scholarly journals ‘We don't talk about age’: a study of human resources retirement narratives

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-27
Author(s):  
Rebecka Arman ◽  
Roland Kadefors ◽  
Ewa Wikström
Keyword(s):  
Human Resources ◽  
Older Workers ◽  
Business Case ◽  
Institutional Work ◽  
Retirement Timing ◽  
Societal Level ◽  
Productive Ageing ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Organisational Level

Abstract At the societal and policy level, delaying retirement is generally agreed upon to solve the problem of the increasing proportion of older workers in Sweden, as in many other countries. At the same time, two co-existing narratives that create legitimacy for early versus delayed retirement were found in our study, among both societal- and organisational-level actors. Older workers are viewed as either representatives of productive ageing and a solution to labour shortage problems, or as a barrier to recruiting younger, more promising employees with new skills. Through inductive qualitative analysis, this study shows in what way human resources departments are taking part in the institutional work of maintaining retirement-timing narratives in Swedish workplaces. The existing general organisational narrative of ‘the business case’ is used to mute discussion about delaying the retirement age, except for a select few. Their maintenance of this narrative is supported by the way in which the societal-level narratives target the individual, often backgrounding the role of employers.

EXPLORING THE INDIVIDUAL: AN EMPIRICAL INVESTIGATION OF INTERRELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN DIMENSIONS OF ABSORPTIVE CAPACITY

2020 ◽  
Vol 24 (05) ◽  
pp. 2050077
Author(s):  
KATJA-MARIA PREXL ◽  
MARCO HUBERT ◽  
MIRJA HUBERT ◽  
ANTJE GONERA
Keyword(s):  
Absorptive Capacity ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Corporate Innovation ◽  
New Knowledge ◽  
The Individual ◽  
A Company ◽  
Knowledge Absorption ◽  
Innovation Processes ◽  
Organisational Level

Absorptive capacity (AC) describes new knowledge absorption and its use for innovation on an organisational level. In this paper, we explore the role of individual AC (IAC) for corporate innovation. We focus on the individual and relationships among the capability dimensions of existing AC models. A quantitative online survey allows us to empirically explore and underline the role of the individual in AC. Our findings contribute to and extend existing theories of AC, by confirming the multidimensionality of IAC, shed light on the view of transformation and exploitation as alternative paths and their effect on different innovation processes. Our research highlights the individual’s central role in innovation and introduces, explores and evaluates individual capacities to absorb new knowledge. This in consequence will influence processes and structures within a company with regard to innovation and human resource management.

scholarly journals Racialised professionals’ experiences of selective incivility in organisations: A multi-level analysis of subtle racism

2020 ◽  
pp. 001872672095772
Author(s):  
Mustafa Bilgehan Ozturk ◽  
Aykut Berber
Keyword(s):  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Dynamic Changes ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Subtle Racism ◽  
Societal Level ◽  
Conditions Of Possibility ◽  
Multi Level ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Level Analysis ◽  
Organisational Level

This article explores how racialised professionals experience selective incivility in UK organisations. Analysing 22 in-depth, semi-structured interviews, we provide multi-level findings that relate to individual, organisational and societal phenomena to illuminate the workings of subtle racism. On the individual level, selective incivility appears as articulated through ascriptions of excess and deficit that marginalise racialised professionals; biased actions by white employees who operate as honest liars or strategic coverers; and white defensiveness against selective incivility claims. On the organisational level, organisational whitewashing, management denial and upstream exclusion constitute the key enablers of selective incivility. On the societal level, dynamic changes relating to increasing intolerance outside organisations indirectly yet sharply fuel selective incivility within organisations. Finally, racialised professionals experience intersectional (dis-)advantages at the imbrications of individual, organisation and society levels, shaping within-group variations in experiences of workplace selective incivility. Throughout all three levels of analysis and their interplay, differences in power and privilege inform the conditions of possibility for and the continual reproduction of selective incivility.

Professional practice.

2021 ◽  
pp. 148-185
Author(s):  
James Woodall ◽  
Simon Rowlands
Keyword(s):  
Health Promotion ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Private And Public ◽  
Settings Approach ◽  
Societal Level ◽  
The Individual

Abstract This book chapter seeks to: (i) explore the role of the settings approach to health promotion and the need for organizational change; (ii) discuss the importance of evidence-based practice and evaluation; (iii) describe some of the ethical issues in practising health promotion; (iv) suggest a means of overcoming the top-down/bottom-up tensions in practice; (v) explore the need for developing partnerships between civil society, NGOs, and private and public sectors; and (vi) outline the skills and competencies of health promoters practising in the 21st century. This chapter has attempted to discuss some challenges in the practice of health promotion, ending on the challenges in terms of the skills required to do health promotion work. Some of these challenges reoccur in the next chapter, particularly when discussing capacity building for health promotion at a societal level rather than the individual level.

Professional practice.

2021 ◽  
pp. 148-185
Author(s):  
James Woodall ◽  
Simon Rowlands
Keyword(s):  
Health Promotion ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Private And Public ◽  
Settings Approach ◽  
Societal Level ◽  
The Individual

Abstract This book chapter seeks to: (i) explore the role of the settings approach to health promotion and the need for organizational change; (ii) discuss the importance of evidence-based practice and evaluation; (iii) describe some of the ethical issues in practising health promotion; (iv) suggest a means of overcoming the top-down/bottom-up tensions in practice; (v) explore the need for developing partnerships between civil society, NGOs, and private and public sectors; and (vi) outline the skills and competencies of health promoters practising in the 21st century. This chapter has attempted to discuss some challenges in the practice of health promotion, ending on the challenges in terms of the skills required to do health promotion work. Some of these challenges reoccur in the next chapter, particularly when discussing capacity building for health promotion at a societal level rather than the individual level.

scholarly journals The role of employers in retaining older workers

2014 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Caroline Howe
Keyword(s):  
Older Workers ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Subjective Wellbeing ◽  
Older Worker ◽  
Creative Solutions ◽  
Employer Engagement ◽  
Low Levels ◽  
Working Day ◽  
The Individual

Background: Previous research into the retirement experience tends to focus on the individual experience. This study looks at the role of work and retirement on subjective wellbeing and how corporations must change to engage workers for longer if they themselves are to remain sustainable.Objectives: The objective of the study was to ascertain the need for creative solutions for older employer engagement.Method: Using mixed methods Internet-based research methodology, 317 people were recruited with an online survey. Thematic content analysis was utilised to explore trends that emerged from the qualitative analysis.Findings: The principle finding was that, employers need to rethink how they engage the older worker to ensure that their workforce remains stable.Discussion: Low levels of life satisfaction were linked with being dissatisfied at work. Being at work also decreased the likelihood of social interaction. In contrast retirement offered freedom from the constraints of work. Employers need to adopt suggested solutions around flexibility, offering choices and a differentiation of the meaning of the “working day” to this cohort if they are to be successful in retaining older workers in employment.Conclusion: The results are significant because governments, both local and federal, are encouraging an ageing workforce to remain in work longer. However employers need to consider how they can create greater autonomy for older people in the workplace to encourage them to want to work longer.

scholarly journals Additional Leave as the Determinant of Retirement Timing—Retaining Older Workers in Norway

2015 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 89 ◽  
Author(s):  
Åsmund Hermansen
Keyword(s):  
Relative Risk ◽  
Older Workers ◽  
Early Retirement ◽  
Retirement Pension ◽  
Retirement Decisions ◽  
Retirement Timing ◽  
Retirement Behavior ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Retention Measure ◽  
The Individual

Faced with a rapidly aging labor force, increasing the labor supply of older workers has become an important goal for European countries. Offering additional leave to older workers with the option of withdrawing a contractual pension (contractual early retirement pension AFP) has become a widespread retention measure in Norwegian companies. Thus far, no studies documenting the effects of individual retention measures on early retirement behavior have been published. The aim of this article is to examine whether offering additional leave impacts the relative risk of withdrawal of a contractual pension. The analysis uses a difference-in-differences approach and examines whether offering additional leave to counteract early retirement impacts the retirement decisions of 61- and 62-year-olds within the next two years of their employment, controlling for a range of different individual and company characteristics. This is achieved by comparing changes and differences in the individual relative risk of retiring early on the contractual pension (AFP scheme) in the period 2001–2010 among older workers in companies with and without the retention measure. The analysis shows an overall average increase in the relative risk of a 61- or 62-year-old worker retiring on the contractual pension between 2001 and 2010; however, among older workers employed in companies offering additional leave there has been a decrease in the relative risk. The effect of additional leave is evident both before and after controlling for the selected individual and company characteristics. Thus, the analysis shows that offering additional leave as a retention measure reduces the individual relative risk of withdrawing a contractual pension (AFP) in the next two years of employment among older workers between the age of 61 and 62 years.

scholarly journals Likestilt og forskjellig? Om menn og likestilling i barnehagen

2015 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Olav Kasin ◽  
Mette Vaagan Slåtten
Keyword(s):  
Gender Equality ◽  
Equal Rights ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Preschool Students ◽  
Men I ◽  
Promote Gender Equality ◽  
Er Positive ◽  
Societal Level ◽  
The Individual

This article highlight the goal of 20 percent male employees in Norwegian kindergartens as a contribution to promoting gender equality. We conducted two studies showing different expectations towards men and women. Informants are positive to increasing the number of men, but in the two surveys they expressed conflicting expectations towards the role of men in kindergartens. In the survey among male preschool students they have objections to recruit men as a group because they are men (Kasin et al. 2010). In the survey among employees in kindergartens they desire men just because they are men, different from women. Their rationale is that this creates diversity (Kasin and Slåtten 2011). We discuss this seeming contradiction in the informants' views on the basis of different perceptions about gender. By using different levels of analysis we show how male employees can be understood in several ways that promotes gender equality. At the societal level, several men in kindergarten can be seen as part of a liberal policy to promote equal rights and opportunities for labor force participation. At the institutional level, gender equality depends on activities in the educational program. At the individual level equality can be understood as practices among each employee that prevent stereotyped gender understanding, and through these practices give children equal opportunities across gender divides. Our own research indicates that exclusive focuses on the representation of male employees in kindergartens are likely to conceal rather than to clarify a need to develop educational practices that promote gender equality. Artikkelen belyser målsettingen om 20 prosent menn i norske barnehager som bidrag til å fremme likestilling i barnehagen. Vi har gjennomført to undersøkelser som viser at det eksisterer ulike forventinger til menn og kvinner i barnehagen. Informantene er positive til flere menn, men i de to undersøkelsene uttrykkes det motstridende forventninger til hva dette innebærer. I undersøkelsen blant mannlige førskolelærerstudenter uttrykkes det motforestillinger mot å rekruttere menn som gruppe fordi de er menn (Kasin m. flere 2010). I undersøkelsen blant ansatte i barnehagen ønskes menn nettopp fordi de er menn, forskjellige fra kvinner. Begrunnelsen er at dette bidrar til å skape mangfold (Kasin og Slåtten 2011). I artikkelen drøftes denne tilsynelatende motsetningen i informantenes synspunkter med utgangspunkt i ulike oppfatninger om kjønn. Ved å operere med ulike analysenivåer viser vi også hvordan flere menn i barnehagen kan forstås på flere måter som likestillingsfremmende tiltak. På samfunnsnivå kan flere menn i barnehagen ses som del av en liberal politikk for å fremme like rettigheter og muligheter for yrkesdeltakelse. På institusjonsnivå kan likestilling handle om å utvikle et bestemt innhold i pedagogikken knyttet til likestilling. På individnivå kan likestilling handle om konkret praksis som overskrider stereotyp kjønnsforståelse, og gjennom dette gi barn like muligheter på tvers av kjønnsskiller. Våre egne undersøkelser indikerer at et ensidig fokus på representasjon av menn i barnehage like gjerne kan skjule fremfor å tydeliggjøre et behov for å utvikle en pedagogisk praksis som fremmer likestilling. 

Personality

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
George R. Mastroianni
Keyword(s):  
Third Reich ◽  
Psychological Disorder ◽  
Child Rearing ◽  
German Population ◽  
Authoritarian Personality ◽  
The Holocaust ◽  
Societal Level ◽  
The Third Reich ◽  
The Individual

Chapter 5 considers the role of personality in the Holocaust. The idea that psychopathology or insanity characterized the individual leaders of the Third Reich or the German population was simply not supported by the evidence. Perhaps these leaders, or even the German population as a whole, were not characterized by a psychological disorder but were nevertheless different from other people in some important way. The authoritarian personality, a construct derived from Freudian thought, was suggested as a possible explanation. German child-rearing practices were implicated in the production of this personality, which was thought to be related to perpetrator behavior. Defining and measuring the authoritarian personality has posed some challenges, and researchers have not convincingly tied authoritarian traits to perpetrator behavior. The concept of “national character,” a kind of societal-level personality, has similarly been difficult to define and connect to perpetrator behavior. Personality approaches have also been applied to the study of rescuers.

scholarly journals Psychotherapeutic leadership and containment in psychiatry

2018 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 133-141
Author(s):  
Russell Gibson ◽  
Alex Till ◽  
Gwen Adshead
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Theoretical Background ◽  
Learning Objectives ◽  
List Type ◽  
Staff Morale ◽  
Clinical Leadership ◽  
Factors Influencing ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Organisational Level

SUMMARYLeadership is a key role for psychiatrists, with many models that can be adopted depending in part on the nature of the individual and their training, the primary task of the team and the nature of the organisation. In this article we suggest a new concept and model of leadership, ‘psychotherapeutic leadership’. We discuss the theoretical background to this model, its benefits and the implications for training and professional development.LEARNING OBJECTIVES•Understand the concept and role of the psychiatrist in providing psychotherapeutic leadership at an individual patient, team and organisational level•Explore how applying an understanding of psychodynamic principles in practice can provide containment in psychiatry and aid clinical leadership•Understand the role of psychotherapeutically informed approaches in recognising factors influencing staff morale and burnoutDECLARATION OF INTERESTNone.

Intertextuality in corporate narratives: a discursive analysis of a contested privatization

2017 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 534-564 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ioana Lupu ◽  
Raluca Sandu
Keyword(s):  
Critical Discourse Analysis ◽  
Annual Reports ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Discursive Analysis ◽  
The Social ◽  
Multiple Processes ◽  
Societal Level ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Oil Company

Purpose Despite the growing amount of research on the social and organizational role of legitimacy, very little is known about the subtle discursive processes through which organizational changes are legitimated in contemporary society. The purpose of this paper is to explore the subtle processes of interdiscursivity and intertextuality through which an organization constructs a sense of legitimacy. Design/methodology/approach Drawing on the case of a newly privatized oil company in a transitional, post-communist economy, the authors’ research uses critical discourse analysis to analyze the annual reports, corporate press releases, and relevant media from the four years following privatization. Findings The authors argue for a relational understanding of legitimacy construction that emphasizes how legitimacy relies on the multiple processes of intertextuality linking corporate narratives and media texts. Corporate narratives are not produced solely by the discourses that occur at the individual and organizational levels; they are also produced by the much broader discourses that occur at the societal level. Originality/value This study’s main contribution is that it reveals the intertextual and interdiscursive construction of corporate narratives, which is a key element in understanding how discourses around privatization are interlinked and draw upon other macro-level discourses to construct legitimacy.

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