HRM and employee performance for an ageing workforce: a qualitative study

Abstract

In this paper we explore the relationship between age, HRM practices and employee performance, employing a focus group analysis with 12 HRM academics and 16 interviews with HRM and top management practitioners. We find that the perspectives of academics and practitioners regarding the performance of mature employees and the implementation of age-based HRM practices agree to a large extent. The analysis of both the focus group and the interviews hinted that HRM practices impact on employee performance through mediating factors, and that age cannot be directly associated with employee performance. The results indicate that, despite the relevant calls for tailoring HRM practices to the age profiles of employees, concrete examples of such a tailoring are rare, both in theory and in practice. We discuss the results, theoretical contributions and practical implications in light of the challenges that managing an ageing workforce poses.