The approach of baby boomers’ retirement age has awakened HR experts’ strong concerns about the lack of workforce, knowledge and talent that may appear in the nearest future. Educational institutions that employ a big number of representatives of the baby boom era are also under threat. The strategies described below aim to mitigate the consequences of baby boomers’ mass retirement.
Retaining Baby Boomers
After expressing strong concerns about loss of talents connected with baby boomers’ retirement, experts suggested that the scale of the “catastrophe” was somewhat exaggerated. Particularly, representatives of the baby boom generation do not show eagerness to farewell their workplaces: according to AARP survey, about 69 per cent of baby boomers between 45 and 74 plan to continue working after reaching the retirement age (The Talent-Shortage Myth).
Therefore, a program aimed at retaining baby boomers at the workplace may become a great help for educational institutions that want to avoid the workforce deficit. Firstly, the program should motivate baby boomers to continue working – this can be reached by offering suitable working conditions and comfortable workforce arrangement (Aging Workforce – 10 Key Points on Training), as well as providing psychological support. Secondly, it should prepare aged employees to work after reaching the retirement age: this includes guidelines of maintaining productivity, taking care of health, getting familiarized with new technologies etc.
Maintaining Continuity
Many baby boomers have valuable knowledge that is necessary to retain within the institution. It is reasonable to provide conditions for transferring this knowledge to youngsters (Schaefer). Thus, the management should develop a program including seminars, training and joint projects to stimulate the exchange of knowledge and skills within the institution. It is important to motivate baby boomers’ students to stay within the institution as employees, as they already have learned valuable information from their aged teachers.
Increasing Productivity
Considering the current technological development, it is now possible to increase the productivity of educators. Using the internet and multimedia applications in the educational process, as well as organizing distant education may help educational institutions meet the demand for their services.
References
Aging Workforce – 10 Key Points on Training. CEOConsultant.com. Web.
Schaefer, P. (2006). Baby-Boomer-Caused Labor Shortage: Ideological Myth or Future Reality. Business Know-How. Web.
The Talent-Shortage Myth. (2007). Workforce.com. Web.