While it is a fact that the economy is forcing many baby boomers to work past retirement age, it is also a fact that employers will need to find ways to re-engage these workers. If they don’t, they may be stuck with a disgruntled workforce with low productivity and morale.

In an article for TalentManagement.com, Erin Green writes about this two-fold problem. One problem is retaining workers longer than anticipated and the other is keeping these workers involved.

“Prior to the economic slowdown,” writes Green, “companies were focused on preparing for the exit of baby boomers from the workforce. While many boomers are staying on the job longer to compensate for their depleted retirement accounts, they will retire sooner or later, and talent managers need to take both factors into account.”

One way to do this is suggested by John H. Hudson, CEO and owner of The Growth Coach of Ventura County and author of “Choosing the Right Path: Insights on the Changing Face of America’s Workforce.”

Green writes that Hudson believes employers are going to have to find ways to deal with an aging workforce that doesn’t want to be “at the office” any more.

“The problem is, if they are not able to leave the workforce on their own terms,” says Hudson, “organizations are going to have to deal with a lot of older workers who are there and don’t want to be, but are sort of held captive because of their economic situation.” Hudson recommends providing these workers with more free time.

“Many organizations are going more to telecommuting, part time, [and] those sort of situations -  allowing people to have more free time but remain engaged and not have that brain drain occur in terms of people just walking away from the workplace altogether.”

Hudson believes organizations must not only meet the needs of boomers, but also prepare for the day when they will actually retire. “The first thing companies must do,” he said, “is understand the magnitude of the problem, including the knowledge and skills at risk – and it’s going to be different for different organizations.”

Baby boomers have the judgment and skill level that comes with experience. When they leave the workforce, they will take their wisdom with them unless employers do something about it now.

“This is the time for employers to tap into the vast knowledge of the boomer generation,” said Joe Giunta, contract training manager for Joliet Junior College’s (JJC) Corporate and Community Services division. “That’s why we developed training and consulting services designed to help companies write the kind of procedures and processes that reflect not just the skills needed for a job, but the reasons why those procedures are performed. We also work with employers to develop employee workshops that facilitate knowledge transfer and open discussion.”

Hudson believes that boomers should become trainers and coaches and assist in the identification and mapping of key job competencies.

"If organizations allow [boomers] to walk out the door, said Hudson, “that loss of experience and skill will drop straight to the bottom line in terms of lost productivity," Hudson said."That's how organizations remain viable - the experience base and the knowledge base of how things get done - if that walks out the door, we start to lose a lot."

“We have train-the-trainer courses that we can tailor for those workers identified as potential mentors and teachers,” said Giunta. “That training along with our course on writing procedures that make sense can help an employer prepare for the challenges of a changing workforce.”

To learn more about these services, call Joe Giunta at (815) 280-2729, or e-mail jgiunta@jjc.edu.

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