Age and Willingness to Continue Training (2011)

The relationship between age and willingness to undergo further training is influenced by the attitude of the employee and his or her supervisor.

Content of the Study

Several studies show that older employees are less likely to undergo further training than younger ones. The authors then investigated whether older employees are also less willing to undergo further training and how this is influenced by the attitude of the employee himself and his or her manager.

Employees were asked whether they assume that personal characteristics can change and how they perceive the support for further training from their manager. Managers were asked about their attitude towards older employees.

Employees who assume that personal characteristics cannot change and who only perceive little support from their manager have a lower willingness to undergo further training.

A negative correlation between age and willingness to undergo further training was only found for employees who assume that personal characteristics will not change and who perceive little support from their managers. This correlation was also negative if the manager has the attitude that older employees tend to reject further training in principle.

Practical Advice

• Demographic change makes it necessary for companies to introduce older employees to new developments and to provide them with ongoing training.
• Age alone is not a good indicator of employees’ willingness to undergo further training.
• If the environment is designed accordingly, older employees also have a high willingness to undergo further training.
• Managers have a very large (sometimes unconscious) influence on the willingness of their employees to undergo further training.
• In order to increase the willingness of older employees to continue their education, managers should convey to them that personal characteristics can be changed and that they also want to train older employees.
• Managers should be sensitized to the fact that their attitude towards older employees already influences their willingness to undergo further training.

Quick Facts:

Source: Van Vianen, A. E. M., Dalhoeven, B. A. G. & DE Pater, I. E. (2011). Aging and training development willingness: Employee and supervisor mindset. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 32, pp. 226-247.

Method: Survey

This article comes from the Xing group Science meets HRD