Organizational Adaptation to the Aging of the Workforce: Are Non-Profit and Social Service Sector Organizations Ready?

Background and Purpose: Given the unique circumstances of organizations in the non-profit and social service sectors, the aging of the workforce could pose major challenges, but also major opportunities. It is important for social workers and others interested in the health and vitality of the non-profit/social service sector workforce to consider how such organizations are responding to the aging of the workforce as compared to organizations in other sectors. That is, will the aging of the workforce become a competitive advantage, whereby non-profit and social service sector agencies get the “cream of the crop” of older adult workers? Or will it become a vulnerability, as these organizations are not able to effectively recruit, engage, and retain these older workers? The purpose of the current article is to use an organizational adaptation framework, originally put forth by Daft & Weick (1984), to determine factors that explain variation in the response of organizations to the aging of the workforce—specifically the degree to which flexible work options are offered—and how that response differs or is similar in non-profit/social service sector organizations as opposed to other organizations.

Methods: We tested our hypotheses using data from the National Study of Business Strategy and Workforce Development (NSBSWD), a study which gathered organization-level information about employers' responses to emerging workforce demographics from 578 individuals with human resource management responsibilities at non-profit and for-profit organizations with 50 or more employees. The dependent variable, workplace flexibility, was measured using a weighted index designed to assess the scope of flexible work options available in an organization using a series of 31 questions (16 regarding full-time employees and 15 regarding part-time employees).

Results: As hypothesized, regression analyses revealed several important predictors of variation in the degree to which flexible work options are offered in organizations, including: considering the management of workforce talent/human capital to be a highly important strategy; having top managers, administrators, or other top-level officers who are over 65 years old; and having high proportions of professional, technical, or managerial employees. We also found that above and beyond the effects of these variables, non-profit/social service sector organizations were more likely to offer flexible work options than those in other sectors.

Conclusion and Implications: Our results support the notion that, when compared to organizations in other sectors, the work environment in the non-profit/social service sector may more closely align with the needs and priorities of older workers. These organizations, therefore, may be well-positioned to capitalize on the highly skilled talent of the Baby Boom demographic. It is critical that top management/administration in non-profit/social service organizations develop dual-pronged strategies that emphasize both the unique value-driven dimension of their organizations as well as the availability of specific flexible work options that may be appealing to a wide range of potential or current employees. Such a strategy can serve as an opening for non-profit/social service sector organizations to differentiate themselves from other sectors so that they are able to effectively recruit and engage older workers.