Older-Worker-Friendly Policies and Affective Organizational Commitment

Abstract

In the United States the Baby Boomer generation is advancing toward retirement age and many are choosing to stay in the workforce. This study develops and analyzes a model of the impact of older-worker-friendly (OWF) policies in organizations on job satisfaction, strain-based work/family conflict, and affective organizational commitment in older workers. The data included 368 full-time employed persons age 50 years or older who participated in a telephone survey. Linear regression was used to analyze the hypothesized relationships. Results indicated that the model was supported. Older workers who were employed at organizations with more older-worker-friendly policies had higher levels of job satisfaction and lower levels of strain-based work/family conflict, which led to higher levels of affective organizational commitment.

Keywords:

• older-worker-friendly organizations
• affective organizational commitment
• job satisfaction
• strain-based work/family conflict
• older workers

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Kerri Anne Crowne

Kerri Anne Crowne is an associate professor of management in the School of Business Administration at Widener University. Her PhD is from the Fox School of Business at Temple University in the area of human resources and organizational behavior. Her research interests include social, emotional, and cultural intelligences, expatriation, repatriation, knowledge management, and older workers. She has presented at several conferences and has published in a variety of peer-reviewed journals in these areas. She can be reached at [email protected].

Jeremy Cochran

Jeremy Cochran is currently an Organizational Research Fellow at the National Center for Organization Development (NCOD), part of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Jeremy earned his doctorate in clinical psychology from Widener University. At Widener, Jeremy’s research focused on older workers and retirement, with his dissertation focused on financial versus psychological factors in predicting retirement age. Jeremy has presented and published in peer-reviewed journals on the impact of organizational policies on older workers. Prior to joining NCOD, Jeremy worked for the market research firm Nielsen, where he coordinated forecasting research for new pharmaceutical products. Jeremy’s interests are in survey research, employee engagement, constructive conflict, psychologically healthy workplace initiatives, and the aging workforce. He can be reached at [email protected].

Caryl E. Carpenter

Caryl E. Carpenter is a professor emerita in the Healthcare MBA Program at Widener University. Dr. Carpenter has a PhD from the University of Minnesota. She was a Robert Wood Johnson Faculty Fellow in Health Care Finance at the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health and Thomas Jefferson University Hospital. Dr. Carpenter’s publications are in the areas of health care finance and health policy. She wrote the Health Policy column for the Journal of Financial Service Professionals for over 10 years. She can be reached at [email protected].