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Working and ageing
118 Guidance and counselling for mature learners

Figure 6.1. Conceptual research model

Older
worker Innovation

Organisational Management Learning
interventions
Younger Critical skills
worker and knowledge
retention

Work organisation

Source: Authors.

Again, the link to improved organisational capacity, not pictured in the
model, lies in the outcomes of the interventions, namely innovation, learning
and knowledge retention.
From this model some preliminary research questions for helping to direct
the research have been derived. These are given below.

Preliminary research questions
The following research questions were developed using the model pictured
above. While they are preliminary and subject to revision, they give a clear
idea of the direction the research will be taking. The main question is what
measures, related to an ageing workforce, can management take to increase
organisational effectiveness.
The answer will be a series of tested policy recommendations that can be
used for designing organisational development trajectories in knowledge-
intensive, service-based organisations. A mixed-methods approach to data
gathering is probably the most suitable, due to the complexity of the research
question (Gorard and Taylor, 2004).
The following subquestions have been formulated to help guide further
research in its exploratory phase: what processes occur in the relationship
between older and younger workers that have an affect on learning, innovation
and critical knowledge retention? How do organisational contexts affect the