strategies to meet these needs
The contextual needs category included the importance of recognizing the changing needs of women; included in this category is the need for women to feel comfortable disclosing their needs at work, particularly as their needs change due to age and the shared responsibility of employers and employees to retain older workers. Concerns surrounding job security and acceptance may contribute to women not disclosing their unique needs at work and as a result, these needs may remain implicit and unmet. By fore-fronting the changing needs of older women workers that are more difficult to identify or address, organizations can encourage disclosure and may become more aware of these needs, so they can work towards implementing strategies to help meet them. This could be done through policy changes on the organizational level or individual
adaptations to improve the work experiences of the older woman worker. Advocating for the shaping of benefits that are flexible and that could be adjusted dependent on the individual’s needs could also benefit individual employees and result in long-term benefits for organizations to have such options in place.
The study findings suggested that maintaining health and wellbeing became a more explicit need as women aged and neared retirement. The study findings did not signify one specific explanation for this trend; however, several possible explanations were supported in the literature. One such explanation was the increased number of health concerns that exist in older age and the importance that older adults place on maintaining their physical health (Pavalko et al., 2007). Maintenance of physical health and overall physical functioning were factors that participants in both phases indicated as playing a role in meeting the needs of older women within the workplace. Previous research found that retired or unemployed women were more likely to have health concerns and women who exercised regularly self-reported as being healthier than those who did not (O’Reilly, Thomlinson, & Castrey, 2003). In contrast, Pavalko et al.’s (2007) findings indicated in recent years, the health of working women has decreased. However, they also suggest that this may be explained by increases in employment of women with disabilities or other physical limitations, and not due to a decrease in the overall health of working women (Pavalko et al., 2007).
Another possible explanation was supported by Glaser, Evandrou, and Tomassini (2005), who suggest that older women workers may not have been afforded the opportunity to engage in self-care or health-promoting occupations due to other obligations, such as caring for others, as a product of the cultural/historical situation and potential lack of support for women at work. Previous literature discussed the relationship of dual roles on health and determined that women who participate in paid work and caregiving
occupations are more likely to experience poor health than women who do not have both occupational obligations (Glaser et al., 2005). Chronic stress was also identified as a workplace hazard that contributed to poor health for older women workers (Payne & Doyal, 2010). The current study elaborated on these insights in that physical and mental wellbeing were found to contribute to the health-related needs and the subsequent work- related decisions of older women. For example, many of the survey participants identified changing careers later in life in order to participate in occupations that were more health promoting, rather than exiting the workforce altogether, or being influenced by their non- work occupations while at work, such as being members of the sandwich generation and supporting grown children and older parents, sometimes simultaneously. Maintenance of
physical health and wellbeing becomes a priority for older women workers, and some choose to focus on their personal health, rather than their career as they near retirement (Wicks, 2006).
A prospective plan for work retention may be essential to begin to consider the unique needs of older women workers on a larger scale, particularly in regards to maintaining the health and wellbeing of older woman workers. Participants in this study identified that they are more likely to try to adapt themselves or to things in the workplace without seeking help or sharing their approaches to make changes with their employer or
coworkers. This self-reliance, while a natural way to address needs, is one approach that may contribute to information remaining hidden or unknown about what would assist other women or human resource planning to support work retention or accommodation. Thus, women who have difficulty in managing their changing needs do not have the necessary supports to overcome these challenges and the changing needs of older women workers remain unexposed and accommodated for (Wicks, 2006). When this occurs and older women workers’ unique needs are not addressed, women may feel isolated at work and may not optimally perform, known as presenteeism in the workplace (Shaw, 2013). The experiences from the study participants suggested that older women workers may feel it is their own responsibility to adjust to their changing health needs and the participants had various ways of coping with these changes (Olesen, Butterworth, & Rodgers, 2012). For example, older women workers might choose to leave a high-stress work environment in preference of a different job, rather than to actively address their concerns in their current position. In regards to management of physical health issues or concerns, older women may try to work more efficiently than when they were younger in order to prevent fatigue, rather than asking for special requests for a lighter workload (Altschuler, 2004). Other concerns such as being required to take more time off from work for doctors’ appointments became more explicit as women aged as well (Altschuler, 2004). If older woman workers felt comfortable asking for assistance or sharing their health requirements at work, these concerns may be able to be addressed satisfactorily for both the employee and the employer.
The study findings also suggested there may be a social responsibility for organizations to assist and maintain the overall wellbeing of employees and this responsibility might be realized and acted upon within the workplace (Parris, Cowan, & Huggett, 2006). This social responsibility was emphasized based on the value that older women workers placed on the support systems that existed in their work environments and was supported by literature that indicated that supportive social exchanges contributed to wellbeing (Nahum-Shani et al., 2011) while discrimination or ageism in the workplace detracted from overall health and wellbeing (Chou & Choi, 2011). The present study identified ecosystems of support as contributing to feelings of acceptance at work and commitment to the organization, and helped to develop an understanding of what a supportive work environment means to older women. Recognition of when these supports are necessary may be important for implementing support systems and for advocating for the
importance of social relationships at work that older women value (Nahum-Shani et al., 2011). To maintain ecosystems of support and promote collaboration between
organizational levels in regards to the health promotion of older women workers, I posit that future research is needed to understand the diverse membership that make up support systems for older women workers and understand how women utilize these supports to maintain their health and wellbeing.
If the needs of the older worker are not being met, organizations may need to specifically focus on developing more diverse retention strategies for older their workers. This diversity is similar to accessibility accommodations for persons with disabilities and the accommodations that organizations are required to make in order to meet the unique needs of their employees with disabilities (Parris et al., 2006). However, initial disclosure is necessary from older workers to identify and share what they need to remain healthy and productive in the workplace. When management becomes more aware of the issues facing older workers they can begin to develop needs-based strategies that can promote worker retention.
I suggest that the development of retention approaches for older women workers include both top-down and bottom-up approaches. Possible opportunities may be to include older women workers on joint health and safety, wellbeing at work, and disability prevention
and management committees. By involving older women workers with these committees, the voices of women could be represented at the macro level when making organizational decisions regarding older worker health and safety that may more appropriately enable for the needs of older women workers to be met (Fok, Shaw, Jennings, & Cheesman, 2009). As well, leadership on the executive level that indicates a commitment to the development of work retention strategies to meet the diverse needs of older woman workers is important in promoting health at work and maintaining wellbeing of older workers (Parris et al., 2006; Fok et al., 2009). When women do not share their
experiences and/or are compelled to hide their unique needs, it may be difficult to gage if there are issues that could be addressed or how many people are experiencing the same difficulties. Further research could be done to identify the general contextualized needs of the older woman worker such that organizations could then implement work retention strategies to meet these needs.