Do you have staff in or nearing their sixties?

As the baby boomers move closer to the end of their working life, some will be looking forward to retirement and will want to retire when they reach 65, although we know there is no longer a retirement age.

Some of this group may have already signalled their intention to retire, and to make your job easier they may have provided a date on which they will leave. However, it is likely you will have other staff members nearing retirement who don’t want to retire for a variety of reasons, e.g. they really enjoy their work, they don’t have enough money saved or their work is the sole priority in their life.

What might assist you handle this situation?

• Ideally, have a retirement policy and procedures that managers and staff can refer to which contains potential scenarios and actions that reduce your risk of losing intellectual capital.
• Have a smooth transition process in place that benefits both the organisation and the staff.

For those who want to continue working past 65:

• Think about how you can use their knowledge and experience to remain motivated, and also think about the potential opportunity for them to provide mentoring to younger members of staff.
• Work with these staff to encourage ongoing development to keep them motivated – take the approach that they are never too old to develop and learn something new.
• Encourage staff and their managers to identify their main skills, those they are competent in and enjoy using, and in addition, identify their drivers. These will be motivating factors in working productively.
• Perhaps consider whether they may like to move from a stressful role to taking up another role that matches their skills.

For those in their 60s and who appear unmotivated:

• Provide them with the appropriate resources that encourage them to look forward to a meaningful and purposeful retirement. This could involve:
  • your retirement policy and procedures
  • access to a retirement planning workshop and or coaching session
  • discussion with their manager and possibly Human Resources staff.
• Encourage staff and their managers to identify their skills and drivers. This will assist in determining how they are feeling about their current role and whether their interest and motivation can be re-invigorated or better used in another role.
• Consider whether they may like to move to a less stressful role.
• Work with them to identify development opportunities that will add to their interest and motivation.

For those who want to retire but seem reluctant to do so for a variety of reasons:

Provide them with the appropriate resources that enable them to look forward.

This could involve:

• your retirement policy and procedures
• access to a retirement planning workshop and or coaching session
• discussion with their manager and possibly Human Resources staff, asking them to consider the reasons for their reluctance and working through these with them
• suggest they identify the things they will miss when they leave the workforce, e.g. social connections, feeling valued, purpose and structure
• then work with them or a retirement coach to identify a range of activities they can pursue in retirement that will take the place of these
• provide them, if appropriate, with the opportunity to phase their working from five days to four days a week, for example.

Further things to consider generally:

• People of any age can be open to new experiences and challenges, just as people of any age can be reluctant to change.
• Opportunity for flexible work can appeal to people of all ages.
• Mature workers can make good coaches or mentors. If you pair young and mature workers, they can learn from each other.

For all of the above scenarios, equipping your managers with the confidence to have retirement conversations with staff can be an excellent pathway to assist staff in making decisions about their future.