PERCEIVED HRM PRACTICES,

ORGANIZATIONAL COMMIT-
MENT, AND VOLUNTARY EARLY
RETIREMENT AMONG LATE-
CAREER MANAGERS
OLIVIER HERRBACH, KARIM MIGNONAC, CHRISTIAN
VA N D E N B E R G H E , A N D A L E S S I A N E G R I N I

Using a sample of 514 French late-career managers representing a variety

of occupations and organizations, we investigated the relations among
perceived HRM practices, organizational commitment, and voluntary early
retirement. We found that the provision of training opportunities was asso-
ciated with the most favorable outcomes. It was related to higher affective
and high-sacrifice commitment, lower lack of alternatives commitment, and
reduced voluntary early retirement. On the other hand, we found that flexible
working conditions and the assignment of older workers to new roles (for
example, mentor or coach) did not have the expected positive effects. In ad-
dition, our results highlight the importance of disentangling the components
of continuance commitment, as high-sacrifice commitment was associated
with reduced likelihood of voluntary early retirement, while lack of alterna-
tives commitment had the opposite effect. These findings suggest that vol-
untary early retirement should be incorporated as a major outcome in future
organizational behavior research. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Keywords: organizational commitment, older workers, early retirement,

HRM practices

ndustrialized countries have undergone aging of the workforce have resulted in com-

I major demographic changes, such as

decreasing birth rates, increased educa-
tion levels, and late entry of younger
generations in the labor market (United
Nations, 2007). The decreasing number of
young people entering the market and the
panies’ increasingly relying on the input of
older workers—those aged 50 and over—
whose proportion in the overall workforce
is expected to grow rapidly (Organisation
for Economic Cooperation and Develop-
ment [OECD], 2006). The current trend calls

Correspondence to: Olivier Herrbach, University of Bordeaux and ESC Rennes School of Business, Institut
d’Administration des Entreprises, 35 avenue Abadie, 33072 Bordeaux Cedex, France, Phone: +33 556 00 97 07,
Fax: +33 556 00 45 66, E-mail: olivier.herrbach@u-bordeaux4.fr

Human Resource Management, November–December 2009, Vol. 48, No. 6, Pp. 895– 915
© 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com).
DOI: 10.1002/hrm.20321
896 HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT, NOVEMBER–DECEMBER 2009
for the implementation of appropriate poli-
cies and practices that help manage older
workers’ careers (Collins, 2003; Crampton,
Hodge, & Mishra, 1996) and encourage
them to stay longer in employment (Greller
& Simpson, 1999).
As highlighted by Schmidt and Lee
(2008), the extant literature on aging and
retirement is both extensive and informa-
tive, with research that has examined both
work and nonwork predictors of early retire-
ment intentions (e.g., Beehr, Glazer, Nielson,
& Farmer, 2000). Little is known, however,
about how organizations can proactively dis-
courage older employees from retiring early,
even though conventional wisdom suggests
that HRM practices represent an important
vehicle for managing employees’
motivation to continue working
Little is known, (Kooij, de Lange, Jansen, & Dik-
kers, 2008). Recent research indi-
however, about
cates that HRM practices play a
how organizations role in the development of orga-
nizational commitment and in
can proactively reducing organizational turnover
among employees in general
discourage older
(Allen, Shore, & Griffeth, 2003;
employees from Meyer & Smith, 2000). It also has
been found that affectively com-
retiring early. mitted mature employees tend to
plan to retire later than when it is
most financially attractive for
them, whereas employees with high levels of
continuance commitment tend to retire
when financial benefits are highest (Luchak,
Pohler, & Gellatly, 2008). This is consistent
with the nature of these two forms of com-
mitment, as affective commitment is based
on the “desire” to remain with the organiza-
tion, while continuance commitment is
based on the “perceived cost” associated
with quitting (Meyer, Allen, & Smith, 1993).
These findings suggest that even if retire-
ment and turnover represent distinct con-
structs or realities (Adams & Beehr, 1998),
organizational commitment and the way it is
managed can make a difference among older
workers when it comes to predicting their
retirement decisions.
The objective of this study is to address
three gaps in the literature on voluntary re-
tirement. First, we examined the predictors of
actual rather than intended early retirement
decisions, which to our best knowledge have
not been investigated in previous research.
Second, we examined how a set of HRM prac-
tices that have relevance in the context of
late-career management (training opportuni-
ties, assignment of new roles, flexible work
conditions, and encouragement to retire
early) are related to older workers’ organiza-
tional commitment, which is an indication
of their propensity to stay with the organiza-
tion as well as of their general attitude toward
it. Third, we explored how the relevant HRM
practices and two salient dimensions of
organizational commitment (affective and
continuance) related to older employees’ vol-
untary early-retirement decisions. In the next
section, we discuss the particularities of the
French context in which this study was con-
ducted. We then review the relevant litera-
ture on HRM practices and organizational
commitment and early retirement, and delin-
eate our hypotheses.
Retirement in the French Context
The French retirement system is based on a
so-called repartition model, whereby the cost
of pensions is covered by active workers and
their employers. Basically, a given percentage
of each employee’s salary is deducted every
month from his or her paycheck and a given
percentage of the employee’s gross salary is
paid by the employer. These amounts are
transferred to a national pension system,
which in turn pays pensions to retirees. Al-
though not actually a governmental depart-
ment but, rather, a private institution run
jointly by unions and employers, the pension
institution is subject to strong regulation by
the state and has de facto governmentlike
status. It is also mandatory and egalitarian:
Any salaried employee is affiliated by default
to the system, individuals’ contributions
are proportional to their income, and the
retirement allowance one ultimately receives
is proportional to the contributions paid
during one’s career. Consequently, we can
assume that respondents in our study were
exposed to similar retirement conditions.
Human Resource Management DOI: 10.1002/hrm
 PERCEIVED HRM PRACTICES, ORGANIZATIONAL COMMITMENT, AND VOLUNTARY EARLY RETIREMENT
Another aspect of the French retirement
system pertains to the meaning of “legal” re-
tirement age. Although there is an age limit
to employment (currently 65), it only corre-
sponds to the age at which an employer can
force employees to retire. This limit is largely
irrelevant, however, because more than half
the workforce has already retired by the age
of 60 (Eurostat, 2006). The major factor influ-
encing retirement is the minimal career
length for an individual to receive a full pen-
sion allowance (currently, 40 years). The
“legal” age for retirement, therefore, varies
and is not binding. If someone does not meet
the 40-year career condition, the pension is
still available, though it will be smaller. This
gives people relative freedom in deciding
when to retire: at “legal” retirement age (that
is, when a full pension allowance can be re-
ceived) or earlier (with a financial penalty).
In the present paper, we are interested in ex-
plaining voluntary early retirement, that is,
the decision made by someone to retire be-
fore “legal age.”
HRM Practices and Organizational
Commitment Among Older Workers
Research has repeatedly shown that HRM
practices are related to organizational com-
mitment among employees in general (e.g.,
Allen et al., 2003; Meyer & Smith, 2000;
Zacharatos, Hershcovis, Turner, & Barling,
2007). According to Wright and Kehoe
(2008), such links are favored by three types
of HRM practices: those aimed at improving
ability, increasing motivation, or providing
opportunity to participate in decision mak-
ing. Only a few studies have investigated the
role of HRM practices in older workers’ atti-
tudes, however (e.g., Armstrong-Stassen &
Schlosser, 2008; Kiefer & Briner, 1998; Mau-
rer & Rafuse, 2001; Saba & Guerin, 2005). As
this category of workers is likely to have spe-
cific needs, the ability of HRM practices to be
associated with older workers’ commitment
may depend on the extent to which such
practices specifically address them (Peterson
& Spiker, 2005).
In that respect, Kooij et al. (2008) sug-
gested that continuing career development
Human Resource Management DOI: 10.1002/hrm
897
(providing training opportunities), job con-
tent changes (assigning older workers to new
roles), and ergonomic adjustments (offering
flexible work conditions) are HRM practices
that could particularly fit older workers’
needs. Indeed, these practices, though being
important for many if not all employee
groups, are particularly relevant to older
workers. In fact, research has shown that,
compared to young employees, older workers
express stronger needs for seeing their skills
recognized, for being respected by
coworkers and management, and
for being involved in continuing Older workers
education activities (Armstrong- may tie their job
Stassen, 2008; McEvoy & Blahna,
2001). This suggests that older satisfaction and
workers may tie their job satisfac-
tion and work motivation more work motivation
closely to intrinsic aspects of their
more closely to
job than is generally thought. Of
course, extrinsic factors, such as intrinsic aspects
financial, health, and family is-
sues, may be important as well; of their job than is
however, older workers’ unique
generally thought.
needs justify our focus on the pro-
vision of training opportunities,
assignment to new roles, and flexible work
conditions as practices that may keep them
employed.
Aside from HRM practices that construc-
tively address older workers’ needs, some or-
ganizations have developed practices directed
at reducing personnel costs. In essence, early
retirement plans have been used in the recent
past as a strategy to reduce personnel costs
(Armstrong-Stassen, 2004; Beehr et al., 2000;
Kiefer & Briner, 1998; Szinovacz & Davey,
2005). Accordingly, research has shown that
early retirement is often a response to early
retirement incentives (Hardy & Quadagno,
1995; Shultz, Morton, & Weckerle, 1998; Tay-
lor & Shore, 1995). Thus, encouragement of
early retirement is a practice that primarily
addresses organizations’ need for reducing
personnel costs.
The present study examines how provid-
ing training opportunities, assigning older
workers to new roles, offering flexible work
conditions, and encouraging early retire-
ment relate to older workers’ organizational
898 HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT, NOVEMBER–DECEMBER 2009
commitment. Two forms of commitment
are considered: affective and continuance
commitment. Affective commitment—an
employee’s emotional attachment to, iden-
tification with, and involvement in the or-
ganization (Meyer & Allen, 1991)—is
thought to be influenced by HRM practices
that provide employees with a sense of sup-
port and fair treatment (Allen et al., 2003)
and enhance their feeling of personal im-
portance and competence (Meyer & Allen,
1991). Continuance commitment is also
thought to be salient among older workers
(Luchak et al., 2008). The personal costs
that would result from leaving the organiza-
tion (high-sacrifice commitment) and the
perceived unavailability of employment al-
ternatives (lack of alternatives commit-
ment), which research has reported to be
distinguishable components of continuance
commitment (e.g., Bentein, Vandenberg,
Vandenberghe, & Stinglhamber, 2005;
McGee & Ford, 1987), represent important
motives that may influence older workers’
decisions to stay in the organization. Older
workers may, indeed, benefit from advanta-
geous conditions they do not want to give
up while experiencing less mobility in the
market. Both components of continuance
commitment are, thus, relevant for under-
standing older workers’ membership deci-
sions.
Moreover, apart from their impact on
retention, both forms of commitment also
could have performance implications. In-
deed, as Meyer, Stanley, Herscovitch, and
Topolnytsky (2002) have shown in their
meta-analysis, affective commitment (the
“desirable” form) displays the strongest posi-
tive relations with desirable work behaviors,
such as task performance and organizational
citizenship behavior, whereas continuance
commitment is unrelated or negatively re-
lated to these behaviors, which led research-
ers to question its relevance for organizations
(Suliman & Iles, 2000). People who remain
in their organization because they feel
“trapped” (reflecting high continuance com-
mitment; cf. Meyer et al., 2002) may, thus,
be low performers. This finding, which has
been reported for employees in general,
needs replication among older workers, how-
ever.
Training Opportunities
Rapid technological growth and changes in
the labor market have required workers
constantly to develop new skills, maintain
flexibility, and adapt to new working condi-
tions (Maurer & Rafuse, 2001). Yet although
it is necessary to allow all employees to get
access to training, previous research sug-
gests that training opportunities are not al-
ways distributed in a fair and equitable way
(e.g., Barth, McNaught, & Rizzi, 1993; Saba
& Guerin, 2005). Indeed, a smaller amount
of training is offered to workers age 55-plus
(Barth et al., 1993; Simon, 1996). These dis-
criminating conditions may decrease com-
mitment. Conversely, the opportunity to
develop skills and competencies may facili-
tate older workers’ commitment (Maurer &
Rafuse, 2001) because the availability of
training is a strong signal that the organiza-
tion is willing to “invest” in its aging work-
force. Not surprisingly, Meyer and Smith
(2000) found that evaluations of career de-
velopment practices, including opportuni-
ties for personal development, were the best
predictors of affective commitment among
employees in general. On a related note, it
is likely that older workers would view the
provision of training opportunities as being
an important advantage that they would
lose should they decide to leave, thereby
inducing high-sacrifice commitment. Main-
taining and/or developing one’s skills is,
indeed, highly valued by older workers
(Kooij et al., 2008). At the same time, older
workers who have the opportunity to main-
tain their competencies may develop a bet-
ter sense of job security (Ito & Brotheridge,
2005; Sterns, 1986) and may not view their
continued organizational membership as a
result of a perceived lack of alternatives.
These arguments lead to the following
hypotheses:
Hypothesis 1a: The provision of training oppor-
tunities to older workers is positively related to
affective commitment.
Human Resource Management DOI: 10.1002/hrm
 PERCEIVED HRM PRACTICES, ORGANIZATIONAL COMMITMENT, AND VOLUNTARY EARLY RETIREMENT
Hypothesis 1b: The provision of training oppor-
tunities to older workers is positively related to
high-sacrifice commitment.
Hypothesis 1c: The provision of training oppor-
tunities to older workers is negatively related to
lack of alternatives commitment.
Assignment to New Roles
Assigning senior workers to new roles has
been argued to be a way to provide them with
meaningful and interesting work experiences
that both value their unique learning styles
and experience (Mirvis & Hall, 1996) and
meet their specific needs (Glass, 1994). For
instance, assigning older workers to such roles
as mentor, trainer, or consultant, or assigning
them to special projects may help transfer
their know-how and expertise to younger gen-
erations, provide them with a sense of fulfill-
ment in their professional life, and allow them
to stay in a work environment that recognizes
their value. Indeed, the literature on mature
workers shows that generativity motives rise
with psychological aging (Kooij et al., 2008),
which suggests that generative jobs or tasks,
such as teaching and mentoring, could moti-
vate older workers (Kanfer & Ackerman, 2004).
It is, thus, likely that managers who perceive
access to new roles (for example, trainer, men-
tor, coach, or consultant) as part of their job
duties will derive a stronger affective commit-
ment to their organization and feel that these
features are valuable advantages that would be
lost by leaving. At the same time, if older
workers are assigned to new roles, they may be
less tempted to think about alternative jobs.
This leads to the following hypotheses:
Hypothesis 2a: The perceived availability of
new roles for older workers is positively related to
affective commitment.
Hypothesis 2b: The perceived availability of new
roles for older workers is positively related to
high-sacrifice commitment.
Hypothesis 2c: The perceived availability of new
roles for older workers is negatively related to lack
of alternatives commitment.
Human Resource Management DOI: 10.1002/hrm
899
Flexible Working Conditions
Job content changes and the improvement of
the work environment are thought to con-
tribute to extending the working lives of older
workers (Schmidt & Lee, 2008; Taylor &
Walker, 1998). Similarly, such
practices as flexible scheduling
and phased retirement (Peterson It is, thus, likely
& Spiker, 2005) can be effective
that managers who
retention strategies for older work-
ers. This is because, as noted by perceive access
Arrowsmith and McGoldrick
(1997), older workers generally to new roles (for
wish for flexible work arrange-
example, trainer,
ments that give them more time
for their private life and help re- mentor, coach, or
duce pressure at work (Atchley,
1993; Siegrist, Wahrendorf, von consultant) as part
dem Knesebeck, Jürges, & Börsch-
of their job duties
Supan, 2007). Thus, those who get
the opportunity to work fewer will derive a stronger
hours and to benefit from flexible
work or job sharing may be better affective commitment
able to maintain work-life balance
and, in return, may develop stron- to their organization
ger affective commitment to the and feel that these
organization. Also, flexible work-
ing conditions may be perceived features are valuable
as providing access to advantages
(for example, work-life balance) advantages that
that would be lost in case of exit.
would be lost by
In addition, because of their likely
positive effects on work motiva- leaving.
tion (Hornung, Rousseau, & Gla-
ser, 2008), these conditions may
prevent older managers from thinking about
employment alternatives. Our predictions are
summarized in the following hypotheses:
Hypothesis 3a: Flexible working conditions for
older workers are positively related to affective
commitment.
Hypothesis 3b: Flexible working conditions for
older workers are positively related to high-
sacrifice commitment.
Hypothesis 3c: Flexible working conditions for
older workers are negatively related to lack of
alternatives commitment.
900 HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT, NOVEMBER–DECEMBER 2009
Encouragement to Retire Early
Early retirement plans have been extensively
used during the last decade as a strategy to
reduce personnel costs among older workers
(Armstrong-Stassen, 2004; Beehr et al., 2000;
Kiefer & Briner, 1998; Szinovacz & Davey,
2005), and research has shown that volun-
tary retirement is related to early retirement
incentives (Hardy & Quadagno, 1995; Shultz
et al., 1998; Taylor & Shore, 1995). Such
plans often have been implemented in con-
texts where the older worker was perceived to
have reduced ability to learn and adjust
(Maurer, Wrenn, & Weiss, 2001). By convey-
ing such explicit (retirement incentives) and
implicit (stereotype of older workers as less
able to learn) messages, organizations are
likely to reduce older workers’ affective com-
mitment because these employees are likely
to feel less competent and valued. We, thus,
predict that perceived encouragement to re-
tire early will be associated with lower levels
of affective commitment. Similarly, such per-
ceptions should result in older employees’
viewing themselves as having low value for
other potential employers. We thus propose
the following hypotheses:
Hypothesis 4a: Encouragement to retire early is
negatively related to affective commitment.
Hypothesis 4b: Encouragement to retire early is
positively related to lack of alternatives commit-
ment.
Predicting Early Retirement
Retirement and turnover share commonali-
ties and both have been explored in the lit-
erature on withdrawal behaviors (Adams &
Beehr, 1998; Schmidt & Lee, 2008). Organiza-
tional turnover is usually thought of as being
followed by continued regular employment.
In contrast, voluntary retirement has been
defined as “the exit from an organizational
position or career path of considerable dura-
tion, taken by individuals after middle age,
and taken with the intention of reduced psy-
chological commitment to work thereafter’”
(Feldman, 1994, p. 287). Although retirement
is similar to organizational turnover in that
employees who retire also decide to withdraw
membership from their organization, it is
broader in scope, as employees who retire are
seeking to reduce their commitment to em-
ployment in general.
HRM Practices
We expect HRM practices to relate to retire-
ment decisions in this study. Theory suggests
that the relationships of work attitudes and
perceptions to behavior are stronger when
they refer to similar targets (Lavelle, Rupp, &
Brockner, 2007). As the HRM practices
examined in the present study either address
important needs among aging workers (pro-
viding training opportunities, assigning older
workers to new roles, and providing flexible
work conditions) or tend to push them away
from employment (encouraging workers to
retire early), they appear to be particularly
targeted at influencing older workers’ em-
ployment decisions. For example, training
opportunities may enhance older workers’
self-development and personal growth (Mau-
rer & Rafuse, 2001). Similarly, assigning aging
workers to such new roles as mentor or coach
for less-tenured employees is a way for em-
ployers to provide older workers with chal-
lenging work that fits their unique skills and
accommodates their needs (Glass, 1994; Mir-
vis & Hall, 1996). Likewise, flexible work ar-
rangements allow older workers to reconcile
their desires to stay employed and achieve
work-life balance (Atchley, 1993; Siegrist
et al., 2007). In contrast, some organizations
encourage aging workers to retire early be-
cause they want to reduce personnel costs.
Such practices, obviously, may induce volun-
tary retirement (Hardy & Quadagno, 1995;
Shultz et al., 1998; Taylor & Shore, 1995). We,
thus, propose the following hypotheses:
Hypothesis 5a: The provision of training oppor-
tunities to older workers is negatively related to
voluntary retirement.
Hypothesis 5b: The perceived availability of new
roles for older workers is negatively related to vol-
untary retirement.
Human Resource Management DOI: 10.1002/hrm
 PERCEIVED HRM PRACTICES, ORGANIZATIONAL COMMITMENT, AND VOLUNTARY EARLY RETIREMENT
Hypothesis 5c: Flexible working conditions are
negatively related to voluntary retirement.
Hypothesis 5d: Encouragement to retire early is
positively related to voluntary retirement.
Organizational Commitment
The role of organizational commitment in
retirement decisions is likely to be important
among older workers, because leaving the
workforce permanently can be viewed as a
viable alternative to organizational with-
drawal by aging workers who come to experi-
ence low organizational commitment. This
could be a major reason why studies have
reported organizational commitment to be
negatively associated with retirement inten-
tions and positively tied to the wish to retire
later in life (e.g., Adams, 1999; Adams &
Beehr, 1998; Beehr et al., 2000; Erdner & Guy,
1990; Hanisch & Hulin, 1991; Luchak et al.,
2008; Schmidt & Lee, 2008; Taylor & Shore,
1995). This may be particularly true for affec-
tive commitment, the strongest predictor of
organizational turnover among employees in
general (Mathieu & Zajac, 1990; Meyer et al.,
2002). This may be so for older workers as
well. Indeed, older workers with low levels of
affective commitment may consider that
leaving the organization will provide oppor-
tunities for developing alternative attach-
ments in other life domains. On a related
matter, continuance commitment is also
likely to be salient among aging workers
(Luchak et al., 2008). Indeed, as “side bets”
(investments that would be lost by leaving)
tend to increase as a result of increased tenure
in organizations (e.g., Cohen & Lowenberg,
1990), older workers should be particularly
reluctant to retire when substantial advan-
tages are to be lost. In contrast, those who
perceive few alternatives to their current em-
ployment may consider retirement as the
single alternative option (Adams & Beehr,
1998; Beehr, 1986; Taylor & Shore, 1995).
The following hypotheses are, thus, pro-
posed:
Hypothesis 6a: Affective commitment is nega-
tively related to early retirement.
Human Resource Management DOI: 10.1002/hrm
901
Hypothesis 6b: High-sacrifice commitment is
negatively related to early retirement.
Hypothesis 6c: Lack of alternatives commitment
is positively related to early retirement.
Method
Sample and Procedure
The data used for the present study were
gathered as part of a larger survey about work
attitudes among late-career managers. The
study was based on an initial sample of 1,851
graduates of French universities between
1967 and 1977 who were employed in the
private sector. Data were collected at two
points. At Time 1, prospective participants
received a survey including the measures of
HRM practices and commitment as well as
demographics and controls. Among partici-
pants, 519 (28%) provided usable returns
(respondents age 49 and under or who had
already retired were excluded from the sam-
ple). Respondents were surveyed again 30
months later (Time 2) about their employ-
ment status. They were asked to indicate
whether they were still employed (0) or
whether they had voluntarily retired at some
point during the 30-month period between
Time 1 and Time 2 (1). A 30-month period
between measurement of predictors and col-
lection of exit cases was thought to be an
appropriate time lag within which predictors
remain relevant and exit rate achieves an ac-
ceptable level (that is, 10%; cf. Griffeth, Hom,
& Gaertner, 2000). At Time 2, 380 usable re-
turns were received, for an overall response
rate of 20.5%. In the final sample, age and
organizational tenure averaged 53.9 years (SD
= 2.8) and 21.0 years (SD = 9.0), respectively,
at Time 1. Of the respondents, 92% were
male and 8% were female. Participants worked
in a wide variety of industries and occupa-
tions.
Measures
Unless otherwise specified, all responses were
provided on a 5-point Likert scale ranging
from strongly disagree (1) to strongly agree (5).
902 HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT, NOVEMBER–DECEMBER 2009
As surveys were administered in French, we
used measurement instruments that have
been previously validated in French.
HRM Practices
A 14-item multidimensional scale was used
to measure how older managers perceived
HRM practices in their organizations. We first
measured three HRM practices identified in
the literature as being potentially
relevant to retaining older work-
We found that ers in employment (Saba &
Guerin, 2005): access to training
voluntary retirement
opportunities, the opportunity to
decisions occurred be assigned to new roles in the
organization, and the availability
by an average of of flexible work conditions. In ad-
dition, we measured perceived en-
2.6 years (SD = 2.5)
couragement to retire early. The
before the legal first three subscales contained
four items. We created a fourth
retirement age. subscale to capture encourage-
ment to retire early. As we viewed
this construct as being relatively
narrow, two closely related items were devel-
oped: “I am enticed to take early retirement”
and “Pressure is exercised on me to retire
early.” A principal components analysis of
HRM practices data using Varimax rotation
revealed a four-factor solution in which all
items loaded onto their intended factor. Reli-
ability coefficients for these factors varied
from .70 to .94. The results of these analyses
are provided in the Appendix along with the
full set of items.
Organizational Commitment
Organizational commitment was measured
using a revised version of the Meyer et al.
(1993) affective and continuance organiza-
tional commitment scales that were designed
for international replication (Bentein, Van-
denberg, Vandenberghe, & Stinglhamber,
2005). The affective commitment scale con-
tained six items (for example, “I do not feel
emotionally attached to this organization”
[reversed]), and its reliability coefficient was
.85. The continuance commitment scale in-
cluded three items measuring perceived lack
of alternatives (for example, “I feel that I
have too few options to consider leaving this
organization”;  = .87) and three items mea-
suring high sacrifice (for example, “For me
personally, the costs of leaving this organiza-
tion would be far greater than the benefits”;
 = .73).
Voluntary Early Retirement
A single item was used to measure whether
respondents had voluntarily retired (0) or
had remained with the organization (1) be-
tween Time 1 and Time 2. To make sure man-
agers’ reports of voluntary retirement could
not be confounded with legal retirement age
(that is, the necessary age for the individual
to have a 40-year career), for each reported
voluntary retirement case, we checked that
retirement occurred before the legal retire-
ment age that the respondent reported at
Time 1. In so doing, we found that voluntary
retirement decisions occurred by an average
of 2.6 years (SD = 2.5) before the legal retire-
ment age. Ten percent of respondents were
identified as being voluntary retirees at Time
2. The average age of these individuals at
Time 1 was 57.1 years. This is consistent with
demographic data showing that French man-
agers retire, on average, between the ages of
57 and 58 (Eurostat, 2006).
Control Variables
As previous research has shown (Mathieu &
Zajac, 1990; Meyer et al., 2002), age, sex, and
organizational tenure are related, albeit
slightly, to one or more dimensions of orga-
nizational commitment. Therefore, we con-
trolled for these variables in our regression
analyses for commitment dimensions.
Some variables also were controlled for in
analyses for voluntary early retirement. For
example, research has shown that factors un-
related to the work environment may poten-
tially affect retirement decisions (Beehr et al.,
2000; Ekerdt, Hackney, Kosloski, & DeViney,
2001; Feldman, 1994; Fletcher & Hansson,
1991; Henkens, 1999; Lim, 2003; Shultz et al.,
1998). For example, workers who perceive
that health problems reduce their ability to
Human Resource Management DOI: 10.1002/hrm
 PERCEIVED HRM PRACTICES, ORGANIZATIONAL COMMITMENT, AND VOLUNTARY EARLY RETIREMENT
work may decide to retire earlier (Hanisch &
Hulin, 1991; Shultz et al., 1998). The decision
to retire voluntarily also may be affected by
the health of one’s spouse (Beehr et al., 2000).
For instance, people may want to retire to take
care of a needy family member or, alterna-
tively, to continue working to provide the
necessary resources for covering medical ex-
penses (Talaga & Beehr, 1995). Conversely,
people may wish to retire to spend more time
with a spouse when his or her health condi-
tion is good (e.g., Floyd & Haynes, 1992;
Rennemark & Berggren, 2006). Perceived per-
sonal health and spouse health status were,
thus, used as controls in this study. Perceived
health was measured using Bailey and Hans-
son’s (1995) three-item scale (for example,
“How is your health in general?”) while per-
ceived spouse health status was measured
using one item (“How do you assess your
spouse’s health status?”). A 5-point Likert
scale, with poor (1) and excellent (5) as anchors,
was used for the two measures. Lastly, we con-
trolled for work centrality in our analyses.
Work centrality refers to the general impor-
tance that the individual attributes to work in
his or her life (Kanungo, 1982). Research has
shown that individuals with high levels of
work centrality tend to plan to retire later in
life (Adams, Prescher, Beehr, & Lepisto, 2002;
Schmidt & Lee, 2008). Five items taken from
Paullay, Alliger, and Stone-Romero (1994)
were used to assess work centrality (for exam-
ple, “Overall, I consider work to be very cen-
tral to my existence”;  = .79).
Results
Table I presents descriptive statistics, correla-
tions among variables, and alpha coefficients.
Training opportunities were positively corre-
lated with affective commitment (r = .36, p <
.01), high-sacrifice commitment (r = .19, p <
.01), and lack of alternatives commitment
(r = –.17, p < .01). Assignment to new roles
and flexible working conditions were signifi-
cantly associated with affective commitment
(r = .16, p < .01, and r = .09, p < .05, respec-
tively) and lack of alternatives commitment
(r = –.15, p < .01, and r = –.16, p < .01, respec-
tively). Encouragement to retire was nega-
Human Resource Management DOI: 10.1002/hrm
903
tively correlated with affective commitment
(r = –.22, p < .01) and positively related to lack
of alternatives commitment (r = .20, p < .01).
Finally, early retirement was significantly as-
sociated with training opportunities (r = –.18,
p < .01), encouragement to retire (r = .24, p <
.01), and lack of alternatives commitment
(r = .14, p < .01).
Table II displays the results of regression
analyses for organizational commitment di-
mensions. Controlling for demographics,
perceived personal health, spouse health
status, and work centrality, HRM practices
accounted for significant increments of vari-
ance in affective commitment [ R2 = .10,  F
(4, 51) = 17.16, p < .001], high-sacrifice com-
mitment [ R2 = .03;  F (4, 51) = 3.55, p <
.01], and lack of alternatives commitment
[ R2 = .06;  F (4, 51) = 8.21, p < .001]. As can
be seen, the availability of training opportu-
nities was positively related to affective com-
mitment ( = .24, p < .001) and high-sacrifice
commitment ( = .17, p < .001) and nega-
tively associated with lack of alternatives
commitment ( = –.10, p < .05), thereby pro-
viding support for Hypotheses 1a, 1b, and 1c,
respectively. The assignment of older workers
to new roles was unrelated to organizational
commitment dimensions while flexible work-
ing conditions were significantly (negatively)
associated with lack of alternatives commit-
ment only ( = –.11, p < .05). Hypotheses
2a–c, 3a, and 3b are, thus, rejected, while
Hypothesis 3c is supported. Finally, encour-
agement to retire early was negatively related
to affective commitment ( = –.16, p < .001)
and positively linked to lack of alternatives
commitment ( = .13, p < .01), yielding
support for Hypotheses 4a and 4b, respec-
tively.
Hypotheses 5a–d and 6a–c were tested
using logistic regression analysis predicting
early retirement decisions. Results are re-
ported in Table III. Controlling for perceived
personal health, spouse health status, and
work centrality, HRM practices and commit-
ment dimensions accounted for significant
incremental variance in voluntary retire-
ment, 2 (7) = 39.37, p < .001 (cf. Model 4 in
Table III). As predicted by Hypotheses 5a and
5d, respectively, the availability of training
 904

TABLE I Descriptive Statistics and Correlations Among Variables

Variable M SD 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
1. Age (years) 53.91 2.77 –
2. Sex (1= male; 2 = female) 1.07 0.26 –.16** –
3. Organizational tenure 20.78 9.80 .30** –.07 –
4. Personal health status 3.88 0.62 .08 –.07 –.08 (.84)
5. Spouse health status 3.83 0.77 .02 .02 .00 .34** –
6. Work centrality 2.73 0.76 .07 –.04 .03 –.10* –.05 (.79)
7. HRM training 3.58 0.85 –.05 .02 .12** .03 .09* .12** (.81)
8. HRM new roles 3.67 0.94 .05 –.03 .01 .03 .03 .11* .28** (.89)
9. HRM flexible working
2.08 0.82 –.05 .04 –.03 .07 .08 .04 .14** .15** (.74)
conditions
HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT, NOVEMBER–DECEMBER 2009

10. HRM encouragement to

1.96 1.10 .06 –.05 .15** –.05 –.06 –.03 –.28** –.19** .00 (.94)
retire early
11. Affective organizational
3.57 0.83 .09 –.10* .22** .07 .08 .39** .36** .16** .09* –.22** (.85)
commitment
12. High-sacrifice commitment 3.58 0.88 .05 –.02 .24** .00 –.04 .15** .19** –.01 .00 .01 .32** (.72)
13. Lack of alternatives
3.24 1.08 .16** .03 .16** –.06 –.06 –.11* –.17** –.15** –.16** .20** –.19** .27** (.86)
commitment
14. Early retirement
0.10 0.30 .37** –.02 .19** .09 .07 .01 –.18** –.03 .02 .24** –.03 –.07 .14** –
(0 = stay; 1 = leave)
Note: N = 359–514. Scale reliabilities are shown along the diagonal.
* p < .05; ** p < .01

Human Resource Management DOI: 10.1002/hrm

 PERCEIVED HRM PRACTICES, ORGANIZATIONAL COMMITMENT, AND VOLUNTARY EARLY RETIREMENT 905

TABLE II Hierarchical Regression Analysis for Organizational Commitment Dimensions

Organizational Commitment
Affective High Sacrifice Lack of Alternatives
Variable Step 1 Step 2 Step 1 Step 2 Step 1 Step 2
Controls
Sex –.05 –.05 –.03 –.03 .01 .02
Age –.06 –.02 –.04 –.02 .15** .13**
Organizational tenure .26*** .24*** .27*** .24*** .12* .12*
Personal health status .13** .11** .04 .04 –.07 –.06
Spouse health status .05 .03 –.05 –.06 –.04 –.02
Work centrality .41*** .37*** .15** .14** –.12* –.09*
HRM Practices
HRM training .24*** .17*** –.10*
HRM new roles .00 –.09 –.07
HRM flexible working
.02 –.03 –.11*
conditions
HRM encouragement to
–.16*** .01 .13**
early retire
R 2
.10 .03 .06
F 17.16*** 3.55** 8.21***
Adjusted R 2 .23 .32 .08 .10 .05 .11
F 25.12*** 23.98*** 8.16*** 6.42*** 5.43*** 6.74***
Note: N = 514 (listwise deletion). Standardized regression coefficients are presented.
* p < .05; ** p < .01 ;*** p < .001

opportunities was negatively associated with
early retirement (B = –.82, p < .01), while en-
couragement to retire was positively related
to it (B = .68, p < .001). Contrary to Hypoth-
esis 5c, flexible working conditions were not
significantly associated with voluntary retire-
ment (B = .16, ns). More importantly, assign-
ment to new roles was associated with a
significant increase in the likelihood of retir-
ing (B = .62, p < .05), while Hypothesis 5b
actually predicted the reverse pattern of rela-
tionship. A better understanding of these
findings can be gained from looking at the
Exp(B) or odds ratios reported in Table III. In
substance, holding all other variables con-
stant, each one-unit increase in training op-
portunities was associated with a reduction of
the likelihood of retiring by an average mul-
tiplicative factor of .44. This suggests that
older managers who give their organization a
4 on the 5-point scale used for measuring
training opportunities see their likelihood of
retiring early multiplied by .44 (that is, re-
duced by more than half), compared to the
likelihood of retiring early among those who
give their organization a 3 on the same scale.
Conversely, each one-unit increase in assign-
ment to new roles and encouragement to
retire early resulted in the likelihood of leav-
ing’s being multiplied by a factor of 1.86 and
1.98, respectively. This means that those who
give their organization a 4 on the 5-point
scale used for measuring the propensity to
assign late-career managers to new roles or to
encourage them to retire early see their likeli-
hood of retiring early nearly doubled as com-
pared to the likelihood of retiring among
those who give their organization a 3 on the
same scale.
Table III also reveals that affective
commitment was unrelated to retirement
decisions (B = .43, ns). Hypothesis 6a is, thus,
rejected. Finally, as predicted by Hypotheses
6b and 6c, high-sacrifice commitment was
associated with a decrease in the likelihood of
retiring (B = –.56, p < .05; Exp(B) = .57), while

Human Resource Management DOI: 10.1002/hrm

 906

TABLE III Hierarchical Logistic Regression Analysis Predicting Early Retirement

Model 1 Model 2 Model 3 Model 4
Variable B Exp (B) Wald B Exp (B) Wald B Exp (B) Wald B Exp (B) Wald
Controls
Perceived health .34 (.36) 1.41 .90 .06 (.38) 1.07 .03 .39 (.37) 1.47 1.09 .03 (.40) 1.03 .00
Spouse health status .25 (.28) 1.28 .80 .59 (.30) 1.80 3.87 .29 (.29) 1.33 1.00 .55 (.31) 1.73 3.10
Work centrality .09 (.26) 1.10 .13 .14 (.29) 1.15 .24 .31 (.29) 1.36 1.11 .23 (.32) 1.25 .50
HRM Practices
HRM training –.86** (.26) .42 10.69 –.82** (.27) .44 9.05
HRM new roles .62* (.29) 1.87 4.64 .62* (.29) 1.86 4.67
HRM flexible working .16 (.25) 1.18 .42 .16 (.26) 1.17 .38
conditions
HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT, NOVEMBER–DECEMBER 2009

HRM encouragement .65*** (.17) 1.92 15.51 .68*** (.18) 1.98 14.59
to early retire
Organizational Commitment
Affective commitment .00 (.29) 1.00 .00 .43 (.36) 1.53 1.42
High-sacrifice commitment –.50* (.25) .61 3.94 –.56* (.28) .57 4.01
Lack of alternatives .62** (.22) 1.86 7.79 .56* (.25) 1.75 4.89
commitment
2
 (df) 2.83 (3) 35.20*** (7) 12.91* (6) 42.20*** (10)
–2LL 197.67 165.30 187.59 158.30
Nagelkerke R 2 .02 .22 .08 .26
Note: B = unstandardized beta coefficients (standard errors are in parentheses).
* p < .05; ** p < .01 ;*** p < .001

Human Resource Management DOI: 10.1002/hrm

 PERCEIVED HRM PRACTICES, ORGANIZATIONAL COMMITMENT, AND VOLUNTARY EARLY RETIREMENT
lack of alternatives commitment was related
to significant increases in the likelihood of
retiring (B = .56, p < .05; Exp(B) = 1.75).
Finally, we also examined on an explor-
atory basis whether commitment variables
would possibly partially or completely medi-
ate the relationships of HRM practices to
early retirement. As can be seen from Table
III, the effects associated with HRM practices
remained essentially the same, whether com-
mitment variables were in the model (Model
4) or not (Model 2). In addition, commit-
ment variables had roughly the same effects
on early retirement, whether HRM practices
were in the model (Model 4) or not (Model
3).1 This pattern of findings indicates that
HRM practices and commitment variables
had essentially independent effects on early
retirement.
Discussion
The present study represents a contribution
to the understanding of the role of HRM
practices and organizational commitment in
voluntary early retirement. Given the ex-
pected growing importance of older workers
in the overall workforce and the challenges
created by this trend (Vaupel & Loichinger,
2006), Kooij et al. (2008) suggested that three
HRM practices were relevant to manage the
careers of aging workers: career develop-
ment, job content changes, and ergonomic
adjustments. By focusing on closely related
practices (training opportunities, assignment
to new roles, and provision of flexible work-
ing conditions) and on encouragement to
retire, we found evidence that such practices
were significantly associated with organiza-
tional commitment and predicted whether
older workers actually would decide to retire
early or stay employed longer. In particular,
our findings suggest that providing older
workers access to training opportunities is
the perceived HRM practice most strongly
associated with the willingness to remain
with the organization. Training opportuni-
ties were related to higher affective and
high-sacrifice commitments, lower lack of
alternatives commitment, and reduced likeli-
hood of early retirement. The favorable ef-
Human Resource Management DOI: 10.1002/hrm
907
fects associated with training opportunities
contrast with employers’ general tendency
to offer fewer opportunities for training and
development to older workers than to
younger employees (Armstrong-Stassen,
2008; Barth et al., 1993; Rosen & Jerdee,
1976). Our findings suggest that organiza-
tions should reconsider these practices in
light of the benefits they can gain from de-
veloping older workers’ competencies. In-
deed, as these practices are associated with
increased affective commitment, they may
indirectly foster job performance and reduce
organizational turnover (Meyer et al., 2002).
We found that flexible working condi-
tions and the assignment of older workers to
new roles (for example, mentor or coach for
younger employees) did not have the ex-
pected positive effects. Flexible working
conditions were unrelated to affective com-
mitment and voluntary retirement, while the
provision of new roles was unrelated to com-
mitment and positively associated with early
retirement. This suggests that although re-
searchers argue that HRM practices need to
be targeted to older workers’ unique needs
and expectations (Kooij et al., 2008; Peterson
& Spiker, 2005; Saba & Guerin, 2005), such
practices may not be as effective as antici-
pated. One reason for these findings may be
that these workers may actually want to es-
cape from the stereotype of older workers’
needing specific attention because of declin-
ing skills and performance and do not want
to be treated according to their presumptive
unique needs, as doing so may indirectly re-
inforce the stereotype of the “old, poor-
performing” worker. This interpretation is in
line with Desmette and Gaillard’s (2008)
finding that when individuals identify them-
selves as “older workers,” they are less in-
clined to develop their careers and more
likely to engage in negative work attitudes.
Therefore, HRM managers should realize that
by targeting HRM practices to older workers’
needs, they run the risk of actually worsening
those workers’ self-image and of generating
counterproductive effects on voluntary early
retirement.
The fact that the assignment of older
workers to new roles actually increased the
908 HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT, NOVEMBER–DECEMBER 2009
likelihood of exiting employment requires
comment. Although providing opportunities
to serve as a mentor, trainer, coach, or inter-
nal consultant has been proposed in the pro-
fessional and academic literature as a means
to maintain mature workers’ commitment to
the organization (Glass, 1994; Mirvis & Hall,
1996), the present study shows this practice
to be potentially counterproductive. Two rea-
sons may account for this finding. First, orga-
nizations that rely on these policies may do
so because of a lack of ability to provide
enough “traditional” roles to their mature
workforce. This may be interpreted by ma-
ture workers as a sign that organizations do
not support them anymore, which, in turn,
may encourage them to retire earlier than
expected. Second, it might be that “new
roles,” such as coach or mentor, are per-
formed in addition to other existing job
responsibilities and do not represent job posi-
tions in themselves. Being assigned new roles
could, thus, lead to additional pressure, in
terms of both skills needed and workload.
This may be the true reason for our finding of
an increase of voluntary early retirement de-
cisions when these roles are perceived to be
offered.2
Affective commitment was unrelated to
actual voluntary early retirement in this
study, therefore extending the results of
Schmidt and Lee (2008), who found that af-
fective commitment was unrelated to early
retirement intentions. This suggests that al-
though affective commitment has been found
to be a strong predictor of organizational
turnover for employees in general (Mathieu
& Zajac, 1990; Meyer et al., 2002), its influ-
ence does not extend to predicting voluntary
early retirement. This does not mean that
affective commitment is not important
for older workers, as it may have other
consequences than influencing retirement
intentions (for example, increased job perfor-
mance). Despite the fact that affective
organizational commitment has been found
to predict a variety of behaviors, including
withdrawal behaviors, its relevance to volun-
tary retirement remains uncertain because
voluntary early retirement represents a more
severe form of withdrawal that involves per-
manent exit from organization, occupation,
work, job, and employment (Adams & Beehr,
1998).
In contrast, both subcomponents of con-
tinuance commitment—perceived high
sacrifice and lack of alternatives—were sig-
nificantly related to voluntary early retire-
ment. As highlighted by Luchak et al. (2008),
continuance commitment may be more sa-
lient in the experience of older workers. This
view is consistent with these authors’ finding
that employees with higher levels of continu-
ance commitment intend to retire earlier.
Our findings reveal, however, that high sacri-
fice and lack of alternatives commitments
had opposite effects on employment exit,
which signals that they tap into divergent
motives for this behavior. That is, high-
sacrifice commitment basically refers to the
advantages that would be lost in case of de-
parture. In our sample, it appears that this
cost prevented older managers from consid-
ering leaving employment more or less per-
manently. Cost may be more effective than
affective bonds for encouraging older work-
ers to stay in employment because cost-based
commitment has consequences that can ex-
tend to all life domains, whereas affective
bonds can be substituted more easily. On the
other hand, the positive relationship of lack
of alternatives commitment with voluntary
early retirement reflects a different mecha-
nism underlying continuance commitment:
Namely, by coming to perceive few alterna-
tives to their current employer, older workers
may think the single valuable alternative is to
retire, which at any rate would be better than
staying “trapped” in an organization that, in
the end, does not convey positive messages
regarding their value.
Lastly, as predicted, perceived encourage-
ment to retire was associated with reduced
affective commitment, higher lack of alterna-
tives commitment, and a higher propensity
to retire voluntarily among older workers.
This suggests that in the current context of
an increasing need to keep older workers in
employment (Collins, 2003; Crampton et al.,
1996; Greller & Simpson, 1999), the use of
retirement plans as a strategy to reduce per-
sonnel costs among older workers (Arm-
Human Resource Management DOI: 10.1002/hrm
 PERCEIVED HRM PRACTICES, ORGANIZATIONAL COMMITMENT, AND VOLUNTARY EARLY RETIREMENT
strong-Stassen, 2004; Beehr et al., 2000; Kiefer
& Briner, 1998; Szinovacz & Davey, 2005) is
not welcome and should be avoided. One
should note, however, that the perceived en-
couragement to retire may be influenced by
stereotypes conveyed in organizations that
older workers learn less quickly or adjust less
efficiently to changes (Capowski, 1994; Des-
mette & Gaillard, 2008; Rosen & Jerdee,
1976) and, hence, would contribute less to
the organization’s success. As such stereo-
types plausibly contribute to older workers’
perceiving their organization as being less
supportive of them and encouraging them to
retire, they should be drastically reduced if
one wants to keep older workers committed
to the organization and employed.
Limitations
This study has several limitations. First, we
used a sample of French managers from pri-
vate organizations; hence, findings may not
generalize across cultures and contexts. For
example, it may be that in countries where
risk tolerance is higher—France being rather
uncertainty-avoidant—high-sacrifice and lack
of alternatives commitments would be less
strongly related to voluntary early retire-
ment. Similarly, in more collectivistic coun-
tries, it is likely that normative commitment,
which we did not measure in the present
study, would be an important predictor of
older workers’ retirement decisions (cf. Cheng
& Stockdale, 2003). Alternatively, it may be
that in countries with more “feminine” val-
ues such as Sweden—which typically focus
on quality of life at work—the role of flexible
working conditions in voluntary early retire-
ment would be strengthened. Moreover, our
sample was 92% male. Although this typi-
cally reflects the gender composition of the
population of older French managers, results
could have been different with a more femi-
nine sample. As there are gender differences
in career development and values (e.g., Phil-
ips & Imhoff, 1997), it might be that the
more feminine cohorts of managers who will
reach maturity in the next few years will
show different patterns of reactions to HRM
practices. For example, they may be more
Human Resource Management DOI: 10.1002/hrm
909
sensitive to new roles and flexible work con-
ditions.3
A second limitation of this study relates
to its focus on a sample of managers. Al-
though our findings are informative regard-
ing the particularities of this occupational
group, it is uncertain whether they could
apply to other categories of workers, who
may have different needs and respond differ-
ently to organizational practices. For exam-
ple, it could be that other occupational
groups consider new roles, such as mentoring
and coaching, more rewarding than was the
case in the current sample of managers. The
same might be true for flexible working con-
ditions. For example, using a diversified
sample of clerical workers, Zappala, Depolo,
Fraccaroli, Guglielmi, and Sarchielli (2008)
found that “preference for late retirement”
was positively correlated with “firm aging
policies” (roughly equivalent to our “new
roles” and “flexible working conditions”
practices) and negatively related to “abilities
to develop” (roughly equivalent to our “train-
ing opportunities” practice). This indicates
that older workers do not represent a homo-
geneous group and that subgroups with dif-
ferent values and expectations may exist
within them (Peeters & van Emmerik, 2008).
It is a task for future research to determine
whether such differences across subgroups of
older workers exist and, if they do, whether
they can be attributed to characteristics of
occupational groups or careers, differences in
gender composition, or work-related atti-
tudes (for example, work commitment).
A third limitation is that we did not con-
trol for individuals’ financial resources as a
potential influence on retirement decisions.
The pension system in France is largely pub-
lic and does not encourage individuals to
prepare for retirement via private insurance
because retirement allowances are funded by
the government, generally comfortable, and
accessible to all employees. This implies that
individuals’ financial resources are less of an
issue than they are in other national contexts
and that other, more intrinsic factors, rather
than extrinsic factors, come into play in
retirement decisions. This is especially rele-
vant in a sample of managers such as in this
910 HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT, NOVEMBER–DECEMBER 2009
study, who are likely to be well paid com-
pared to other occupational groups. It may
also explain the relative unattractiveness of
flexible work arrangements, such as part-time
work. It is likely that in countries where indi-
viduals are expected to take charge
of their own retirement pensions
Even if
financially, such as the United
organizational States, older workers’ financial re-
sources would strongly influence
turnover has been their decision to retire (e.g., Kim
& Feldman, 1998).
a concern for A fourth limitation of this
decades among study is that we measured per-
ceived rather than actual HRM
both researchers practices. Actual practices may
not only differ from perceived
and practitioners, practices but also vary across orga-
nizations. For example, some or-
organizations are
ganizations may actively engage
now trying to keep in providing training and devel-
opment opportunities to older
older workers workers, while others may not
want to head in that direction.
employed so
This may be partly related to how
they can transfer critical employees are for the orga-
nization’s business. In labor-
knowledge across intensive organizations, such as
hospitals or service organizations,
generations.
it could be that HRM managers
This requires a take particular care of older work-
ers’ career perspectives because
new agenda for they want knowledge to be trans-
ferred to the younger generation.
research, one Thus, we encourage researchers to
that incorporates examine how actual (rather than
perceived) HRM practices in orga-
voluntary early nizations influence voluntary
early retirement and to consider
retirement as a potential differences in this re-
spect across organizational con-
major outcome
texts. It would also be interesting
in organizational to examine differences across in-
dustries. For example, in some
behavior research. industries (for example, manufac-
turing), it may be less easy for or-
ganizations to offer flextime or to assign
older workers to new roles. Moreover, it
would be important in the future to examine
more closely which specific HRM practices
may be meaningful predictors of continu-
ance commitment, as the variance explained
by our model in that variable was relatively
small (despite being significant). This could
mean either that HRM is not highly relevant
to continuance commitment and that extra-
organizational factors, such as retirement
plans, are more important (cf. Luchak et al.,
2008) or that practices other than those con-
sidered here are important.
Fifth, it would be worth investigating the
extent to which predictors of organizational
turnover differ from those of voluntary early
retirement, an issue that research has not
addressed yet. Although we know that orga-
nizational turnover and voluntary early re-
tirement do differ in a number of respects
(Adams & Beehr, 1998; Feldman, 1994;
Schmidt & Lee, 2008), we now need to know
how differentially these phenomena can be
predicted. This issue has practical relevance
for managers. Even if organizational turn-
over has been a concern for decades among
both researchers and practitioners, organiza-
tions are now trying to keep older workers
employed so they can transfer knowledge
across generations. This requires a new
agenda for research, one that incorporates
voluntary early retirement as a major out-
come in organizational behavior research.
Although we hope our study has provided
some insight into this new challenge, we
also acknowledge that the quantitative ap-
proach we have taken in this study should be
supplemented by a qualitative approach to
allow for deeper understanding of the mo-
tives that lead to early retirement and of the
perceived impact of HRM practices. Finally,
although longitudinal research is often
viewed as a strength, a limitation is that pre-
dictors may lose part of their predictive
power when the outcome is measured long
after their measurement. In this study, 30
months separated Time 1 from Time 2,
which may have diminished the predictive
validty of perceived HRM practices and com-
mitment. This issue needs further attention
in the future.
Human Resource Management DOI: 10.1002/hrm
 PERCEIVED HRM PRACTICES, ORGANIZATIONAL COMMITMENT, AND VOLUNTARY EARLY RETIREMENT 911

Notes dimensions in actual turnover. For example, in

1. Note that when commitment variables alone were
introduced as predictors of voluntary early retire-
ment, they accounted for 8% (p < .01) of the variance
in retirement decisions (based on Nagelkerke’s R 2).
This effect size compares favorably with the ex-
planatory power generally reported for commitment
Meyer et al.’s (2002) meta-analysis, commitment
dimensions were found to explain individually be-
tween 0.5% and 3% variance in turnover.
2. We thank an anonymous reviewer for suggesting
this interpretation.
3. We thank an anonymous reviewer for suggesting
this possibility.

OLIVIER HERRBACH is a professor of human resource management at the University

of Bordeaux and an affiliate professor at ESC Rennes School of Business. He earned his
Ph.D. at the University of Toulouse. His research interests include workplace commit-
ment, identification, and emotions. His work has appeared in various journals, including
Journal of Organizational Behavior, Journal of Vocational Behavior, and Human Rela-
tions.

KARIM MIGNONAC is a professor of organizational behavior and human resource man-

agement at the University of Toulouse. He earned his Ph.D. at the University of Toulouse.
His research interests include the employment relationship, work commitment, and
career mobility. His research has appeared in various journals, including Journal of
Organizational Behavior, Journal of Vocational Behavior, and the International Journal of
Human Resource Management.

CHRISTIAN VANDENBERGHE earned his Ph.D. in psychology from the Catholic Univer-
sity of Louvain, Belgium, where he has taught and researched in work and organizational
psychology since 1997. He is now at HEC Montreal, where he is a professor of organiza-
tional behavior. Since 2005, he has been the holder of the Canada Research Chair in the
management of employee commitment and performance. His research interests include
employee commitment, organizational change, and employee stress and health. His
work has been published in a variety of journals, including Journal of Applied Psychol-
ogy, Journal of Organizational Behavior, and Journal of Vocational Behavior.

ALESSIA NEGRINI completed her Ph.D. in social, developmental, and organizational

psychology at the University of Bologna, Italy. She is currently a postdoctoral student at
the Canada Research Chair in the management of employee commitment and perform-
ance (HEC Montreal). She is also involved in research with the Centre for Action in Work
Disability and Rehabilitation (CAPRIT, University of Sherbrooke). Her research interests
include retirement, aging, late career, work reintegration and job maintenance of older
workers with mental illness, and quality of work life and well-being.

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APPENDIX Items and Factor Loadings for HRM Practices Directed at Late-Career Managers
Component
Items
1 2 4 5
New roles (a =.89)
“My company offers to its late-career managers the
opportunity to act as”:
internal consultant .89
trainer .87
mentor .82
project coordinator .82
Training (a =.81)
My company provides me with training opportunities:
adapted to my needs .85
enabling me to extend my computer skills .83
enabling me to develop my management skills .80
enabling me to continuously update my skills .71
Flexible working conditions (a =.70)
My company offers me the opportunity to:
work part-time .80
reduce my work time gradually as I approach retirement .78
work from home .66
have flexible hours .64
Encouragement to retire early (a =.94)
I am enticed to take early retirement .95
Pressure is exercised on me to retire early .94
Eigenvalue 4.02 2.16 1.99 1.50
Percentage of variance explained 28.69 15.44 14.19 10.73
Note: N = 514. Responses were provided on a 5-point Likert scale (1 = strongly disagree, 5 = strongly agree). Data are analyzed using
principal components with varimax rotation. Total variance explained by the four factors: 69.1%. Only loadings greater than .30 are
shown.

Human Resource Management DOI: 10.1002/hrm