Prolonged or preserved working life? Intra-organisational institutions embedded in human resource routines

Abstract

AbstractThe purpose of this paper is to provide an understanding of why people are still retiring earlier than would have been expected, despite policies that increase the retirement age. This is a qualitative study in a large public-service organisation in Sweden focusing particularly on how human resource routines aimed at middle management tend to inhibit the promotion of a prolonged working life, despite government efforts aimed at changing these actions. The results highlight three key routines (development talks, salary talks and internal recruitment) that inhibit prolonged working life. These routines seem rational and appropriate to the organisation's managers, because the demands of the job must have priority over employees’ capabilities in recruitment routines. Furthermore, it could be considered economically rational to prioritise salary demands of younger employees over those of older employees, and it may appear economically rational to stop further training efforts for older employees. In general, then, it seems reasonable to managers to make decisions based on objective criteria like age. Nevertheless, our results suggest that these routines may need to be redesigned in order to support a prolonged working life and to avoid a discrepancy between accepted prolonged working-life policies and the actions of organisational actors. The study further reveals how intra-organisational institutions (e.g.taken-for-granted mind-sets and norms) embedded in human resource routines may promote or inhibit prolonged working life, suggesting a need for change in those institutions.