Knowledge is Key: Unlocking the Positive Effects of Age Diversity in Organizations

Abstract

The working population is more age-diverse than ever before (Truxillo, Cadiz, & Hammer, 2015). At the same time, knowledge loss has become a real threat to organizations due to massive waves of retirement because members of the Baby Boomer generation are gradually leaving the job market. These trends affect organizations at large and require evidence-based solutions to successfully manage the consequences of demographic change and to unlock the benefits of an age-diverse workforce. Motivational changes across the lifespan and differences in socialization, education, and on-the-job experiences suggest particular benefits from intergenerational knowledge sharing. However, like other types of diversities, age diversity can lead to both positive and negative outcomes (Horwitz & Horwitz, 2007; King & Bryant, 2017) and the underlying mechanisms and boundary conditions facilitating positive effects remain largely unclear (North, 2019). This symposium sets out to open this black box and identify underlying mechanisms and boundary conditions that unlock beneficial outcomes of age diversity. First, Li, Burmeister, Wang, Asencio, Zhu, and Jin empirically examine whether age diversity in teams is positively related to innovation via knowledge exchange density and novelty, and whether team task reflexivity is a boundary condition of these mechanisms. Next, Burmeister, Gerpott, Hirschi, Scheibe, Pak, and Kooij demonstrate the effectiveness of two newly developed age diversity training interventions intended to improve intergenerational contact quality and knowledge transfer. Third, Pfrombeck and Burmeister present a dual path model to explain how and when older employees’ learning from younger coworkers can contribute to successful aging at work (i.e., work motivation, performance, well-being). After that, Truxillo, Cadiz, Brady, and Zaniboni examine the role of generativity as a driver for older employees’ engagement in job crafting to realize their age-based motivational shifts toward passing knowledge and experiences to the younger generation. Finally, De Meulenaere, Allen, and Kunze investigate the effects of age-based subgroup development (i.e., age separation) on turnover-related outcomes at the individual and organizational level. Following the presentations, Kurt Kraiger and Lisa M. Finkelstein, two renowned researchers in the fields of learning and age diversity, will discuss and integrate the insights from the five presentations in the larger context of current research in these fields, pointing to important implications for practice and future scholarly work. This symposium brings together five presentations from researchers from China, the USA, and multiple European countries using different methodological approaches at the individual, team, and organizational level. Our intention is to contribute to a deeper and broader understanding of how organizations and employees themselves can unlock the beneficial outcomes of an age-diverse workforce, specifically, to retain knowledge and promote intergenerational knowledge transfer, issues which are relevant for both research and practice. Age Diversity, Knowledge Exchange, and Team Innovation: The Moderating Role of Team Task Reflexivity Presenter: Yixuan Li; Purdue U. Presenter: Anne Burmeister; Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus U. Presenter: Mo Wang; U. of Florida Presenter: Raquel Asencio; Purdue U., West Lafayette Presenter: Yue Zhu; ZheJiang GongShang U. Presenter: Yanghua Jin; ZheJiang GongShang U. A Dual Pathway Model of the Effects of Two Age Diversity Training Programs Presenter: Anne Burmeister; Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus U. Presenter: Fabiola Heike Gerpott; WHU - Otto Beisheim School of Management Presenter: Andreas Hirschi; U. of Bern, Work and Organisational Psychology Presenter: Susanne Scheibe; Groningen U. (RuG) Presenter: Karen Pak; Radboud U. Nijmegen Presenter: Dorien Kooij; Tilburg U. Learning from Younger Coworkers: Cognitive and Affective Avenues to Employees’ Successful Aging Presenter: Julian Pfrombeck; ETH Zurich Presenter: Anne Burmeister; Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus U. Generativity and Job Crafting Among Older Workers Presenter: Donald M. Truxillo; Portland State U. Presenter: David Cadiz; Portland State U. Presenter: Grant Brady; Portland State U. Presenter: Sara Zaniboni; U. of Bologna Workforce Age Separation and Turnover: Who Leaves and Why? Presenter: Kim De Meulenaere; KU Leuven Presenter: David G. Allen; Texas Christian U. Presenter: Florian Kunze; U. of Konstanz