Hospitality Management 26 (2007) 793806

How to motivate your older employees to excel?

The impact of commitment on older employees
performance in the hospitality industry
Joyce Iun

, Xu Huang
Department of Management and Marketing, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom,
Kowloon, Hong Kong
Abstract
This study examined the relationship between employee age and performance, dened as in-role
performance and organizational citizenship behaviors (OCB), using a sample of 599 hospitality
employees from Hong Kong. Results of a regression analysis indicated a negative relationship
between age and in-role and OCB. We also examined whether organizational commitment is a
necessary condition for older workers to perform well. Findings indicated that organizational
commitment moderated the relationship between age and work performance, such that the
relationships were strong and negative only when commitment was low.
r 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Older employees; Organization commitment; Work performance; In-role; Organizational citizenship
behaviors
1. Introduction
There is at present a global aging trend. By the year 2015 there will be 55 million workers
of 45 years of age or older in the USA. According to the US Age Discrimination and
Employment Act (ADEA), employees who are 40 years or over are dened as older. That
means in 10 years time, approximately 40% of the working population in the USA will be
older employees. As the hospitality industry encounters rising customer expectations, and
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doi:10.1016/j.ijhm.2006.08.002

Corresponding author. Tel.: +852 2766 7386; fax: +852 2765 0611.
E-mail addresses: msjiun@polyu.edu.hk (J. Iun), mshuangx@polyu.edu.hk (X. Huang).
has been troubled with a high employee turnover rate (Enz, 2004) on the one hand, and a
shrinking pool of young job applicants, on the other, understanding how to manage, and
more importantly, how to motivate the aging workforce has become a compelling issue.
Whether older employees perform well remains a debatable topic. Some research (Craik
and McDowd, 1987; Park and Gutchess, 2000) has indicated that age has a negative
relationship with work performance, and noted that older employees are less motivated to
learn new skills, and less productive in general. However, other research indicated that
older employees have positive work attributes such as dependability, loyalty, and
cooperation (Rosen and Jerdee, 1976; Schwab and Henneman, 1977), and two meta-
analyses have noted that there is no relationship between age and performance (McEvoy
and Cascio, 1989; Waldman and Avolio, 1986). We contend that one way to address the
inconsistent ndings regarding the ageperformance relationship is to take into
consideration the nature of a specic industry as well as individual differences among
aging workers.
First, hospitality jobs are service-oriented and labor-intensive in nature; younger
workers may be more able to handle the job demands because of their physical advantages,
whereas older workers may perform less satisfactorily due to age-related changes in
physical capacity (Furunes and Mykletun, 2005). Although there has been ample research
evidence on the perceived ageperformance relationship, i.e., age stereotypes (e.g., Chiu et
al., 2001; Magd, 2003), little has been done on the actual ageperformance relationship
with a focus in hospitality jobs. We posit that due to the nature of the hospitality jobs,
there is a negative relationship between age and performance.
Second, commitment research has not simply suggested that organizational commitment
is an important factor in predicting employees behaviors, such as absenteeism, turnover,
and work performance (Meyer et al., 2002), but also argued that organizational
commitment can buffer the negative effects of work-related stress on employee well-being
(Begley and Czajka, 1993). As individuals may differ in how they deal with aging, it is
likely that employees exert more effort if they value their contribution to their job. We,
therefore, expect to nd that organizational commitment weakens the negative relation-
ship between age and performance.
This paper begins by briey reviewing the literature on how aging affects work
performance. It then presents a hypothesis on the ageperformance link based on the job
nature of the hospitality industry and a hypothesis on the moderating role of
organizational commitment. Finally, we report the results, and discuss the implications
for the hospitality industry. Fig. 1 summarizes the variables and relationships investigated
in this study.
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Employee
Age
- In-role
- OCB
H1 -
H2
+
Employee
Organizational
Commitment
Fig. 1. Research model of age and work performances. Solid line: direct relationship; dashed line: moderating
relationship.
J. Iun, X. Huang / Hospitality Management 26 (2007) 793806 794
2. Review of the literature
2.1. Age and performance
Research evidence on the relationship between age and work performance has been
mixed and inconclusive. Rhodes (1983) categorized three main streams of ageperfor-
mance relationship types: negative, positive, and null. Following her suggestions, we
present a review of related literature according to these three streams.
The rst stream of ageperformance research has indicated the negative relationships.
Research found that older employees take a longer time to learn new skills, make more
errors in the training process, are more prone to work injury, and are less productive
(Agnew and Suruda, 1993; Park and Gutchess, 2000). Such negative effects may be due to
age-related changes in cognition and physical abilities, such as a decrease in working
memory (Baddeley, 1986), ability to pay attention (Craik and McDowd, 1987), and ability
to solve task problems (Plude and Hoyer, 1985). A decline in working memory may make
it difcult for older workers to learn new skills, such as computer technology, or to
memorize complex operational procedures. In addition to working memory, Warr (1994)
found that aging affects how quickly a person reacts. He examined the ageperformance
relationships in four categories of tasks including: (1) verbal comprehension and
intelligence; (2) immediate memory; (3) complex reasoning in areas of expertise; and (4)
reaction time and working memory. He found that only the reaction time and working
memory showed a negative relationship with age. Harma (1996) reported that workers
over 40 experience greater difculties in adapting to shift work, which may increase the
chances of work injury and absenteeism. Taken together, research supporting the negative
ageperformance relationships seems to indicate that aging affects how well an older
employee performs at work to the extent that working memory and efciency of reaction,
and adjustment to work schedule changes are essential to the jobs.
The second stream of research has supported the positive view of older workers
performance, and seemed to link their performance with work attributes, experience and
quality of work. Some research has noted that older employees have qualities such as
dependability, loyalty, cooperation, consistency, and a good work ethic, which are
important work attributes (Rosen and Jerdee, 1976; Schwab and Henneman, 1977). Rao
and Rao (1997) conducted a eld study and found that younger workers produced the
highest quantity, but older workers produced a higher quality of work. Other research has
indicated that older workers perform well at tasks at which they are experienced, and that
experience can offset a decline in problem solving ability (Park and Gutchess, 2000). Taken
together, research in this stream seems to indicate that the satisfactory work performance
of older workers has much to do with their good work attributes and their experience,
which compensate for the decline in physical and cognitive capacities to the extent that job
demands are manageable.
The third stream of ageperformance studies has proposed a null relationship (McEvoy
and Cascio, 1989; Waldman and Avolio, 1986). Waldman and Avolio (1986) reviewed 40
studies, and did not nd support for a decline in performance when employees get older.
Another meta-analysis by McEvoy and Cascio (1989), including over 30,000 subjects, also
did not nd support for an ageperformance relationship statistically. Gilbert et al. (1993)
examined nine performance areas (e.g., technical competence, overall performance, and
work relations with peers) of 1438 employees between 25 and 50. They did not nd any
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J. Iun, X. Huang / Hospitality Management 26 (2007) 793806 795
statistically signicant ageperformance relationship. One plausible reason why these
studies have reported no relationship between age and performance may be that multiple
job types were included. Intriguingly, studies involving subjects who are in technically
oriented or professional jobs also reported null relationships. For instance, Lee and Lee
(1999) studied the emergency response skills of pilots at different ages, and found that the
older pilots were only slightly slower in response, but the negative ageperformance
relationship was not statistically signicant. Similarly, Rhodes (1983), in her meta-analysis,
noted that the ageperformance relationship is not signicant in professional jobs, in
which visual and perceptual abilities are not considered salient factors that inuence work
performance as they do in non-professional jobs. Taken together, research supporting the
null relationship seems to indicate that job types or the nature of an industry may affect
how well an older employee performs.
Evidently, aging affects individual physical and cognitive abilities, and it is likely that
older workers may perform less satisfactorily if jobs demand such abilities. Hotel and
restaurant jobs may well be such a case as these jobs involve a high degree of physical
energy and stress, as well as frequent guest demands, which require the physical, visual and
perceptual abilities of workers. In a recent study by Furunes and Mykletun (2005), hotel
and restaurant managers indicated that hotel and restaurant jobs may be less suitable for
older workers as the daily tasks are characterized by high physical demands. It may be
relatively difcult for older workers in hotel and restaurant jobs to efciently and
effectively perform jobs which require spontaneous responses to customer demands, long
working hours, and shift rotation, whereas younger workers may have the physical
stamina to cope with the workload better, respond more quickly to customer demands,
and adjust better to rotating shifts. In addition, older employees in hotel and restaurant
jobs with a high proportion of younger workers, in particular, in guest contact areas, may
nd that they are less competent physically, and may be less inclined to put in a lot of effort
or to engage in helping co-workers when they see that promotion, salary increases, or other
rewards diminish. This may make the negative ageperformance relationship more salient.
2.2. Measuring work performance
In general, there are two work performance measures: in-role performance and
organizational citizenship behaviors (OCB). In-role performance refers to how employees
perform their job duties in accordance with the standards set by the company. OCB are
the behaviors of a discretionary nature that are not part of employees formal
requirements (Organ, 1988, p. 4). Organ (1988) identied ve OCB dimensions:
conscientiousness, altruism, civic virtue, sportsmanship, and courtesy. Although OCB
are discretionary, they indicate a cluster of behaviors that may benet the company as a
whole. Moreover, in recent research, Bell and Mengue (2002) reported that OCB explain
36% of the variance in customer service quality. As the hospitality industry is a service-
and people-oriented business, employees discretionary actions to improve customer
services are crucial to keeping customers coming back; in other words, they are essential to
the success of business. OCB should also be of interest to hospitality operators. In line with
the above, we hypothesize:
H1. There is a negative relationship between employee age and his/her in-role
performance and OCB in the hospitality industry.
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J. Iun, X. Huang / Hospitality Management 26 (2007) 793806 796
2.3. Moderating effects of affective commitment on the link between age and work
performance
To understand more fully the effects of negative ageperformance relationships,
consideration of moderators on an individual level may be important as individuals may
differ in how they deal with aging. An important individual attitudinal variable that may
moderate the ageperformance relationship is organizational commitment. Organizational
commitment is a key job attitude. It reects an employees identication with the company,
his or her desire to make continuous effort towards the success of the company (Meyer and
Allen, 1997). Organizational commitment has a negative inuence on absenteeism and
turnover (Kim et al., 2005), and a positive inuence on other work attitudes and behaviors,
such as employees customer-orientation (Lau and Huang, 1999), job satisfaction (Cheng
et al., 2003), and task performance (Meyer et al., 2002).
Levels of commitment may affect how an employee values his/her work, and in turn may
have an impact on how much they are willing to use their abilities to the full. Individuals
with high organizational commitment believe that working at this company is meaningful
to me, and they are more likely to agree with companys values, feel a part of the
company, be persistent in tasks assigned, and nd work experiences meaningful for the
good of the company as well as for themselves, whereas uncommitted employees may not.
Recent research (Gosserand and Diefendorff, 2005; Meyer et al., 2004) has suggested that
commitment is a powerful source of motivation to boost employees energy levels and to
persuade them continue working even in difcult situations, such as work-related stress
(Begley and Czajka, 1993). Begley and Czajka (1993) found that commitment weakens the
negative relationship between stress and job displeasure, and that as stress increases those
low in commitment experience a signicant increase in job displeasure, whereas, for those
high in commitment, stress shows no effect. It seems that organizational commitment can
buffer the negative impact of work stress on an employees health and well-being. Thus, it
is plausible that commitment may buffer the negative impact of age on work performance.
Compared to those with less commitment, older employees with more commitment are
more likely to continue working even under difcult circumstances, such as long working
hours and adjustment to rotating work shifts, because commitment may be able to buffer
the effect of such difculties on their well-being, and they are more likely to believe their
hard work will be worthwhile. This logic suggests the following hypothesis:
H2. Organizational commitment will moderate the relationship between an employees
age, on the one hand, and his/her in-role performance and OCB, on the other, such that
the negative relationship between employee age and his/her in-role performance and OCB
is weaker when his/her organizational commitment is high.
3. Methodology
3.1. Sample
The sample consisted of 599 employees from four hospitality companies in Hong Kong.
These four companies represented both hotel and catering sectors. All participants were of
Chinese ethnic origin. The characteristics of the employees are shown in Table 1.
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J. Iun, X. Huang / Hospitality Management 26 (2007) 793806 797
3.2. Procedure
From their internal mail systems, the respondents received a questionnaire,
a return envelope, and an introduction letter prepared by the researchers. The
respondents were asked to answer a questionnaire with questions on job
satisfaction and organizational commitment as well as their demographic information.
Each questionnaire included a researcher-assigned identication number in order
to match employees responses with supervisors evaluations. The supervisors were
asked to answer a separate questionnaire, which contained questions regarding the
in-role performance and OCB of employees as well as the demographic information
of the supervisors. To ensure condentiality, respondents were instructed to seal the
completed questionnaires in the return envelopes and to send them to the managers
of the human resources departments in their companies. In total, 1708 questionnaires
were distributed, and 1198 questionnaires were returned, representing a response rate of
70.1 percent.
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Table 1
Demographic prole of the sample
Demographic variables Fried chicken
chain (N 151)
Chinese fast food
chain (N 224)
Specialty congee fast
food chain (N 87)
Three-star hotel
(N 137)
Gender
Male 58 (38.4%) 9 (4%) 18 (22%) 85 (62%)
Female 93 (61.6%) 215 (96%) 68 (78%) 52 (38%)
Mean age (years) 32.6 31.8 38.1 37.7
(mini to max) (1661) (1853) (1958) (1958)
25 and under
(number)
67 73 12 23
2630 15 27 8 9
3139 17 52 17 34
4049 33 55 30 42
50 and over 19 1 10 17
Mean tenure (years) 5.3 4.8 5.6 5.7
(mini to maxi) (.414.9) (.120) (.111.9) (.313.3)
Educational level
Junior high or below 74 (49%) 55 (24.6%) 44 (50.6%) 61 (44.5%)
Above junior high 76 (50%) 167 (54%) 39 (44.8%) 74 (74.6%)
Salary type
Hourly rate 72 (47.7%)
Monthly rate 79 (52.3%) 224 (100%) 87 (100%) 137 (100%)
Positions
Production/
customer services
81 (53.6%) 4 (1.8%) 3 (3.4%) 92 (67.2%)
Clerical 17 (11.3%) 202 (90.2%) 15 (17.2%) 14 (10.2%)
Supervisors/
assistant managers
44 (29.1%) 16 (7.1%) 58 (66.7%) 24 (17.5%)
Notes: There were 599 in the sample. Not all respondents completed every survey question, thus totals may vary.
J. Iun, X. Huang / Hospitality Management 26 (2007) 793806 798
3.3. Measures
The questionnaire developed for this study consisted of well-established scales. Items
were rst constructed in English and then translated into Chinese. A back-translation was
done to ensure that both English and Chinese versions were comparable.
Age: Employee age was measured by self-reporting in number of years on the
questionnaire.
In-role performance: A three-item seven-point scale performance rating developed by
Van Scotter and Motowidlo (1996) was used to measure in-role performance (1 very
unsatisfactory; 7 excellent). One question addressed whether the subordinate exceeded,
met, or did not meet standards for job performance. The coefcient alpha was .95.
OCB: We adopted eight items from Farh et al.s (1997) OCB scale (1 strongly disagree;
7 strongly agree). Farh et al. (1997) identied ve dimensions of OCB, arguing that
identication with company, altruism towards colleagues, and conscientiousness are three
more global dimensions of OCB. In this study, we only focused on two out of the three
global dimensions, identifying with the company (e.g., the employee is willing to stand up
to protect the reputation of the company) and altruism towards co-workers to solve work-
related problems (e.g., the employee is willing to assist new colleagues to adjust to the work
environment), because conscientiousness is often considered an in-role rather than an
extra-role behavior (Van Dyne et al., 1995). Each of the dimensional scales had four items.
The coefcient alphas for identication with the company and altruism were .81 and .89,
respectively.
Organizational commitment: We focused on affective commitment in our study as
research noted that among the various types of commitment, affective commitment is the
most practically relevant to in-role and OCB (Meyer et al., 2002). We adopted an eight-
item seven-point scale by Allen and Meyer (1990) to measure affective commitment
(1 strongly disagree; 7 strongly agree). One question was working at my organization
has a great deal of personal meaning to me. The coefcient alpha was .77.
Control variables: Demographic variables were measured from both subordinates and
supervisors, and used as control variables (except employee age). Age and organizational
tenure were self-reported in number of years. Gender and educational level were dummy
coded (female 0, male 1; junior high or below 0; above junior high 1). In
addition, we controlled for the effect of rms by creating dummy variables for all four
companies. We also followed prior research (Tsui et al., 2002) to control for employee job
satisfaction. A three-item seven-point scale (Cammann et al., 1979) was used to measure
job satisfaction (1 strongly disagree; 7 strongly agree). A sample question was in
general, I enjoy working here. The coefcient alpha was .74. Prior research indicated that
work status affects employee attitudes and behavior (Sinclair et al., 1999). We controlled
for the effect of salary type (hourly rate 0; monthly rate 1). In addition, to avoid the
similarity bias from the supervisors (Testa, 2002), we followed the procedures used by
Turban and Jones (1988) to control for the composite demographic similarity between
supervisors and employees.
4. Data analysis
Hypothesis 1, predicting the negative relationship between age and work performance,
and Hypothesis 2, predicting the moderating effect of organizational commitment on the
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J. Iun, X. Huang / Hospitality Management 26 (2007) 793806 799
relationship between age and work performance were tested using a four-step hierarchical
regression model. In the rst step, the control variables (i.e., companies, salary type,
gender, educational level and tenure of both employees and their supervisors, age of the
supervisor, demographic similarity score, and employee job satisfaction) were entered,
followed by the employees age (A) in the second step, and affective commitment (AC) in
the third step. Next, the interaction term (AAC) was entered in the fourth step. The
moderating effect was tested by examining the change in R
2
attributable to the interaction
term and the signicance of the betas for the term.
5. Results
Intercorrelations of all variables are shown in Table 2, which indicates that performance
measures (i.e., in-role, identication with the company, and altruism) are intercorrelated.
We performed a conrmatory factor analysis with AMOS-5 to determine the distinctive-
ness of these three performance measures. Results in Table 3 indicate the model t
improved signicantly along the sequence of models as one moved from the 1- to 3-factor
model, which supported the distinctiveness of the three variables.
Hypothesis 1 predicted that age will have a negative effect on both in-role performance
and OCB. Table 4 shows that, in the second step of the model, age is statistically related
negatively to in-role performance (b :18, po:01), identication with company
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Table 2
Means, standard deviations, and intercorrelations of all measures
Measure M SD 1 2 3 4 5 6
1. In-role performance 4.51 1.06
2. Identication with company 4.71 .81 .67**
3. Altruism toward co-workers 5.03 .91 .69** .74**
4. Affective commitment 4.85 .84 .08* .21** .15**
5. Job satisfaction 5.34 .94 .11** .21** .19** .72**
6. Employee age 34.17 10.74 .04 .02 .01 .16** .23**
Note: N 599.
*po:05, **po:01, *** po:001; two-tailed.
Table 3
The results of CFA
Model w
2
d.f. TLI IFI CFI GFI AGFI RMSEA RMR
1. 1-factor model 1006.4 44 .65 .72 .72 .76 .64 .19 .13
2. 2-factor model 234.3 43 .93 .95 .95 .93 .89 .09 .04
3. 3-factor model 147.4 41 .96 .97 .97 .96 .93 .07 .04
Note: TLI TuckerLewis index; IFI incremental index of t; CFI comparative t index; GFI goodness-
of-t index; AGFI adjusted goodness-of-t index; RMSEA root mean square error of approximation;
RMR root mean square residual.
In the 3-factor model, in-role, identication with company, altruism were treated as three independent variables.
In the 2-factor model, identication with company and altruism were loaded on one-factor. In the 1-factor Model,
all variables were loaded on 1-factor.
J. Iun, X. Huang / Hospitality Management 26 (2007) 793806 800
(b :15, po:01), and altruism (b :13, po:05). Therefore, Hypothesis 1 was
supported.
Hypothesis 2 stated that AC moderates the relationship between age and employees in-
role and OCB. Table 4 shows that, in the fourth step of the model, adding the interaction
term (AAC), the relationship is signicant for in-role (b :08, po:05, DR
2
:01),
identication with company (b :12, po:01, DR
2
:01), and altruism (b :10, po:05,
DR
2
:01). Thus, Hypothesis 2 was also supported.
To interpret this nding, we used the regression equation to plot the relationships (i.e.,
the mean plus or minus one standard deviation). The plots (see Fig. 2) indicate that while
older workers performance differs little from younger workers performance at a high
level of affective commitment (simple slope test: b :07, n.s., in-role; b :03, n.s.,
identication with company; b :06, n.s., altruism), performance among older employ-
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Table 4
Regression summary for age, work performance and affective commitment
Variable In-role performance Identication with company Altruism
b b b
Step 1
Control variables
Company A .24 .11 .19
Company B .38 .23 .35
Salary type .10 .15 .07
Genderemployee .03 .09 .10
Gendersupervisor .05 .04 .07
Educational levelemployee .04 .09 .03
Educational levelsupervisor .12 .14 .06
Organizational tenureemployee .00 .09 .04
Organizational tenuresupervisor .06 .08 .06
Agesupervisor .07 .05 .01
Demographic similarity score .03 .00 .04
Employee job satisfaction .14 .24 .18
DR
2
.15 .15 .15
DF 7.18*** 7.26*** 7.03***
Step 2 (main effect)
Ageemployee (A) .18** .15** .13*
DR
2
.02 .01 .01
DF 11.08** 7.31** 5.40*
Step 3
Affective commitment (C) .08 .15** .04
DR
2
.00 .01 .00
DF 1.79 6.53** .43
Step 4 (hypothesized moderating effect)
AC .08* .12** .10*
DR
2
.01 .01 .01
DF 3.77* 7.22** 4.82*
Overall R
2
.18 .20 .17
Overall adjusted R
2
.16 .17 .15
Note: N 599:
*po:05, **po:01, *** po:001; two-tailed.
J. Iun, X. Huang / Hospitality Management 26 (2007) 793806 801
ees is dramatically lower when they have low affective commitment to the organization
(simple slope test: b :25, po:001, in-role; b :26, po:001, identication with
company; b :25, po:001, altruism). Findings support the proposition that older
employees with a high level of affective commitment to the organization have as much to
contribute as younger ones.
6. Discussion and implications
In this study, we used a diverse sample of hospitality employees with ages ranging from
16 to 61 to examine whether older employees performed less satisfactorily than their
younger counterparts. Findings supported this hypothesis. One reason may be due to the
job nature. Compared to other industries, hospitality jobs are mostly related to production
and customer service, and therefore are more physically demanding. Older workers may
nd it difcult to cope with the job demands, and perform less satisfactorily.
However, our ndings were in line with previous research which showed that employees
with stronger organizational commitment nd work more meaningful and are more
determined to work well in difcult situations (Sinclair et al., 2005). We found that older
employees with a high level of commitment to the company have as much to contribute as
younger employees. They only performed poorly when they were not emotionally attached
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2
2.5
3
3.5
young old
Age - Employees
young old
Age - Employees
young old
Age - Employees
I
n
-
r
o
l
e

p
e
r
f
o
r
m
a
n
c
e
3
3.5
4
4.5
3
3.5
4
4.5
I
d
e
n
t
i
f
i
c
a
t
i
o
n

w
i
t
h

c
o
m
p
a
n
y
a
l
t
r
u
i
s
m
High AC, n.s.
High AC, n.s.
High AC, n.s.
Low AC, negative
Low AC, negative
Low AC, negative
Fig. 2. The joint effect of employee age and affective commitment on in-role performance, identication with
company, and altruism.
J. Iun, X. Huang / Hospitality Management 26 (2007) 793806 802
to the company. This nding suggests that managers may be able to enhance older
employees performance outcomes by fostering affective attachment to the organization.
They will then be more willing to apply themselves to improving task performance and
OCB outcomes. This will become increasingly important as the global population ages,
there will be more older people in the workforce. At the same time, there will be more older
customers who will patronize hotels and restaurants. Older workers may be more able to
deal with various customer demands, not only because they are more empathetic towards
customers of their own age, but also because they are more experienced, have good work
attributes and good communication skills. The question remains as to how hospitality
operators could take advantage of older workers good qualities and experience and
motivate them to excel. Enhancing their commitment to the organization may well be an
answer to this question. We propose the following activities and practices to hospitality
managers.
6.1. HR policy
Management seeking affectively committed employees must demonstrate their own
commitment by providing a supportive work environment, starting from HR policies.
Over an informal conversation with a fast-food HR manager in Hong Kong, the rst
author of this study was told that there is an unwritten hiring policy not to employ
frontline crew older than 50 years old. Although age discrimination practices are not
unlawful in Hong Kong, this type of age-discrimination hiring policy would indeed mean
that older workers are not allowed to contribute their experience and abilities to the
company. To ensure that older workers are accepted and their contribution to the
company is acknowledged, it is necessary to implement a discrimination-free policy
supported by the top management. In addition, older employees should be offered same
opportunities for training and development to enhance their competency, and improve
their promotional prospects. Companies may further utilize the expertise of older workers;
they can act as mentors in the training of new workers.
6.2. Leader support and organizational support
Social exchange theory (Blau, 1964) explains the employee-organization relationships,
and suggests that a high-quality relationship involves the exchange of resources other than
monetary rewards. The tenet of the social exchange concept is associated with the concept
of reciprocity. There are several reasons why the social exchange framework works well in
the Chinese context. First, the value of reciprocity (or pao in Chinese) is rooted in the
Chinese culture, which emphasizes reciprocity as an obligation to pay back those who treat
you well (Wong et al., 2001). Second, the Chinese culture emphasizes relationships (or in
Chinese, guanxi). Only people with guanxi relationships are considered as inside the
network, and are granted high levels of trust, respect, and obligation (Redding, 1990). By
and large, empirical studies have supported the important impact of specic forms of
guanxi (e.g., relationship with supervisors) on employees behaviors and attitudes toward
an organization (Cheng et al., 2003). Where the concepts of relationship (i.e., guanxi) and
reciprocity (i.e., pao) are fundamental Chinese cultural values, it would be benecial to
organizations if employees perceive their leaders/companies as treating them well. In other
words, promoting leader support and organizational support will benet the hospitality
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operators as this will cultivate employees commitment towards the company in the long
run.
Past studies showed that declines in work performance of older workers may be due to
job demands (e.g., Ashcraft, 1992; Warr, 1994). The traditional workplace, designed for
the average 20- to 40-year-old, will need to be adjusted as the workforce ages. Improving
work place design (e.g., larger print on warning signs in the kitchen, or tools with better
design) is one way for the company to demonstrate support for older workers and to
reduce the negative effects of job demands, on the one hand, and make room to fully utilize
older workers experience, on the other.
7. Limitations and suggestions for future research
There are several limitations in this study. First, the convenience samples collected
through the rst authors personal contacts may limit the generalization of this study to
full-service restaurants and 5-star hotels. Second, the study design used only supervisory
rating, which may involve some subjective supervisory bias, although prior research
(Gilbert et al., 1993; Rao and Rao, 1997) has indicated that types of measures have no
signicant impact on ageperformance relationships. To get a more complete and objective
picture of employee performance, future research may consider using multiple raters.
Third, we found that employee age accounts for only 12% of the variance in work
performance, leaving a substantial amount of the variance in job performance
unexplained. The small effect was good in a sense that it suggested that performance is
not over-sensitive to supercial demographic attributes. Fourth, the present research was
cross-sectional in nature and thus cause-and-effect relationships cannot be established
denitely. Longitudinal designs to track employee performance over time are needed. Last
but not least, we only tested the hypotheses in the Chinese context. Whether results from
this research could be replicated across different cultures remains to be examined.
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