Older managers’ informal learning in knowledge-intensive organizations: investigating the role of learning approaches among Austrian bank managers

Abstract

Managers of knowledge-intensive organizations are required to keep their knowledge and skills up to date in order to steer their companies through a volatile environment. The current demographic shift prompts the question how learning may be facilitated for increasingly older managers. In this article, we argue that the approach to informal learning at work is an important concept to predict the outcomes of managers in knowledge-intensive organizations. We set out to investigate how chronological age affects learning approaches and, in turn, learning outcomes in a sample of 139 Austrian bank managers. Results of a path analysis show that deep learning increases and surface-disorganized learning decreases learning outcomes, operationalized as performance in the last job appraisal, development of job-specific core skills, perceived career development, and subjective job performance. Furthermore, we have found that older managers more often use a surface-disorganized learning approach, which in turn leads to lower learning outcomes. In sum, this study integrates research about aging and learning within organizations and helps to explain the mechanism by which age affects learning outcomes.

Keywords:

• Age
• informal learning
• learning approach
• knowledge-intensive organizations
• learning outcome
• managers