Now that Baby Boomers are
signing up for Social Security benefits and beginning to retire,
succession plans are more important than ever. Succession plans typically
focus on the leadership of the company. However, these plans tend to
ignore the supervisors and managers, along with the rest of your
near- retirement workforce, who contribute daily to the success of
the organization. Do
you have a plan for them?
For the purpose of this article,
our focus will be on the “A” performers—you know—the people who are
always there and just get the
job done. Who is
going to replace them?
Many companies tend to overlook this issue, often waiting
until the last minute to address it.
Consider these three basic
steps:
IDENTIFY: Establish your criteria for
valued employees and
then select those within the company who fall into that
category. Ideally, you
will want to identify those who are at least a year (or more) from
retirement. Those
closer should be given priority.
SPECIFY: Update the job descriptions
for all those affected.
What they’ve been doing has probably changed over the
years. In addition,
what you really want to focus on is this question: How do we extract the amount
of company history, proprietary information, and those skills and
abilities they have implemented and mastered that allow them to make
their contributions look so effortless? It will be important to not
just replace these people, but to transition a new employee into the
position to learn both the day-to-day procedures and also how the company
has grown and evolved.
COMMUNICATE: Talk with them. You want to learn their
plans for retirement.
This needs to be done in a cordial and non-threatening manner
in a spirit of recognition and appreciation for their
contributions. These
long-time employees have a loyalty to the company that will make it
easier for you to explain why an effective transition plan is
important. They will
likely help you to manage this transition process.
There are two likely
scenarios.
Scenario One: Yes, they are going to
retire, and they have a definite date in mind, as well as a definite
plan.
Once you have noted that date,
you then subtract the amount of time you determined would be
necessary for the effective transition. Ask if they have any ideas
on how this transition should go. Next, identify the person
who will be taking their place. An internal candidate would
be ideal; however, if a search for a person is involved, you need to
also allow time for that process.
The end plan is to be able to
have the replacement person identified and in place, allowing the
required time for an effective transition. The techniques used in the
actual transition are similar to a traditional succession plan, such
as job shadowing, job sharing, and mentoring, but with the
additional focus on getting as much information from the
near-retirement employee as possible before they leave.
Scenario Two: The employee is unsure
of their plans. This is
a productive employee, and you would ideally like to keep them on in
some capacity. Suggest
that should they choose to retire, they might consider consulting
with the company or even working part time. This will ease their mind
and allow them to firm up their actual plans for retirement. It also provides the company
with additional time to identify their replacement and gradually
transition that person into the position.
Whatever you do in either of
these scenarios or the ones you may encounter, don’t wait until the
last minute to act.
Whatever costs you perceive should be considered as
investments and training money saved.
(As always, we value your input
regarding the content for our newsletter. If you have any ideas or
suggestions for future topics, be sure to contact us at dan@consearch.com . We look forward to hearing
from you.)
