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Thriving on an Aging Workforce: Strategies for Organizational and Systemic Change

Posted on: Sunday, 2 April 2006, 06:00 CDT

By Oromaner, Mark

Paulette T. Beatty and Roemer M.S. Visser (Editors). Thriving on an Aging Workforce: Strategies for Organizational and Systemic Change. Malabar: Krieger, 2005, 216 pages, hardcover.

Within the past 25 years, age, race, and gender have joined class, status, and power as significant variables in the analysis of societies, organizations, and social/political issues. For students and policy makers concerned with work as a focus of interest, a point of agreement is that "the American workforce is aging." The purpose of Thriving on an Aging Workforce is "to help organizations in the private and public sectors prepare for the consequences of this graying of the workforce." In addition, although the editors hope that the book will be of use to those with a vested interest in preparing for an aging workforce, it is not a "10 steps to success" guide. The help that it can provide is to reveal the complexity and interrelatedness of the issues that U.S. organizations will have to confront as a result of an aging workforce.

One of the strengths of the book is its stress on changes that work organizations and the broader society must face, rather than changes that older workers must face. In the well-known distinction of the sociologist C. Wright Mills, the aging of the workforce is a public issue of social structure rather than a personal trouble of milieu. This identification "requires us to consider the economic and political institutions of the society, and not merely the personal situation and character of a scatter of individuals" (Mills, 1959, p. 9).

Visser and Beatty were systematic in their identification of issues and authors. They relied on "the field" for the identification of issues. For instance, they searched the Encyclopedia of Associations for relevant individuals affiliated with think tanks, professional associations, and so forth. For academics, they identified authors of relevant books, chapters, and journal articles published between 1990 and 2001; consultants were identified among the nonacademic authors. From a total of 60 experts, 36 agreed to serve on a panel to identify issues.

Panel members were asked to respond to the following: "In your opinion what are the five most critical issues that organizations will confront through the year 2020, given the aging of the U.S. workforce?" An on-line Delphi was employed in which members were given the responses of others and asked to consider adjusting their responses. As a result of the high level of agreement found during the initial analysis, the responses were examined for content and categorized. The nine resulting categories of responses were the workforce of tomorrow, the workplace of tomorrow, recruiting and retaining older workers, training older workers, career development for older workers, enhancing intergenerational relations, health and older workers, pensions and older workers, and redefining retirement. Beatty and Visser point out that these categories were influenced by their interpretations and by the composition of the panel. One can debate the exact number of categories and their definition; however, these results address the most significant issues generated by an aging workforce.

The division of the book into 18 chapters and four parts reflects the identification of the nine critical issues. Part One: Prologue contains one chapter in which an orientation to the book and a description of the methodology are presented. Part Two: Setting the Stage contains two chapters devoted to the workforce of tomorrow and the workplace of tomorrow. Part Three: Critical Issues contains 14 chapters; two devoted to each of the remaining seven critical issues. In a majority of cases, a research-based chapter is paired with a practitioner-oriented chapter. Part Four: Synthesis contains one chapter. Part Two and each issue section in Part Three is followed by a brief but clear restatement of the basic trends, issues, and challenges presented in the two preceding chapters.

Once the nine issues and panelists were identified, the panelists were asked to identify appropriate authors. The authors of the 18 chapters include the editors, seven panelists, and nine authors recommended by the panel. These ranged from academics in sociology, psychology, law, and industrial relations to practitioners with expertise in employee benefits, demographic and economic forecasting, human resources, and organizational change.

The operational definition of "aging workforce" employed by the editors includes those aged 40 and older. If we imagine the year 2020, the aging workforce will include everyone in the workforce born after 1980. Changes in the civilian workforce from 1980 to 2020 suggest three major trends: a slowdown in growth, an aging of the population, and an increase in diversity. For instance, although comparisons of 1980 to 2000 and 2000 to 2020 indicate an annual slowing of the growth rate for the entire workforce (1.4 vs. 0.8), the projected data reveal an increasing rate for those 55 to 64 years old (0.8 vs. 3.0) and for those 65 years and older (1.6 vs. 3.4). The percentage of the labor force accounted for by those 40 years and over has increased from 38.6 (1980) to 48.2 (2000) to a projected 50.4 (2020). Broader national and international trends identified are the growth of information/service jobs, the use of technology, and globalization. Given recent trends and the relatively short period in question (15 years), these are sound projections.

The simultaneous aging of the workforce and the growth in the information age and all that goes along with it (e.g., the shift to a service economy from an industrial economy and the revolution in information technology) has greatly diminished or eliminated any real or imagined inherent physical aspects of work that eliminate older workers. In addition, Patricia A. Simpson and other authors point to evidence that "older workers may be higher-quality, more productive employees than younger workers after retraining." Regardless of the issue (e.g., recruitment, retention, retraining), a positive and welcoming work environment, structure, and culture must be present if organizations are to utilize effectively the aging workforce. Beyond that, as Mills argued, the political and economic institutions of society must be changed if we are to address public issues such as the aging workforce. To quote the editors, a failure to address the costs of health for an aging workforce "could set the stage for future conflict, negating any efforts that may have been taken to improve intergenerational relations in the workplace."

What can be done? In the concluding chapter, "Achieving Organizational and Systemic Change," Visser and Beatty argue that the conditions identified in the seven critical issues discussed in Part Three can be influenced to some degree. Based on their understanding of the numerous recommendations presented for each of the issues, Visser and Beatty conclude that (a) each issue is multifaceted and requires actions by multiple actors, and (b) issues are to an important degree interrelated. All systems models are faced with the challenge of explaining how change is brought about. Where in the system does one begin the change? Typical of systems analysts, Visser and Beatty answer that, "the exact starting point is not critically important since any meaningful intervention to address one issue will most likely have consequences for other issues as well." The view that intervention at one point will have consequences throughout the system can, of course, be used to justify the status quo and to leave the system to its own adjustments. Although one may not be satisfied with the advice concerning change, the Visser and Beatty model can be used to stimulate thought and discussion.

The papers are well-written, informative introductions to the basic issues raised by an aging workforce. Specialists, practitioners, or researchers are not likely to find anything new here. However, organizational and political policy makers will be in a better position to raise significant questions as a result of a reading of Thriving on an Aging Workforce. Finally, graduate and undergraduate students in courses in human resources, industrialorganizational psychology, gerontology, and work and professions will find this to be an outstanding introduction to the study of the aging workforce.

REFERENCE

Mills CW. (1959). The sociological imagination. New York: Oxford University Press.

Reviewed by Mark Oromaner, New York, NY.

Copyright Personnel Psychology, Inc. Spring 2006

Source: Personnel Psychology

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