Enabling older employees' well-being through HR attributions: The moderating role of management context

Abstract

Fusing the extant literature on successful aging at work (SAW) and HR attributions, we examined the confluence of employee-oriented internal HR attributions and unit-level employee management context on burnout for employees across the age spectrum. Time-lagged, multi-level survey data were collected from a sample of 1762 blue-collar employees from 178 work units at the manufacturing plants of a large firm operating in the Turkish energy industry, which is characterized as a high-risk safety environment. A cross-level moderated mediation model was tested using multi-level structural equation modeling (MSEM). Results supported study hypotheses such that the negative association between age and burnout was mediated by employee-oriented positive HR attributions, and this indirect association was moderated by unit-level perceptions of the employee management context. Development-oriented contexts that emphasized personal development/growth—indicated by the degree of emphasis on innovation strategy, safety training, and active unit safety leadership—weakened the negative indirect (i.e., buffering) effect of age on burnout via less positive HR attributions. Conversely, a maintenance-oriented context that emphasized maintaining the status quo—indicated by passive unit safety leadership—strengthened said effect through more positive HR attributions. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings for fostering employee well-being across the age spectrum are discussed.