Why do or don't older employees seek knowledge from younger colleagues? A relation–opportunity model to explain how age‐inclusive human resources practices foster older employees' knowledge seeking from younger colleagues

Abstract

Knowledge‐related interactions between older and younger employees are crucial for business success. Although research has contributed much to understanding why older employees share knowledge with younger colleagues, little is known about older employees' motivation to seek knowledge. In this study, we answer the question of how age‐inclusive human resources (HR) practices can foster older employees' knowledge seeking from younger colleagues. Drawing on social learning theory that conceptualises learning‐oriented behaviour (i.e. knowledge seeking) as being inextricably linked to social context and person‐related factors, we develop a dual pathway relation–opportunity model outlining how age‐inclusive HR practices foster older employees' development striving, which, in turn, promotes knowledge seeking from younger colleagues. On the one hand, we propose a relation‐based pathway that identifies contact quality with younger colleagues as a socio‐emotional mechanism linking age‐inclusive HR practices with knowledge seeking via development striving. On the other hand, we suggest an opportunity‐based pathway that identifies older employees' future time perspective as a person‐related mechanism. We find support for our hypotheses in a sample of 502 older employees who participated in a three‐wave survey. We discuss theoretical implications and encourage scholars to further shift the conversation towards an inclusive perspective that overcomes stereotypical views of older employees.