Work-nonwork interactions describe on the one hand the influence of work on private life and on the other hand the influence of private life on work. Work and private life can influence each other positively (enrichment) as well as negatively (conflict). Due to the parallel fulfilment of tasks from different areas of life, the investigation of the mutual influence of work and private life is more important than ever. This does not only apply to single parents or families with two working partners. Due to the changing demographic distribution and the increasing retention of older workers in the world of work, the reconciliation of work and private life will also play an increasingly important role for older workers in the future. Therefore, it is important to understand the diverse role requirements of older employees and to meet them in a targeted manner. Specifically designed interventions can help to minimise negative interactions between work and private life and to promote positive aspects of these interactions. Specific interventions not only have positive effects for the employee in areas such as health and family, but can also be of interest to companies by increasing the motivation and performance of employees at work.

The project, which is being conducted by Prof. Dr. Andreas Hirschi and MSc Nicola Jänsch of the University of Bern, investigates interventions to promote productive work-nonwork interactions among older employees. On the one hand, a review of existing interventions in the area of work-nonwork interactions should provide information on their general effectiveness. In a second step, a new intervention programme will be designed and evaluated in different work contexts.

For the implementation and evaluation of the intervention programme, interested Swiss companies will be looked for from 2019 onwards.

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.