23 June 2011— The Sloan Center on Aging & Work at Boston College has been awarded a $2.7 million grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation to research the effectiveness of flexible time and place management strategies to maximize productivity from an age-diverse workforce. This is the Center’s third multi-million dollar grant since 2005.

Over the past six years, the Center has conducted research that has highlighted the value of older workers, the diverse work experiences of today’s multi-generational workforce in countries around the world, and gaps in employer preparedness for the aging workforce. With the receipt of this new grant, the Center will now focus on gathering evidence about business-relevant outcomes associated with flexible time and place management policies.

“Older workers are now the fastest growing segment of America’s labor force,” explains Center Director and Associate Professor Marcie Pitt-Catsouphes. “Companies are aware that they need to make better use of older workers; however, many are using outdated approaches to talent management that may not leverage the contributions that employees can make over the course of their careers. Policies that allow employees and their supervisors to better manage ‘when and where’ work gets done can more fully engage the age-diverse workforce. ”

The Center will partner with employers who plan to either adopt a new time/place management policy or introduce a new component to an existing initiative. Jackie James, the Center’s Director of Research, states, “The new Time and Place Management Studies offer terrific opportunities for employers who recognize that these flexible policies are critical to effective 21st century human capital strategies. The project will make it possible for companies to gather the evidence they need for business decision-making.”

The Sloan Center on Aging & Work is a research center located at the BC Graduate School of Social Work. “The aging of the workforce is one of the profound social issues which have an impact on organizational effectiveness,” observes Alberto Godenzi, Dean of the BC GSSW. “We are delighted that the Sloan Center will have this opportunity to focus its rigorous research on workplace practices that can add value to productivity while also enhancing the quality of employment available to people of all ages.”

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