Methods of motivating aging workers

Work motivation depends not only on the job role, work environment, benefits but also on factors such as age and gender (Kooij et al., 2008). Younger employees are motivated not only by salary and bonus but also by moral-spiritual factors which are non-financial benefits (Zacher,2015). But older adults are more motivated to retain what they already have (Bal et al., 2012). This blog post aims to discuss further methods of motivating aging workers.

People spend much of their lives in the workplace doing a job to satisfy their basic needs (Hedge et al., 2013). If these employees are to be successful in their jobs and are also among effective employees, they must be motivated to do their work by the organization. Therefore, companies should pay more attention to employee motivation (Hess and Jepsen, 2009). However, according to Kanfer and Ackerman (2004), the workforce in many countries is aging, and organization management is trying to retain older and experienced employees as long as possible. Thus, methods of motivating aging workers are extremely important for organizations. 

Since many of the concepts and methods used in today's organizations are mainly based on younger and middle-aged workers, it is required to rethink and examine the appropriateness of the ways of motivating the aging workforce (Kooij, 2015). Therefore, older employee motivation is one of the main components of everyday managerial work of todays' organizations (Klehe et al., 2012).

However, each older worker is motivated by different motivating factors as they have different preferences (Lorincová and Potkány, 2015). Accordingly, it is not only financial satisfaction or benefits but also the achievement of personal success and job satisfaction that motivate older employees (Kooij et al., 2008). Older employees wish that their opinions and suggestions are more respected while younger employees wish to be listened to (Bal et al., 2013). The feedback they receive at work is very important and it is the main component of motivation and satisfaction.

Further, job satisfaction is part of overall satisfaction in life for the older workforce. Thus, type of tasks, job description or job position are factors that significantly influence the behaviour of older employees (Sultan, 2012). Older workers want to be respected and expected management or higher positions in the organization. Further, they prefer to participate in meetings with top management where they can be a part of decision-makers (Kooij et al., 2013). 

Though younger employees have identified different higher educational needs, the older generation prefers skills training in the area of their qualification and job responsibilities. While the younger generation prefers leadership training for their career development, older workers are interested in foreign tours and training sessions relevant to their job roles (Deal, 2007).

As per Truxillo and Fraccaroli (2013), older female employees consider monthly salary and other financial benefits as less motivating in comparison with younger female employees because of lower financial demands for livelihood. Accordingly, younger women with families and children require more financial benefits such as sufficient monthly pay, salary increments, bonus and incentive to fulfil the needs of their family members. Older female workers are more interested in their retirement plan and benefits, health insurance, flexibility and freedom at work (Truxillo and Fraccaroli 2013)

Further, most of the older employers seek to maintain positive interpersonal relationships and adequate communication among employees in the workplace (Bal et al., 2015). Thus, a favourable and enjoyable working environment and friendly relationships in a team create harmony, which has a positive impact on older employee performance and job motivation. Further, older workers highly consider their health conditions and safety, thus physical conditions such as work environment lighting, noise, micro-climatic conditions, and clean air are much important for them (Stacho et al., 2013).  Also, older workers, who are having a few years till their retirement, expect job security because, in case of dismissal or change of job, they would be unable to find better employment due to their age (Ann and Blum, 2020). 

According to Freund (2006), employers should find the most suitable ways to take advantage of experienced older workers. Further, older employees are good mentors for younger workers and have strong work ethics and an understanding of different working conditions. Therefore, it is important that these discussed factors and conditions are set at the workplace to encourage older employees and motivate them.

Reference

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