Two consequences of demographic change can currently be observed in organizations. On the one hand, workforces are getting older, and on the other hand, workforces are becoming more age-diverse so that in some organizations up to four generations are working together. This development presents organizations with several challenges. First, organizations must develop measures to secure the valuable knowledge of older employees before they retire and their knowledge is lost. Second, organizations must enable effective interactions between employees of different generations in order to harness their diverse knowledge and perspectives. Intergenerational knowledge transfer, i.e., the exchange of work-related knowledge between employees of different generations, offers an opportunity to meet both challenges.

In this sub-project, which is being carried out by Dr. Anne Burmeister and Prof. Dr. Andreas Hirschi from the University of Bern, predictors and consequences of intergenerational knowledge transfer are being investigated to develop scientifically sound and practically relevant insights. To this end, an intervention will be developed and evaluated to promote the effective exchange of knowledge between younger and older employees in organisations. In the training, co-worker dyads, consisting of younger and older employees, for example, reflect on their own age stereotypes and the usefulness of their own knowledge and that of their colleagues to be able to exchange and use it more effectively.

Currently, we are still looking for cooperation partners for the implementation and evaluation of the intervention and further studies.