Part 3: Designing Work for Longer Lives – Designing Work that Actually Works Across Generations

25th August 2026 

If Part 1 of this series was about the problem, Part 2 about culture and making communication more purposeful, my final part is about design. Communication doesn’t exist in a vacuum. It is shaped by how work itself is structured and how individuals are supported.

One of the biggest shifts in my thinking has been the realisation that if we want stronger intergenerational workplaces, better, more explicit communication by itself isn’t enough. While conversations across generations matter hugely, they take place within systems, structures and ways of working that can either support connection or work against it.

So, the question I wanted to explore is, “What happens when communication is built into how work actually happens?”

Operational Design – the Overlooked Ingredient

Flexibility and inclusion are typically treated as “people topics”, but in practice they are design choices which are hard-wired into work structures, operating models and decision-making processes.  These choices determine who can participate, how long they stay, how they communicate and what contribution looks like.

That realisation has probably been one of the biggest shifts in my own thinking.

Earlier in my career I would have viewed flexibility largely as an employee benefit – something that sat alongside work rather than being an integral part of it.  What I increasingly see now is that flexibility shapes participation and engagement – who, when and where – and whether valuable skills and experience remain inside and connected to an organisation.

In that sense, flexibility isn’t a people initiative, it’s a strategic capability.

Work was Designed for a Different Era

Many workplace systems were designed for careers that lasted 30 or 40 years and followed relatively predictable patterns.  Longer lives are creating something different.

Today’s workforce includes people combining work with caregiving (childcare, eldercare or both at the same time), study, entrepreneurship, volunteering, phased retirement, personal health challenges, portfolio careers and a wide variety of life transitions…the list goes on. 

The challenge is no longer accommodating a few exceptions, it’s recognising that age, stage and circumstance have become defining features of workforce capability.

A Different Model – Boom Radio

Boom Radio offers an interesting example.  The UK’s first national radio station run by Baby Boomers for Baby Boomers where the presenters’ average age is 72.  But founder David Lloyd didn’t set out to create an “intergenerational initiative”.  Rather, he built the Boom model around flexibility, purpose, contribution and voice.  Listening, storytelling and shared experience were embedded in how work happened so intergenerational exchange emerged naturally.

At Boom experience isn’t viewed as something to be managed or worked around.  It’s assumed to have value.  The organisation’s design encourages contribution and connection, and culture follows.  For me, that’s a powerful reminder that intergenerational outcomes are often a consequence of organisation design rather than standalone programmes.

Flexibility Isn’t a Perk

Flexibility is an operational design choice, determining who shows up, who stays, who feels able to contribute, and ultimately how communication flows.

Designing for Real Lives – Unilever’s UWork

Unilever’s UWork programme takes this thinking even further.  It reimagines the employment relationship through a resourcing model that sits somewhere between traditional employment contracts and gig work. Participants on a retainer contract move in and out of work on an assignment basis.  This creates a blend of flexibility and security for individuals while helping Unilever retain talent, capability and organisational knowledge and agility.

But I think the real impact is best understood through participants’ lived experience.

Dave’s Story

When I talked to Dave for a ProAge case study recently, what struck me wasn’t simply that he’d chosen to continue working after his official retirement.  It was that he’d found a way to combine two things that were important to him in life and have the best of both.

After retiring from a long career as a factory supervisor, Dave didn’t want to stop work completely.  Through UWork he returned flexibly, sharing his experience, supporting colleagues and remaining connected to the workplace community he valued.  At the same time he gained something equally important – Time.  Time to travel, to visit family and to enjoy life beyond work.

As he told me, “I can take a chunk of work, then a chunk of life.  It’s a no-brainer.”

Claire’s Story

Claire’s circumstances were very different.  She combines senior marketing work with motherhood and a parallel career as an award-winning author.

For her, flexibility wasn’t about winding down work.  It was about creating space to grow and evolve. UWork enabled her to step back from traditional full-time employment without stepping away from contribution altogether.

As she put is, “It gave me breathing space to reinvent myself.  It was life changing.”

What These Stories Reveal

Different lives – different priorities – different life stages – same system.

The magic ingredient that makes programmes like UWork successful isn’t a focus on age, but a focus on flexibility, contribution and communication, through a benefit structure that supports individuals to stay connected and learning.  In other words, the conditions people need to thrive increasingly have less to do with their generation and more to do with their circumstances. That’s a subtle but important distinction.

The Intergenerational Work Framework

Through my journey I’ve arrived at a simple way of thinking about intergenerational workplaces:

• Culture shapes how we interact

• Operational Design shapes how work happens

• Benefits shape how people are supported

Communication is the connective tissue that makes all three work together.

Michèle Dennison, Intergenerational Work Framework, 2026

What strikes me across all of the examples in this series is that none of them succeed because they focus primarily on generations.

• Sanofi’s Pass it On programme focused on conversations

• Boom Radio focused on contribution

• UWork focused on flexibility

Yet all three produced positive intergenerational outcomes because communication was designed into the experience.  When communication isn’t running through like a stick of rock good intentions can struggle to get traction.  However, when communication is designed in, culture, operations and benefits support begin reinforcing one another. That is the point at which intergenerational practice stops being a standalone initiative and starts becoming part of everyday working life with benefitting both individuals and organisations.

A Practical Tool - Preferred Ways of Working 

The framework helps explain what needs to align but it can be hard to know where to start in practice.  One of the simplest and most practical approach’s I’ve come across is ProAge’s Preferred Ways of Working Tool.

At its heart it’s a straightforward conversations starter that helps articulate:

• How someone communicates best

• How they like to receive feedback

• What helps them perform at their best and contribute well

• How they prefer to collaborate

What I particularly like about this tool is that it doesn’t ask people to fit into a generational stereotype.  Instead, it encourages them to explain how they work best as individuals, reducing the guesswork and improving how teams function, without creating another programme.

A team might discover that a preference for detailed written feedback has nothing to do with age, or that someone’s preference for short voice messages over email is driven by workload and working style rather than generation.  This helps move the conversation away from labels towards understanding.

Preferred Ways of working can be used in one-to-ones, team meetings or over a cuppa with a colleague. Most importantly it replaces assumptions with clarity which is often where better communication begins.

Designing for the future of Work

We’re moving into a world of longer, more complex working lives.  Multigenerational workplaces aren’t something we need to prepare for – they’re already here.  The question is no longer “how do we manage difference?” it’s,” how do we design work so people can connect, contribute and thrive at every stage of life?”

A Last Thought

Writing this series has helped me make sense of a learning journey that began with curiosity about aging and longevity and evolved into a much broader interest in how we design work for longer, more complex lives.

I certainly don’t claim to have all the answers.  I’m very much still learning and the journey will continue.  What I do know is that the organisations navigating demographic change most successfully aren’t focusing on generations as categories to be managed.  They’re creating environments and eco-systems where people can connect, contribute and continue to grow regardless of age or life stage, and where the whole truly becomes greater than the sum of its parts.

As careers lengthen and work continues to evolve, that feels less like of a “nice to have” and more like one of the defining leadership challenges of our time.  And perhaps that’s the biggest lesson I’ve taken away from this journey:

Intergenerational working isn’t built by managing age.  It’s built by designing communication.

When communication works, assumptions fade, collaboration improves, contribution expands and work, quite simply, works better. As Dave at Unilever said - “It’s a no brainer”.

I’d love to hear what you’re seeing in your own organisations and experiences.  The conversation, after all, is where this started.

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This Blog was written by Michèle Dennison

Michèle is a future of work strategist, writer, facilitator and coach focused on longevity, demographic change and intergenerational practice. She helps organisations and communities translate the realities of longer lives and greater age diversity into practical action, connecting people and ideas to drive collaboration and innovation.

This Article was first published on Michèle's Substack in August 2026.