Journal of Research in International Business and Management

Age variability of managerial competencies in emerging markets with Nigeria as a case study: Implications for recruitment and selection

Abstract

Remi Samuel, FCIPM, PhD. and *Chris Obisi,

The central focus of this paper is an analysis of age differences in the mean skill level of selected generic managerial competencies. Discrimination against older employees in most human resources management decisions have widely been reported as if to suggest that job performance diminishes by age. The paper takes the debate of effect of chronological age on job performance to a new level by predicting that if age is a good predictor of managerial job performance, there would be significant variations in the skill levels of competencies that have been shown to discriminate along performance effectiveness between people who are effective and those that are less effective at statistical significant levels. Two hundred and eighty managers from private both private and public sectors, military, international non-governmental organization and research and training institutes in Nigeria were included in the surveyed. Analyses indicated that the variances in the mean skill level of the selected competencies were not statistically significant but some of the competency variables are significantly manifested within some of the age groups than in others in favor of older managers except initiative and achievement orientation that are observed to be more pronounced in managers below 45 years of age. Implications of the findings for practice and future research are discussed.

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