Later Life Workplace Index

©Prof. Dr. Jürgen Deller et al. (2020)
LLWI

Particularly in times of demographic change and skilled labor shortages, the successful employment of older workers gains importance. But what does an or­ga­niza­t­i­on look like in which working in ol­der age and working in age-di­ver­se teams is suc­cess­ful? The aim of the Later Life Workplace Index is to an­s­wer this ques­ti­on by iden­ti­fy­ing and mea­su­ring or­ga­niza­t­io­nal prac­tices that main­tain and pro­mo­te the performance, motivation, and health of ol­der workers. The index proposed by Wöhrmann, Deller, and Pundt (2018) provides a systematic framework of existing organizational practices (e.g., in the field of health management, work design, or age-friendly leadership) that can be used by organizations as a self-assessment and benchmark tool. Most of the iden­ti­fied prac­tices do not ex­clu­si­ve­ly be­ne­fit ol­der em­ployees but are mea­ningful for em­ployees of all age groups – they are age-in­clu­si­ve.

The domains of the Later Life Workplace Index (LLWI) have been developed based on qualitative research in Germany and the U.S. and are displayed in the following figure:

©Prof. Dr. Jürgen Deller et al. (2020)
Dimensionality of the Later Life Workplace Index characterizing organizational practices for the sustainable employment of older employees

Implications for research and practice

For researchers, the LLWI helps to understand the dimensionality and the relative impact of organizational practices for older workers. The index can be used either as a holistic measurement of organizational practices for older workers or subscales of the index can be used to focus on specific domains to promote research in the field of work and aging.

For practitioners, the LLWI presents an accessible self-assessment tool for organizational practices related to the employment of older workers. By setting benchmarks, organizations can compare their results with other organizations and thus identify their own potential.

©Prof. Dr. Jürgen Deller et al. (2020)
Implications