Retaining an ageing workforce: The effects of high‐performance work systems and flexible work programmes

• Published date: 01 November 2018
• Author: Luigi Stirpe,Jordi Trullen,Jaime Bonache
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/1748-8583.12205
• Date: 01 November 2018

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Retaining an ageing workforce: The effects of

high‐performance work systems and flexible work

programmes

Luigi Stirpe

1

|Jordi Trullen

2

|Jaime Bonache

1

1

Department of Business Administration,

Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, Getafe, Spain

2

Department of People Management and

Organisation, Universitat Ramon Llull, ESADE,

Sant Cugat, Spain

Correspondence

Luigi Stirpe, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid,

Department of Business Administration, Calle

Madrid No. 126, Getafe 28903, Spain.

Email: luigi.stirpe@uc3m.es

Funding information

Spanish Ministry of Economy, Industry and

Competitiveness, Grant/Award Number:

ECO2015‐68343‐R

Abstract

Older workers make up a growing proportion of the work-

force, and research on how best to manage them is being

conducted accordingly. Here, we explored the employee

retention payoff of high‐performance work systems

(HPWS) and flexible work programmes (FWPs) when used

with an older workforce. Drawing from the job demands‐

resources model, we hypothesised that HPWS retention

outcomes decrease as the workforce ages, whereas the

retention capacity of FWPs increases. We also explored

how the parallel provision of HPWS and FWPs affects

workforce retention in more ageing workplaces. The results

suggest that workforce age composition affects the HPWS‐

retention relationship. However, the value of FWPs as

retention tools does not vary significantly with workforce

ageing. Furthermore, the provision of FWPs alongside

HPWS appears to be a less‐than‐optimal approach to this

retention. These findings may contribute to a better under-

standing of the HRM‐performance relationship, while

inspiring further research into successful age‐differentiated

HR strategies.

KEYWORDS

flexible work programmes, high‐performance work systems, job

demands‐resources model, retention rate, workforce ageing

Received: 4 May 2017 Revised: 26 June 2018 Accepted: 28 June 2018

DOI: 10.1111/1748-8583.12205

Hum Resour Manag J. 2018;28:585–604. © 2018 John Wiley & Sons Ltdwileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/hrmj 585

1|INTRODUCTION

Workforces are ageing because of increasing life expectancy, lower birth rates and better health care. In the final

quarter of 2014, for example, 75.3% of people in the United Kingdom aged between 50 and state pension age were

in work, together with 12.1% of people over that age (ONS, 2015). Similar figures may be found for other developed

countries (OECD, 2018). Managing an ageing workforce has therefore moved up the HR agenda, now constituting a

pressing concern for managers (Economist Intelligence Unit, 2014).

A number of studies have explored how best to deal with an older workforce (e.g., Armstrong‐Stassen & Ursel,

2009; Bal & Dorenbosch, 2015; Göbel & Zwick, 2013; Kooij, De Lange, Jansen, & Dikkers, 2008; Ng & Feldman,

2013), with the retention of older talent being regarded as a critical issue. Emphasis has therefore been placed on

the need to analyse the extent to which the practices and initiatives put forward for retaining employees are equally

effective when applied to an older workforce (Kooij et al., 2013). Otherwise, the use of such initiatives in today's

labour market would not be the best way of reining in the loss of invaluable expertise and knowledge or of resolving

the forecasted labour shortages due to declining birth rates (Van Yperen & Wörtler, 2017).

Following this research stream, we analyse the employee retention outcomes of two sets of HR initiatives in

workplaces with older workforces, namely, high‐performance work systems (HPWS) and flexible work programmes

(FWPs), which are both commonly regarded as effective approaches for talent retention (e.g., Guest, Michie, Conway,

& Sheehan, 2003; McNall, Masuda, & Nicklin, 2010). As retention tools, they are based on the assumption that the

effectiveness of HR initiatives depends on how well they match employees' needs, values and characteristics (Baron

& Kreps, 1999; Gardner, Wright, & Moynihan, 2011; Guzzo & Noonan, 1994; Jensen & van de Voorde, 2016; Peccei,

Van de Voorde, & Van Veldhoven, 2013). HPWS and FWPs create a workplace in which employees, with their

expectations and needs satisfied, respond by remaining in the organisation and contributing to the achievement of

its goals (Armstrong‐Stassen & Ursel, 2009; Bal & De Lange, 2015; Baron & Kreps, 1999; Gardner et al., 2011;

McNall et al., 2010).

Nevertheless, effective retention strategies call for a profound understanding of employees' needs and prefer-

ences (Aselage & Eisenberger, 2003; Bal & Dorenbosch, 2015; Baron & Kreps, 1999; Guzzo & Noonan, 1994; Jensen

& van de Voorde, 2016; Peccei et al., 2013; Stirpe & Zárraga‐Oberty, 2017). Research on lifespan development indi-

cates that as they age, individuals tend to experience a number of changes in their motivational, cognitive and phys-

ical profile (Baltes, 1997; Carstensen, 1991). If indeed true, this poses certain highly significant issues, for which the

extant literature does not appear to provide either answers or evidence: What effect does workforce ageing have on

the retention outcomes of the two HR initiatives considered (i.e., HPWS and FWPs)? Or to put it another way, are

HPWS and FWPs well suited to the purpose of retaining older workforces? And if these two HR initiatives are

applied jointly, what effect do they have on firms' ability to retain these workforces?

These are the questions underpinning our research. In our analysis, we understand HPWS and FWPs in terms of

the job demands‐resources (JD‐R) model (Demerouti, Bakker, Nachreiner, & Schaufeli, 2001; Schaufeli & Bakker,

2004; Schaufeli & Taris, 2014), which addresses the impact perceived work characteristics have on employees' work-

place experience and attitudes. Whereas demands are those aspects of work that require sustained physical and

mental effort and that may impair employees' workplace experience, resources involve those work characteristics

that help employees achieve their goals and stimulate their personal development, enhancing their experience

(Schaufeli & Taris, 2014). Following this model, we argue that age‐related specificities may make employees perceive

the demands and resources associated with HPWS and FWPs differently, whereby such initiatives will have a

differential workforce retention payoff depending on workforce age composition.

This study contributes to HR research and practice in several ways. First, it responds to recent calls to explore

the pertinence of accepted employee retention models across different workforce characteristics (cf. Hom, Lee,

Shaw, & Hausknecht, 2017, p. 540). In particular, the study examines a potential moderator (i.e., workforce age com-

position) of the relationships HPWS and FWPs have with retention (alone and in combination), thus going beyond the

mainstream “one‐size‐fits‐all”approach to the investigation of their payoff. Second, and relatedly, the study is among

586 STIRPE ET AL.