Work and retirement factors related to the timing of retirement notice
Date
2017
Authors
Chaffee, Dorey S., author
Fisher, Gwenith, advisor
Cleveland, Jeanette, committee member
Davalos, Deana, committee member
Shore, Lynn, committee member
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Abstract
The aging workforce has made retirements increasingly common in organizations. However, research is scant on how retiring employees separate from their organization. That is, what occurs after employees have made the decision to retire but before they leave their jobs. One important issue centers around the timing of retirement notice, which is important if organizations are to predict and plan for the departure of their older workforce. In this study, I used extant research and theory on the employee-organization relationship and the push-pull model of retirement to argue that the quality of employee-organization relationships, at the organization and supervisor level, and the conditions under which people retired relate to the timing of retirement notice. To test the hypotheses, I sampled 105 individuals who retired within the last two years or planned to retire within the next year. Results showed that perceived organizational support was positively related to retirement notice, whereas push reasons for retirement (i.e., retiring under negative conditions) were negatively related to retirement notice. I did not find a significant relationship between retirement notice and leader-member exchange or pull reasons for retirement (i.e., retiring under positive conditions). Results are discussed in relation to previous research and theory on employee resignation, retirement, and employee-organization relations as well as future research and practical implications.