3 Tips for Dealing with Retirement in The Workplace

If you run a small business, organization, or company, there is always a chance that sooner or later, you will be dealing with employees retiring. While it doesn’t sound like an overly stressful or difficult situation, it can certainly be a huge time of change for everyone. Retirement can be worrisome, especially when the younger generation of your workplace isn’t ready to fill the shoes of their older employees.

Luckily, there are a series of strategies and tips you can implement to ensure that the transition is as smooth as possible for everyone. This way, you can ensure that productivity is being pushed, work is still getting done, and knowledge is still being gained. After all, a workplace isn’t good until it harbours all of those things.

So, let’s take a look at 3 helpful tips for dealing with retirement in the workplace.

1. Plan for your employee’s retirement

Your employee already has to make a plan for their retirement, so do them a favor by creating a plan of your own. It is no secret that knowledge, expertise, and tips and tricks take time to transfer from person to person. If your employee has always been someone people look up to in their role, it is always a good idea to sit them down and have them train the people who will be filling their shoes.

That is why you should plan it out and not wait until the last day for the training to begin. There simply won’t be enough time to transfer all of their knowledge, which is not only unfair to your retiree, but also to the employee who will be taking their place. With everything being automated these days, human interaction is highly valued. A computer simply can’t do what human interaction can do nor can it replace human interaction.

2. Value your aged workers

These days, it is quite normal to see workplaces full of younger employees and while that may seem great in essence, it isn’t always the case. Younger employees are far cheaper to employ, however, they don’t always harbour the maturity or the expertise that older workers do. That is why, above all, it is so important to value your aged workers because they have seen things that the younger generations have not seen.

You also want to avoid pushing your aged workers out. Asking questions such as ‘Are you going to retire soon?’ or ‘Don’t you think it’s time for you to retire?’ will only come across as offensive and rude. Perhaps ask about their plan for the next 3-5 years instead, that way, you’re able to gain a better idea of when they atleast plan to retire.

3. Consider alternatives

If you can see that your aged employee is reluctant to leave, it may be a good idea to offer them a partial retirement instead. While some employees do want to drive off into the sunset and forget that they ever worked a day in their life, others do still want to do some form of work. Work arrangements such as a partial retirement can keep them involved and keep their brains ticking over.

It can also lessen the sudden change and leave them in a place to continue to share knowledge and wisdom. Younger employees will still be able to gain knowledge and expertise from aged employees who arrange to have a partial retirement. 

Thinking about your employees retiring can be a stressful and difficult situation, but it does not have to be. It may seem difficult up front, but with the strategies from this article put into place, one can ensure that the process of transition will not be stressful and full of hassle.