Older Adults Buffer Against Exploitation - An Ageist Series (2 of 3)

Author : Manley Osbak 

Excluding older adults from the workforce encourages the development of exploitative environments. Organizations thrive on instrumental transactions in which something is traded for something. Young adults, aged 25 to 45, are often eager to engage in transactional relationships if the rewards are compelling. The resulting demand – supply co-dependence can produce a workplace culture that reduces people to mere instrumentality. Older adults can buffer young people from the emergence of such exploitative cultures, however, by balancing instrumental and competitive values with constitutive and cooperative values.

People make choices about which goals to pursue, attempting to maximize the benefits while minimizing the costs. This process is known as selection, optimization, and compensation. As our available resources change throughout life, so too do our goals. Young adults often prioritize individual distinction and the acquisition of material and social resources. Driven to achieve personal goals, they leverage social interactions strategically and prioritize competitive interests. In optimizing the benefits of their selected goals, young adults may exclude those who don’t directly contribute to their competitive interests, and thereby fail to foresee, minimize, and compensate for unintended consequences.

The early 20th century saw the emergence of Classical Management, shaped by Frederick Taylor’s Scientific Management, Henri Fayol’s Principles of Management, and Max Weber’s development of bureaucratic organizations. This management philosophy emphasized rationality, predictability, impersonality, technical competence, and authoritarianism. Although not inherently limited to instrumentalism, Classical Management has increasingly focused on the instrumental value of resources—assessing the worth of ideas, actions, or objects solely on their utility in achieving desired outcomes. While this approach may be practical for managing objects, it becomes unethical when applied to people.

Instrumental pursuits involve actions that are not inherently rewarding but are pursued because they lead to a reward. Constitutive pursuits are actions that are rewarding in and of themselves, valued for the inherent satisfaction that they provide. Instrumental pursuits, being extrinsically motivated, place the locus of control externally—dependent on others and specific outcomes. Conversely, constitutive pursuits, driven by intrinsic motivation, keep the locus of control internal, anchored within oneself. 

The Classical Management approach can easily over-emphasize instrumentalism: people become objects and the relationship between the business and it’s employees becomes purely transactional. Reduced to mere instrumentality, people’s feelings, intentions, thoughts, and experiences become largely irrelevant. When young adults select instrumental pursuits, they choose work environments that support and reward instrumentalism. The reciprocal demand – supply relationship creates a reinforcing loop that can lead to exploitive work cultures.

The inclusion of older adults can buffer young adults from the development of overly instrumental work cultures by balancing instrumental and competitive values with constitutive and cooperative values. As people transition into middle-adulthood, their focus often shifts from pursuing actions with instrumental value to those with inherent meaning. Older adults tend to prioritize constitutive actions, that lead to positive affect (stable emotional disposition) and social embeddedness and functional community. They are, therefore, uniquely positioned to infuse the workplace with constitutive and cooperative values.

Recent research demonstrates that values change when the perception of time change. When time is seen as expansive, as it may in young adulthood, people are more willing to delay personal authenticity to acquire resources and establish their positions within the competitive hierarchy. As people age, however, they begin to see time as limited, personal authenticity becomes less negotiable, and people are drawn to activities that hold emotional salience or personal significance. Consequently, while young adults may engage in instrumental actions that yield future benefits, older adults tend to prefer constitutive actions that are meaningful in the present.

While middle-aged and older adults may show less interest in opportunities for professional growth and status compared to their younger counterparts, they often demonstrate a greater inclination towards helping others, investing in relationships, and engaging in organizational citizenship behavior. This shift is crucial as it fosters the development of a more balanced workplace culture that can protect young adults from the toxicity of overly instrumental work environments. 

The exclusion of older adults from the workforce not only deprives organizations of valuable experience and wisdom but may foster exploitative environments that over-emphasize instrumental transactions. Young adults, being particularly susceptible to this situation, may find themselves in roles where their worth is measured solely by their output. In contrast, the inclusion of older adults may introduce a more balanced perspective, emphasizing relational and intrinsic values over purely instrumental ones. This intergenerational approach not only enriches the workplace culture but also acts as a protective buffer for younger employees, shielding them from exploitative practices and contributing to a healthier, more supportive work environment. Recognizing and harnessing the diverse strengths of all age groups is essential for creating a more sustainable, productive, and generative workplace.

The views and opinions expressed in this blog post belong solely to the original author(s) and do not necessarily represent the views and opinions of CPHR Alberta.

Manley Osbak is a Workforce Development Specialist with Work Locomotion where he leads the development and delivery of supervisor training. As a Certified Training and Development Professional with over 25 years of experience in the energy, construction, and manufacturing sectors, Manley focuses on helping supervisors master their roles in an increasingly complex operating environment. Having authored and coauthored numerous journal papers and trade magazine articles, Manley is well known for his investigative approach and crisp delivery. Connect with him on LinkedIn and access his current work on worklocomotion.Substack.com.