Good News about Grey Hairs

Data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics tells us that older workers plan to stay in the workforce, perhaps because they lost retirement dollars in the recession. Specifically, workers ages 65+ will grow by 78% during the period of 2008-2018 while the number of workers in age groups 35-44 and 45-54 will shrink. In fact, the number of workers ages 65+ will grow about 10 times faster than the total labor force…10 times faster.

Why is this good news? On balance, older workers are more likely to show up, do their best, and stay in their jobs. They bring old-school values, know what they like to do, have bills to pay, and a lifetime of experience regarding how to treat customers and solve problems. Smart companies tailor recruiting and benefits programs to hire and retain older workers with hopes they will delay retirement rather than be forced to replace them.

Here’s just one study that demonstrates the value of older workers. A BusinessWeek analysis found that by increasing productivity and labor-force participation of older Americans, the U.S. could add 9% to its gross domestic product by 2045, which would add more than $3 trillion a year to overall economic output.
Use data like this to make your company a haven for older workers, especially if you work in a service industry that typically hires young workers in their first or second jobs.. Good things will happen as a result.

Nonprofits and Pay

Most non-profit workers attach themselves to their agency’s mission, leading management to think pay is far down on the priority list. I’ve participated on several non-profit boards and usually cringe when executives report how much money is dedicated to client services and how little to pay, benefits, and other “overhead” expenses. For sure, donors want to know that the majority of their donations go to the agency’s cause but the risk is that non-profit employees are willing to take substantially less pay that they can make on the for-profit side. A study published in the Review of Public Personnel Administration tells us employees are aware of the pay issue and have loyalty limits, that sometimes mission is not enough. The solution includes benchmarking pay against similar jobs in the private sector. If your best employees can make more elsewhere and are critical to your service delivery, why not pay them to keep them?

Retention Tip #19

Occasionally we’ll include a specific retention tip in our blog. Here’s Retention Tip #19: Match the length of your onboarding program with your tipping point: Many companies lose a high percentage of new hires early such as the first 90 or 180 days. This happens especially in service industries such as call centers, retail, and fast food. If your company faces this challenge, measure the number of days at which point early turnover ends...the point at which you can say "If they stay this long, they tend to stay much longer", and develop onboarding processes that continue throughout this period. Include supervisors by asking them to meet with employees over time with specific questions to ensure new hires are connected to their peers and their supervisors, too, as well as learning and performing their jobs well.