engleski

How does employees’ age make a difference? The relationship between job design and innovative work behavior

Building on the lifespan development perspective and goal-setting theory, this paper examines the moderating role of chronological age as a relevant demographic characteristic in the relationship between perceived job-design characteristics and micro-innovation performance. We collected survey data on the sample of 336 employee-supervisor dyads from 82 departments across three organizations to illustrate how job resources (work autonomy and task variety) and job demands (job complexity and innovation requirements) have a differing age-related relationship with impact on employee innovativeness. Hierarchical regression analyses showed that job resources and job innovation requirements significantly predict employee innovativeness. In addition, by formally embedding creativity and innovation into their job descriptions, even more beneficial performance outcomes may be attained from older employees. This might buffer the evidence that older employees are somewhat less creative and innovative if required to handle high-complex tasks. Confronted with the same job challenges, younger employees will further increase their innovative behavior.

job design ; job demands-resources ; innovative work behavior ; employees’ age ; moderation analysis

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