees’ late career phase, this study aims to examine senior (50+) nurses’ late career narratives in the context of extending retirement age. Given the current global nursing shortage, there is a pressing need to find ways on how to promote longer and sustainable careers in the health-care field. Yet, there is limited knowledge about the extended late career phase of senior nurses.
Design/methodology/approach
Empirical data were derived from 22 interviews collected among senior (50+) nursing professionals working in a Finnish university hospital. The qualitative interview data were analysed using a narrative analysis method. As a result of the narrative analysis, four career narratives were constructed.
Findings
The findings demonstrated that senior nurses’ late career narratives differed in terms of late career aspirations, constraints, mobility and active agency of one’s own career. The identified career narratives indicate that the building blocks of sustainable late careers in the context of extending retirement age are diverse.
Research limitations/implications
The qualitative interview data were restricted to senior nurses working in one university hospital. Interviews were conducted on site and some nurses were called away leaving some of the interviews shorter than expected.
Practical implications
To support sustainable late careers requires that attention be based on the whole career ecosystem covering individual, organizational and societal aspects and how they are intertwined together.
Originality/value
So far, few studies have investigated the extended late career phase of senior employees in the context of a changing career landscape.
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Hanna Salminen, Mika Vanhala and Pia Heilmann
The purpose of this paper is to the debate on employees’ subjective performance evaluations by examining how organisational commitment and job satisfaction are related to…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to the debate on employees’ subjective performance evaluations by examining how organisational commitment and job satisfaction are related to perceived performance at the individual, unit and organisation levels.
Design/methodology/approach
Quantitative survey data were collected from two large corporations in Finland: one operating in the field of information and communications technology and the other in the forestry industry. The partial least squares (PLS) method was used for the data analyses.
Findings
Both job satisfaction and organisational commitment had a positive effect on employees’ perceived individual-, unit- and organisation-level performance. These effects were the strongest at the organisation level.
Originality/value
To date, limited attention has been paid to perceived individual-, unit- and organisation-level performance as a consequence of organisational commitment and job satisfaction.
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Hanna Salminen, Mikaela von Bonsdorff and Monika von Bonsdorff
Human resource management (HRM) scholars’ interest in older employees’ resilience has only recently started to emerge. Little is known about how resilience and perceived HRM are…
Abstract
Purpose
Human resource management (HRM) scholars’ interest in older employees’ resilience has only recently started to emerge. Little is known about how resilience and perceived HRM are linked to different retirement intentions. Drawing on the conservation of resources and social exchange theories, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the links between perceived HRM practices, resilience and retirement intentions. Additionally, the paper examines the possible mediating role of resilience in the relationship between perceived HRM practices and retirement intentions.
Design/methodology/approach
In 2016, a cross-sectional study was conducted among older (50+) nursing professionals working in a Finnish university hospital. Statistical methods, including mean comparisons and linear and logistic regression analyses, were used to analyze the data.
Findings
The results indicated that resilience partly mediated the relationship between perceived HRM practices and early retirement intentions, and fully mediated the association between perceived HRM practices and intentions to continue working after retirement age.
Originality/value
This study produces new knowledge regarding the links between resilience, perceived High involvement work practices and retirement intentions.
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Hanna Maria Salminen, Qian Wang and Iiris Aaltio
Recently, research on aging in the work-life context from the perspective of how to manage, support and retain an aging workforce has increased among management scholars, and…
Abstract
Purpose
Recently, research on aging in the work-life context from the perspective of how to manage, support and retain an aging workforce has increased among management scholars, and therefore is contributing to the current societal need to extend work careers. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the articles discussing aging in the work-life context in the Finnish business magazine Talouselämä (Economic Life) during the years 2002–2017.
Design/methodology/approach
A total of 81 articles were included in the analysis. They were classified into seven themes as a result of a content analysis. Three levels of discussions on aging were identified: societal, organizational and individual. These levels were further analyzed in order to revel what kind of issues have been emphasized or overlooked. The results were discussed in the context of Finnish work life.
Findings
The findings showed that aging has been presented in a passive and deterministic (or at least neutral) tone. Most of the articles focused on the consequences and actions related to an aging workforce at the societal level. At the individual level, aging was mainly discussed in terms of changes related to work ability and functioning, with aging individuals as the actors responsible for managing and controlling the effects of their own aging process. The organizational-level discussion on aging was limited and narrow, mostly lacking any discussion of the role of organizations as responsible actors or from the perspective of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).
Practical implications
Organizations could take a more active and broader role in terms of supporting the longer working careers of older employees. Professional magazines could deal more with “age-aware” research as it relates to organizations, especially the potential and opportunities of the aging workforce. Aging research could promote media level publishing and applications of knowledge.
Originality/value
Few critically oriented management studies have investigated how aging is presented and discussed in business magazines.
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Francine Schlosser, Deborah M. McPhee, Jody L. Ralph and Hanna Salminen
Iiris Aaltio, Hanna Maria Salminen and Sirpa Koponen
The purpose of this study is to identify the different research strands concerning studies related to human resource management (HRM) and ageing employees. More specifically, the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to identify the different research strands concerning studies related to human resource management (HRM) and ageing employees. More specifically, the paper analyses how age and gender are understood and conceptualized in these studies.
Design/methodology/approach
An integrative literature review concerning ageing employees and HRM with special reference to gender is the approach taken in this paper.
Findings
Recent studies relating to HRM and ageing employees were categorized and analysed. The paper concludes that there is a need for a more holistic understanding of the concept of age in studies related to ageing employees and HRM and also argues that the intersection of age and gender is under-researched in the field of HRM.
Practical implications
Based on literature review the paper outlined directions for how gender-neutral age management studies may be extended. A pluralist understanding of age and gender would help to understand the different needs and expectations that ageing employees may have in terms of HR practices and policies. Institutional practices and legislation can promote equality, but organizational contexts, both internal and external, should be scanned in order to recognize possible ageist or age-blind practices. Ageing women in particular have the burden of being recognized in terms of chronological stereotyped changes that might damage their work and career.
Originality/value
Research on ageing employees and HRM with special reference to gender is limited and therefore an integrative literature review is needed.
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Stefanie Ruel, Iiris Aaltio, Tarja Römer-Paakkanen and Banu Ozkazanc-Pan
Rosalind Heather Whiting, Paul Hansen and Anindya Sen
The purpose of this paper is to develop a rating and scoring tool for measuring small and medium enterprises’ (SMEs) reputation, engagement and goodwill (REG), including internet…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to develop a rating and scoring tool for measuring small and medium enterprises’ (SMEs) reputation, engagement and goodwill (REG), including internet presence and following on social media, by an exploratory study undertaken in New Zealand.
Design/methodology/approach
A discrete choice experiment (DCE) applying the PAPRIKA method via an online survey was conducted to determine weights representing the relative importance of six indicators related to SMEs’ REG. Usable responses were received from 159 people involved with SMEs. Cluster analysis to identify participants with similar patterns of weights was performed.
Findings
The six indicators, in decreasing order of importance (mean weights in parentheses), are: “captured” customer opinions about the business (0.28); contact with customer database (0.19); website traffic (0.16); Google Search ranking (0.15); size of customer database, (0.11); and following on social media (0.11). These indicators and weights can be used to rate and score individual SMEs. The cluster analysis indicates that participants’ age has some influence on their weights.
Research limitations/implications
Only 159 usable responses for the DCE.
Practical implications
The indicators and their weights provide a practical and inexpensive tool for measuring SMEs’ REG.
Originality/value
This is the first study to use a DCE to determine weights representing the relative importance of indicators included in a tool for measuring SMEs’ REG. The tool is innovative because it includes readily available indicators of firms’ internet presence and following on social media.