Boomer Executives Put Retirement on the Backburner
By the looks of things, Baby Boomer credit union CEOs are nearing retirement age, which used to mean boards had to have their succession plans in place—-but wait just a minute.
Boomers are now staying put! As the poet Dylan Thomas wrote, “Do not go gentle into that good night.”
Older executives who were set to retire are putting it off because their nest eggs have been decimated by the plummeting stock market, which doesn’t bode well for the generations waiting in the wings.
But to stay in their jobs, CEOs need to get up-to-date with technology, which has become more important over the years because of the need to compete on economies of scale with larger financial institutions and the credit crisis.
In the face of the harsh reality concerning Credit Union Boomer employability and retirement possibilities, the feeling is that the best game plan to staying relevant in today’s credit union industry is to keep up with the youngsters.
Boomers need to recognize the reality for being indispensable in any work environment. They must make their work as unique and useful as possible by bringing their best ideas to work. This is vital to staying ahead of the curve.
The dilemma of the Baby Boomer is that they are living with one foot in the old industrial job-for-life world while the other is in the changing-every-minute information age. They were complacent in a job market forged by the prior generation. They are finding now that complacency no longer works. The warning to Baby Boomer executives who are trying to understand their place in the new economy: if they do not change with the economy’s needs, they will not succeed, regardless of their skills.
AARP has recently released a study that says that nearly one in five Baby Boomers aged 55 to 64 planned to delay retirement because of the economic downturn and even though some credit union executives are saying ‘goodbye,’ for the most part, they are staying put.
This study tells us two things that impact credit unions.
1. Credit unions will need to increase their understanding of Generational differences in the workplace and provide training to HR departments and all levels of management. It’s becoming increasing likely that if you are a 55 yr old manager with 30 years experience that you will report to a Gen X or Gen Y senior manager twenty years younger than you at some point. Generations have different values and work orientations that they bring to the workforce. To effectively manage a profitable operation, managers and employees need to understand these differences and the similarities.
2. Even if 20 percent of eligible Baby Boomers decide to stay in the workforce for a few years to ride out the economic downturn, the remaining 80 percent of Baby Boomers who elect to retire or seek nontraditional employment will cause a devastating chasm in the ability of employers to fill their critical jobs that require experience and advanced skills.
CU Employers: What Must You Do
Acknowledge that a multi-generational workforce is desirable and here to stay. Seek out professionals to help your management team understand generational differences and how you can leverage the experience and skills of your Baby Boomer generation workers.
Acknowledge that you must become a Boomer Friendly employer. Do this by realizing the bottom-line significance of retaining your best workers and being able to attract the best talent.
Embrace a culture and policies that are flexible to the needs of experienced workers who want to work at something satisfying and rewarding. The new workplace is diverse. It is multicultural and multigenerational and Baby Boomer executives can learn to adapt to and stay on the job because it’s part of who they are.
So don’t count boomers out just yet. They are here to stay until they say it’s time to retire.
