Feature articles
Intergenerational learning in organizations.
An effective way to stimulate older
employee learning and development
Donald Ropes
Donald Ropes is an
Associate Professor based
at the Centre for Research
in Intellectual Capital,
Inholland University of
Applied Sciences,
Haarlem, The Netherlands.
DOI 10.1108/DLO-10-2013-0078
n organizations where human capital plays a key role, changing demographics will
I force managers to rethink how they can assure older worker learning and development,
or face a loss of competitive advantage. A brief review of the literature suggests that
organizing learning between generations is an effective way to help the learning and
development of older workers.
The European population as a whole is getting older and as a result European organizations
will be faced with a large number of older employees (55 þ ). Recent demographic studies
(European Commission, 2009) from national and international sources suggest that Europe
is ageing as a result of lowered birth rates and increasing life expectancy. Because of this,
pressures on pension funds and other social services associated with retired people are
rising. In response, governments are raising the legal age of retirement. This means
employees will be forced to work longer. This is one reason that organizations will be faced
with an older worker population. The second reason is related to declining birthrates. A
shortage of new labor will force organizations to keep current employees longer in service. A
large number of older workers is not in itself a problem, but utilizing the capabilities of older
workers is. Current policies are typically aimed at helping older workers exit the organization,
and do not see them as a valuable resource that needs to be developed. Basically, if
organizations want to maintain their competitive advantage in the future, they will need to
change their current policies on training and development, which typically exclude older
workers.
Research points out that while managers are aware of the changing demographic
landscape and the potential negative consequences these changes will bring, they still
focus on easing out older workers rather than investing in them through training and
development. In 2007, a study commissioned by the European Union revealed that while 40
percent of workers between the ages of 25 and 34 took part in some sort of training, only 12
percent of those between 55 and 65 years did (European Commission, 2007). From an
economic perspective this makes sense; the return on investment is lower for older
employees than younger ones who have more years of work ahead of them. Furthermore,
studies show that managers correctly perceive older workers as unwilling to participate in
training and development. This is partially due to the idea of a low ROI, but perhaps just as
importantly because of poorly designed and ineffective training programs that fail to
address older worker learning needs and styles and thus fail to motivate.
The possibilities of intergenerational learning
One way organizations might effectively invest in their older employees’ learning and
development is to turn towards intergenerational learning (IGL).
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 IGL is an interactive process that takes place among different generations and results in the
acquisition and development of new knowledge, skills and values and as such benefits both
the organization and the employee. Furthermore, critical implicit knowledge is passed from
one generation to another.
There are several types of IGL, ranging from (reverse) mentoring programs to mixed-age
teams. While the concept of IGL is not new (the term ‘‘mentor’’ comes from Greek mythology:
mentor counseled Odysseus) and many organizations employ mentoring, what is new is the
idea of applying it as a strategy for promoting effective older worker learning. The
effectiveness of IGL is grounded in two important aspects of learning, namely motivation and
learning styles.

Intergenerational learning is motivating for older workers

It is common knowledge that people learn differently and for different reasons. Yet most
training programs are designed for generic learners. Furthermore, they are typically geared
towards younger employees motivated to improve current skills for better task execution, or
gain new skills in order to move up the career ladder. Older workers, who do not necessarily
need to improve their career, are motivated for reasons more related to self-actualization
(Kanfer and Ackerman, 2007). Self-actualization is about using one’s creativity, pursuing
new knowledge and contributing to society - or in our case, contributing to the organization.
For example, during the analysis of the survey data from our previous research on
communities of practice, we found that groups with the widest dispersion of age were
significantly more creative and innovative. When we analyzed the interview data in order to
explain our observations, the main theme we found was that diversity in a mixed-age team
allows applying one’s knowledge in new and novel ways. Another major theme was ‘‘helping
team members to gain new knowledge.’’
From the analysis of interview data from our current research on stimulating IGL in
organizations – such as initiating mentoring and intergenerational knowledge transfer
programs – we are also finding themes related to self-actualization. For example older
workers want to ‘‘assure that their critical knowledge remained in the organization by
transmitting it to the new generation’’ and ‘‘giving back to the organization’’.
Lastly, participation in IGL is motivating to older workers because it gives them a positive
feeling of being valued and expands their network within the organization see for example
Wognum and Horstink (2010).

Intergenerational learning is an effective learning style for older workers

How older workers learn is closely connected to motivation (Fuller and Unwin, 2005). Formal
training programs, often vocational in nature and given off-site, have little appeal and are not
very effective for older workers. This is because older workers learn through participation
and collaboration in the workplace itself. Effective learning is thus more informal in nature for
older workers, occurring for example as a byproduct of innovation or knowledge exchange.
An illustration of this would be in a mixed-age team organized for innovation, older workers
learn to use their large store of experience and expert knowledge in a way that complements
the younger generation’s more current knowledge of technological or societal changes. In
the same interviews mentioned above, mentors told us about new knowledge they gained
from the mentee, specifically about dealing with new procedures and new technologies the
organization had introduced.

Organizing intergenerational learning

IGL is promising strategy for assuring older worker learning but like any other organizational
initiative it needs to be well-implemented to assure effectiveness. Some critical success
factors for organizing IGL that emerged from our research are listed below (Ropes and
Ypsilanti, 2012).

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 B Existing need. A sense of urgency regarding older worker learning and development
must be felt first by management followed by employees. If the demographics prove true,
this sense of urgency should increase in the next 15 years.
B Positive learning climate. Management needs to clearly support both informal and formal
employee learning. By not explicitly supporting learning, managers are actually inhibiting it.
B Open culture. An organizational culture free of ageism (negative stereotypes about older
workers) and open to diversity.
B Employee coaching. Training and coaching in the various ways of working in IGL
environments should be given. For example mentoring is not a natural talent and most
mentors needs some sort of training and guidance. The same is true for the mentee.
Teamwork can be stressful, especially in a diverse team with various generations, so team
coaching is important.
B Effective implementation. Practical aspects of implementation should be facilitated. Time
and other resources must be allotted accordingly.
B Reward participation. Management needs to assure both informal and formal award
structures for those participating in an IGL program.
Keywords:
Management development,
Learning, Concluding remarks
Engagement and learning, Intergenerational learning is not a silver bullet for dealing with older workers. On the other
Organizational change and hand if implemented properly it can be an effective manner in which older employees can
learning continue to learn and develop along with the organization.

References
European Commission (2007), EQUAL: Paving the way for Lifelong Learning and Age Management
(E. S. Fund, Ed.), European Commission, available at: http://ec.europa.eu/employment_social/equal_
consolidated/data/document/0711-athens-paving.pdf (accessed 12 September 2013).
European Commission (2009), European Commission Dealing with the Impact of an Ageing Population
in the EU (2009 Ageing Report), European Commission, Brussels.

Fuller, A. and Unwin, L. (2005), ‘‘Older and wiser?: workplace learning from the perspective of
experienced employees’’, International Journal of Lifelong Education, Vol. 24 No. 1, pp. 21-39.
Kanfer, R. and Ackerman, P.L. (2007), ‘‘Ageing and work motivation’’, 21st Century Management:
A Reference Handbook, Sage Publications, Newbury Park, CA.
Ropes, D. and Ypsilanti, A. (2012), ‘‘Factors influencing intergenerational learning: towards a framework
for organisations to ensure successful learning in older employees’’, in Barabasch, A., Dehmel, A. and
van Loo, J. (Eds), Working and Ageing: The Benefits of Investing in an Ageing Workforce, Publications
Office of the European Union, Luxembourg, pp. 280-308.

Wognum, I. and Horstink, M. (2010), ‘‘Keeping older workers committed and employed through formal
and informal HRD initiatives’’, Working and Ageing: Emerging Theories and Empirical Perspectives,
Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg, pp. 273-295.

About the author

Donald Ropes is Associate Professor of Intellectual Capital at Inholland University of Applied
Sciences, The Netherlands. Donald Ropes can be contacted at: donald.ropes@inholland.nl

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