Corporations are Wooing Baby Boomers Too
Anna D. Banks, GCDF
August 12, 2007
With more than 76 million baby boomers expected to retire in the next ten years in the US and less than 50 million workers to replace them, it has become crucial for companies to woo baby boomers in order to strike a balance between labor supply and demand. Thus, organizations will be compelled to retain senior workforce to improve productivity and enhance performance.
Baby boomers strongly believed in company loyalty and never felt the need to move on every couple of years like their younger counterparts. Baby boomers were brought up in an era of company loyalty. For such people, having a career that’s fulfilling is more important than having a career that comes with a hefty paycheck but zero job satisfaction. Older workers are a reservoir of knowledge and experience and companies cannot afford to lose such valuable employees. It has been observed that older employees know the business well and have a better understanding of various business processes within an organization. Thus, younger workforce can look up to these employees for guidance.
Baby boomers are far more accountable and businesses can rely on them to fulfill a particular task. They are no longer interested in the rat race and they are less likely to blame others for their mistakes due to lack of this competitive spirit. Instead of losing confidence over petty mistakes, they choose to learn from their mistakes and expand their knowledge. Thus, eliminating mistakes is crucial for them in order to deliver flawless work.
Baby boomers have a better understanding of what fits with the company culture, as they have been around for a very long time. While being creative, they understand that creativity is not about the number of ideas you contribute to the company, but more about the number of practical ideas that can be implemented for effective functioning of the company. Their creativity does not stop with giving impressive PowerPoint presentations and they enjoy being a part of the project right from the planning to the completion stage.
Having realized the importance of retaining their baby boomer workers, organizations are busy developing strategies to lure their employees to continue their contribution to the growth of the organization. These strategies include part time job opportunities for baby boomers to enable them to enjoy both working and retired life together. Working from home, telemarketing, small assignments on contract basis, and part time consulting are a few other options offered to baby boomers.
However, while doing this, companies must lay more emphasis on developing strategies that clearly indicate that their services are valued. This goal can be achieved by giving them meaningful roles with a defined outcome as a standard of performance, imparting training to these workers to make them competent enough to attain the desired outcome, and finally, to set targets to provide a challenging environment. Such strategies will go a long way in polishing their skills, and encouraging them to find new ways to achieve more.
These days, several corporations are involving baby boomers in mentoring programs in order to ensure that their experience and knowledge is passed on to the younger workforce. In addition, they are willing to pay handsome salary and perks to baby boomers in appreciation of their invaluable services.
Author's Note:
Do you have any questions about career development or lifestyle changes for Baby Boomers, which you think others, like you, would want to know the answers? Please email your questions to me at Anna@AnnaBanks.com, and maybe I'll feature them in a future article.
Read more articles by Anna D. Banks, GCDF go to: http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/viewByAuthor.asp?authorID=1855.
Baby boomers strongly believed in company loyalty and never felt the need to move on every couple of years like their younger counterparts. Baby boomers were brought up in an era of company loyalty. For such people, having a career that’s fulfilling is more important than having a career that comes with a hefty paycheck but zero job satisfaction. Older workers are a reservoir of knowledge and experience and companies cannot afford to lose such valuable employees. It has been observed that older employees know the business well and have a better understanding of various business processes within an organization. Thus, younger workforce can look up to these employees for guidance.
Baby boomers are far more accountable and businesses can rely on them to fulfill a particular task. They are no longer interested in the rat race and they are less likely to blame others for their mistakes due to lack of this competitive spirit. Instead of losing confidence over petty mistakes, they choose to learn from their mistakes and expand their knowledge. Thus, eliminating mistakes is crucial for them in order to deliver flawless work.
Baby boomers have a better understanding of what fits with the company culture, as they have been around for a very long time. While being creative, they understand that creativity is not about the number of ideas you contribute to the company, but more about the number of practical ideas that can be implemented for effective functioning of the company. Their creativity does not stop with giving impressive PowerPoint presentations and they enjoy being a part of the project right from the planning to the completion stage.
Having realized the importance of retaining their baby boomer workers, organizations are busy developing strategies to lure their employees to continue their contribution to the growth of the organization. These strategies include part time job opportunities for baby boomers to enable them to enjoy both working and retired life together. Working from home, telemarketing, small assignments on contract basis, and part time consulting are a few other options offered to baby boomers.
However, while doing this, companies must lay more emphasis on developing strategies that clearly indicate that their services are valued. This goal can be achieved by giving them meaningful roles with a defined outcome as a standard of performance, imparting training to these workers to make them competent enough to attain the desired outcome, and finally, to set targets to provide a challenging environment. Such strategies will go a long way in polishing their skills, and encouraging them to find new ways to achieve more.
These days, several corporations are involving baby boomers in mentoring programs in order to ensure that their experience and knowledge is passed on to the younger workforce. In addition, they are willing to pay handsome salary and perks to baby boomers in appreciation of their invaluable services.
Author's Note:
Do you have any questions about career development or lifestyle changes for Baby Boomers, which you think others, like you, would want to know the answers? Please email your questions to me at Anna@AnnaBanks.com, and maybe I'll feature them in a future article.
Read more articles by Anna D. Banks, GCDF go to: http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/viewByAuthor.asp?authorID=1855.
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