Line managers' support for older workers

Abstract

Line managers make a difference when it comes to older workers continuing to participate in the labour market. Depending on their coaching abilities, and their willingness to use these abilities, line managers can offer social support to those older workers that they supervise. This willingness is to an extent dependent on the opportunities for action that the organization provides to line managers. Contrary to earlier research, our study based on a survey of 160 front line managers, failed to find evidence that the social support that line managers provide is influenced by negative stereotypical attitudes about the lack of flexibility and the performance of older workers. This study adds new insights into the determinants of line managers' activities and underlines the essential role that front-line managers play in human resource practices for older workers.

Keywords:

• line managers
• older workers
• people management
• social support

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the anonymous reviewers for their comments and suggestions. They also like to thank Jo Thijssen for his suggestions regarding an earlier version of this paper and Elyse Walter and Laura Koot for their assistance with the fieldwork.