A Lancaster University Management School (LUMS) academic and his team of students partnered with a UK charity to investigate how employers can design and offer flexible working arrangements that appeal to older employees and bring benefits for businesses and workers.

ProAge, a UK charity focused on age inclusion in the workplace, approached Lancaster University as part of a larger project it is working on to Map the Way Forward to a Multigenerational Workforce.

The LUMS team embarked on a research project and reviewed academic literature, news articles, interviewed seven HR managers and held focus groups with 15 people over the age of 50 to obtain their views and experiences.

Results show flexible work is essential for businesses looking to attract and retain this talented demographic with 72 per cent of those aged over 50 saying they want some form of flexibility to achieve a better work-life balance. While 32 per cent of those who would consider going back to work cite flexible working as an important factor in choosing a new job.

These findings are captured in a new report, published on the charity’s website.

CEO of ProAge, Mike Mansfield, said: “Our results show that flexible working is either important or a ‘must have’ when it comes to older workers looking for a job - but many find it difficult to start a conversation about flexible working and feel they need to justify their request for it. Others fear the impact their request may have on their job progression which results in them being cautious about asking for it. This hesitancy in asking for what they really want is likely to be having a negative impact on organisations’ ability to attract and retain the talent they need from this important pool of workers."

Dr Uzair Shah from Lancaster University Management School said: “This was a very interesting project which generated insights into the relationship between flexible working arrangements and a multigenerational workforce. The opportunity for our students to work collaboratively with ProAge was productive and beneficial in terms of collective learning about such an important topic, and the project proved to be a great example of engagement through teaching. I’d like to thank Mike for his support and involvement throughout the project and the students for their excellent contributions.”

"It was a great pleasure to work with the LUMS students," Mike Mansfield continues. "They invested a lot of time and effort, were thorough in their approach and very professional in the meetings we had with business leaders. I look forward to working on other projects in the future."

The LUMS research team comprised of Dr Uzair Shah from LUMS’ Department of Organisation, Work and Technology and his students, Oliver Suett, Juan Navarro Rodriguez, Baiyang Zhao, Nicolas Salafranca and Evie Newett.

To find out more about Lancaster University Management School’s study options and research projects on its website: Management School - Lancaster University