Retaining and Recruiting Boomers.

Baby Boomers, those born between 1946 and 1964 and who comprise about 45% of the nation's workforce are choosing to leave the workforce in startling numbers. Like many others, you may have planned for their departure at the "standard" retirement age of 65 and are developing Gen X or Gen Y to pick up the baton when that day comes around. Yet time may be shorter than you think.

Across America, Baby Boomers are trading in high paying, high stature jobs--long before they reach the magic age of 65--for situations that provide more flexibility, less stress, and the opportunity for genuine work/life balance. These Boomers, who for decades have excelled at the corporate political maneuverings and jumped to the whims of corporate leaders, say they need to take control of their lives to meet the needs of both children and aging parents. Others simply want to follow their dreams or find a job position that "gives back."

Have you thought about the impact the Baby Boomer's departure is having or will have on your organization? Many organizations will find that strategies to retain Boomers will help the organization. Other organizations have not thought about the potential problem or solutions yet. Is it possible such strategies could help your organization?

The Boomer Corporate Value.

Though some employers grouse about the above- median salaries that Boomers tend to earn, there is no disputing their value to the corporation. The 78 million Boomers bring with them intellectual capital that cannot be bought at any university - it comes only through time and experience. Want to know why a process works - or doesn't work? The "School of Hard Knocks" attended by virtually every Boomer will likely provide the answer. Do you want to understand your company's heritage? Ask a Boomer. Need to know more about your industry? Chances are a Boomer will have the most complete and insightful picture.

Boomers head associations, committees, companies, regions and departments - and they know the other movers-and-shakers across the community and your industry. (They probably know the names of children and spouses as well.) The Boomer network is immense and powerful.

Getting back to those salaries, Boomers have paid their dues and do tend to make the higher-than- average salaries. They also control over 70% of the U.S. economy. If you want to know what people will be buying and what they will be investing in (so your company can profit from those trends) listen to your Boomers. They are the buyers and investors. All these are reasons to keep "Boomers" in the workforce as long as possible. How can we do that?

Strategies to Retain and Recruit Boomers

Sonia is the anchor of her firm's accounting department, working long days, every day for the last 26 years. She knows the nuances of every account, the intricacies of the customized software, and how to read industry trends. Sonia knows what happened 5 years ago, 10 years ago - 132 weeks ago, if you want to get that specific--and she knows why it happened. She can also forecast what will happen next week and hit it spot-on 90% of the time. Like many her age, Sonia married late, had children late. At 52, she is raising 8- year-old twin boys, caring for one parent in her home and another in an assisted living facility. Today Sonia comes to a startling realization: even on a good day (when the twins' allergies aren't acting up and there are no notes from the teachers, when both parents' meds are stable and the caregiver shows up on time) she can't do it all and do it well.

My husband said he needed more space. So I locked him outside.
- Roseanne

Inside every older person is a younger person wondering what the hell happened.
- Unknown

I have enough money to last me the rest of my life, unless I buy something.
- Jackie Mason

Experience is that marvelous thing that enables you to recognize a mistake when you make it again.
- F. P. Jones

I am not young enough to know everything.
- James M. Barrie

Time is a fixed income and, as with any income, the real problem facing most of us is how to live successfully within our daily allotment.
- Margaret B. Johnstone

I try to take one day at a time, but sometimes several days attack me at once.
- Jennifer Unlimited

At twenty-one, so many things appear solid, permanent, untenable.
- Orson Welles

One man's sunset is another man's dawn.
- Fievel Mouskawitz

In the book of life, the answers aren't in the back.
- Charlie Brown

The years between fifty and seventy are the hardest. You are always being asked to do things and yet you are not decrepit enough to turn them down.
- T. S. Eliot

The stories that you tell about your past shape your future.
- Eric Ransdell

A message from Lynne Key and Tom Dambly

One of the best things about being a Baby Boomer is reliving--and sometimes reinventing--great memories with lifelong friends. Recently I participated in a charity golf tournament, teaming up with some of my closest friends from university. Though we lead very different lives and don't see each other very often, there is an undeniable kinship between us, forged in the experiences we shared long ago.

Lynne and I are intrigued by and actively study the path of relationships-how relationships change, why they change, why some relationships grow stronger and others wane in nearly identical circumstances. Though our research supports it and we see it time after time in organizations--even watch it unfold at high velocity in our simulation-based workshop, Express-O - we are still amazed at the clear and simple key to forging strong relationships: Trust. When actions engender trust, relationships grow and remain solid; when actions injure trust, the relationship falters.

We hope this article stimulates you to think about ways to improve your organizations and make your work more successful. Spring brings renewal and we hope some of the suggestions and ideas in the article help you in your endeavors and bring renewal to your work.