Despite the obvious benefits of retaining Zoomer workers, a recent Manpower survey shows 67 per cent of Canadian employers don’t even have a strategy in place to recruit or retain workers aged 50+. And only 24 per cent have implemented retention strategies to keep them participating in the workforce.
According to Manpower’s “Confronting the Talent Crunch: 2008” employers need to find innovative ways to prolong an individual’s active working life. This could mean redesigning jobs, creating more attractive retention policies and fostering a more inclusive work environment.
“Employers can no longer look at upcoming retirements as cost-saving opportunities – this is dangerous and short sighted,” the report said.
Some employers are also offering retirees options to transition to less stressful and time-consuming roles, such as sharing their institutional knowledge and training new generations in the skills they have acquired. This could take the form of documenting important information, processes and business contacts or creating a mentoring program where the departing worker can coach his or her successor
And according to a survey “Ageism: Managing on the Bias” by Age Lessons, a US-based think-tank and consulting firm, companies should:
– Fight age-discrimination in the workplace by providing awareness training about generational differences, office and meeting etiquette;
– Adopt age-neutral hiring and educational policies that look at the candidate pool irrespective of age;
– Form intergenerational work teams to ensure cross-pollination across age groups; and
– Extend continuing and professional educational opportunities to older workers.
The bottom line: When older employees leave, companies lose vital expertise and knowledge that is not easily filled by younger workers. But this gap can be minimized if companies make an effort to retain mature workers by providing: the right mix of benefits and financial incentives, a meaningful and rewarding work environment, continuing opportunity for education and career-growth and flexibility in work conditions.
About Zoomers
The Zoomer group – Canadians 45 and older – represents over 14 million people in Canada. Zoomers account for more than half of all consumer spending and 70 per cent of all money in savings account.
Zoomers are the largest market for a number of industries, including travel, real estate, health and beauty, automotive, home renovation and financial services.
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