Expect a Run on Gold Watches

The coming years will bring a record number of employee retirements. Make sure you’re prepared for the exodus of baby boomers.

In 2011, the oldest baby boomers will turn 65, marking a turning point in the American workforce. As they begin to retire, the United States will experience the most dramatic economic and demographic changes in its history.

For the first time ever we are facing a mass retirement movement. To survive unscathed, companies — including pumping and portable sanitation businesses — must begin planning and preparation for this transition today.

At first glance, the impending baby boomer exodus may seem of little concern to you. After all, valued workers have been retiring from the workplace for ages. However, companies need to keep in mind that the upcoming retirement years are going to be larger scale than in any other time in our country’s history.

With 76 million baby boomers leaving the workforce and only 46 million next-tier Generation X’ers (born 1963 to 1981) available to take the vacant positions, there’s a deficit of 30 million workers. And while the youngest workers in your shop, known as the Millennials or Generation Y (born 1981-1999) number approximately 100 million, the oldest of them are too young and inexperienced to step into leadership roles.

Think about your own company for a moment. How will you handle this transition? How are you going to transfer the 40-plus years of wisdom and experience from the boomers to younger workers? How do you plan to keep your company successful and running smoothly with a deficit of workers?

The bottom line is that all companies need to harness young leadership already in place so the baby boomer exodus has as little impact as possible on the organization. Use the following tips to help make the transition period a smooth one:

Know what you’re up against

Find out as soon as possible how this mass retirement will affect your company. Take a look at the ages of your employees. How many baby boomers are currently working in the company, what are their positions, and what are their anticipated retirement dates? For example, is your manager set to retire in the next five years? Will three key driver/technicians leave all at once?

Develop a knowledge transfer strategy

Forward-thinking companies have written job descriptions and requirements for every position. This is a start to the process of training younger workers to step up into more important roles. But it’s not enough. There are subtleties of every job — things you do just because experience and knowledge points you in a certain direction. You simply can’t document those kinds of things. That’s why you need to go a step further and develop a strategy and training system for transferring the knowledge and skills of the older workers to their successors.

Team older and younger workers

As part of the knowledge transfer strategy, companies need to implement an ongoing mentoring program. For a company to have a successful transition, the younger generation needs to work side-by-side with the older workers for some time. Training younger workers to diagnose the issues surrounding a malfunctioning septic system, for instance, doesn’t happen overnight. Think about the skills your older drivers have amassed over the years seeing so many different situations while on the job.

So if you know that a key person is going to be retiring in three years, have that person start sharing service routes with a younger worker right now. This is not something you can do during a new hire’s 90-day training period. True mentoring takes at least a year to make any meaningful headway in passing on all that critical knowledge.

Starting now will help in employee retention with the younger workers as well. Generation X workers who receive this sort of long-term mentoring will feel more valued and realize they can play an important long-term role in your company moving forward.

Retain the older workers in some fashion

Realize workers might not want to retire completely on their 65th birthday. Many of your older workers will want to stay on in some capacity, either by choice or by necessity. Since many boomers are often working to put kids through school and taking care of aging parents at the same time, they may still want or need to work past 65. Some older workers just feel too good to retire.

In either case, your older workers may be open to staying onboard on a part-time basis or as a consultant. Since they often want to pursue other interests at this stage of their life, being chained down to a regimented full-time job won’t appeal to them. The more flexibility you offer, the more likely they’ll be to stick around as a resource for the company. Be open to creative work arrangements if you want to retain your most experienced staff.

MEET THE CHALLENGE

Because the unemployment rate is high right now due to a lagging economy, companies can draw from a better pool of workers to help fill the gap the boomers will be leaving. You may be able to take advantage of a stronger field of applicants right now to replace retiring workers. But when the economy rebounds, the hiring situation might be different.

The coming years will definitely be a challenge for companies, as more people will be retiring than usual. By helping everyone — young and older — work together, your company can be successful and thrive in the years to come.



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