Intergenerational learning and knowledge sharing in public service organizations

Abstract

Intergenerational learning nowadays, where members of different generations share knowledge among themselves, has become an essential part of organizations to operate successfully. As a consequence of raising the age limit of retirement, more and more members of different generations are working together at companies and organizations such as baby boomers, X, Y and Z generations are all active parts of the working environment. However, the competences, are unique, but mastering it requires resources, hence there is a great emphasis on acquiring, maintaining and increasing the competences connected to different generations.

This research tries to explore how members of certain age groups judge competences of different generations at their workspace and how intergenerational learning is done. One of the core conclusions was that there are several competences, which are more distinctive to one generation than the other. It has been also proven, that there is little to no emphasis on intergenerational learning in these organizations, spontaneous acquisition of knowledge is more common.