Intergenerational Lifelong Leaning and Knowledge Sharing in the Workplace: A scoping Review (Preprint)

Abstract

Asia is ageing. There are now more older persons in the workforce, and there is a need to ensure that these older workers can continue learning and upskilling effectively. We aim to integrate the current research on intergenerational learning in the workplace to discern how older workers can continue practising lifelong learning.

Within the field of organisational age management, current research is predominantly focused on intergenerational knowledge transfer, where older workers transfer their expertise to younger workers. Older adults are traditionally viewed as knowledge senders while younger workers are viewed as knowledge receivers.

We conducted a scoping review using the PRISMA methodology and selected ten articles from the recent five years for review.

The experience that older workers have is invaluable. However, the knowledge that younger workers can provide their older colleagues should not be overlooked. It is equally important for older adults to continue learning and upskilling in the workplace, and younger workers can play an instrumental part in that by sharing, in particular, their technology skills. This bidirectional sharing of skill sets applies both within the same workplace and across different working sectors. Furthermore, intergenerational training and development programs, which older and younger adults participate in together, allow them to learn from and among each other. An additional benefit of these intergenerational interaction opportunities is the reduction of ageism against older adults, which can further empower them.

Organisations should further explore mentorship/reverse mentorship programs that allow different generations to learn from each other, as well as training and development programs where employees of different age groups learn together. In addition, in order to inculcate lifelong learning as a lifestyle, organisations should encourage knowledge sharing to happen on an everyday basis, in particular via strong intergenerational cooperation in age-diverse teams. This can be fostered by giving workers greater job autonomy, cultivating a learning culture in the workplace, and building an environment of trust and intergenerational solidarity between employees. Making active efforts towards intergenerational learning has also been shown to alleviate the effects of age stereotypes and prejudices in the workplace, which can further promote intergenerational knowledge sharing.

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