Improving Team Functioning and Performance in Age-Diverse Teams: Evaluation of a Leadership Training

Abstract

AbstractThe ongoing demographic change in most European countries increases the proportion of older employees and the prevalence of age diversity in work groups. As the diversity literature supports theories predicting negative effects of age diversity in teams, practical interest is growing how to influence these groups to perform at their best. In this article, we present a model of productivity in age-diverse teams, which we used as the platform for conceptualizing a new training for leaders. The training aims at improving attitudes toward older employees, appreciation of team diversity, and performance in age-diverse teams. We evaluated this training in a public administration in Germany with a training–waiting control group design (47 leaders, 221 employees) including a follow-up measure after 1 year. Results revealed that the training increased appreciation of age diversity and reduced age stereotypes in leaders. Team members’ ratings of age stereotypes and conflicts were also positively influenced, in particular for younger team members who suffer most from working in age-diverse teams. Thus, the newly developed training is a recommendable intervention for leaders of age-diverse teams.