Natural and inevitable declines in capability as employees age need not result in a decrease in contribution.
For example, in a simple test of typing-related tasks, Salthouse (1984) found that older adults outperformed younger adults, even though older adults demonstrate slower reaction times.
Salthouse attributed the performance of older adults to their larger eye-hand spans and ability to preview forthcoming keystrokes beyond that of the younger adults.
By understanding efficiencies and major contributions at various points in the life-span, organizations can make use of contributions matched to employees' peak performance at each stage.
For example, declines in fluid cognition begin around 30 years of age,whereas increases in crystallized cognition range from age 20 to 65 (Salthouse, 2012).
Fluid cognition is attributed to creativity and innovative thinking, whereas crystallized cognition is associated with accumulated knowledge, particularly helpful in careers where having a tremendous depth and breadth of knowledge is critical for success.
Thus, organizations could consider putting younger adults on teams where innovation is the goal, and then progressively as they age, move them to managerial and expert teams where a reliance on accumulated knowledge is essential for success.
Adults' physical abilities do decline with age such that physically demanding and potentially dangerous work (e.g., high-power construction equipment, police or fire services) can result in a greater risk of injury and strain resulting in decreased contribution (e.g., Gilbert & Constantine, 2005).
Hence, HR practitioners must be aware of both cognitive and physical changes as employees' age, and develop appropriate staffing and new KSA acquisition plans in response.