Unique benefits can keep valued older workers

The largest population in the United States is the baby boomers. Although this age group is beginning to enter the retirement years, some plan to continue part-time or full-time work.

Individuals in the older work force will be in high demand as the country leaves the recession, causing the recent tight job market conditions to reappear and then remain.

Smart organizations will ascertain, develop and promote benefit plans for recruitment and retention of these valued staff members.

Tangible benefits include traditional health, life, dental and vision insurance. Consider extending policies to include coverage for illnesses especially pertinent to the elderly, such as hearing loss and arthritis. Insurance for long-term care will be strongly desired. The baby boomers have watched parents and other aging relatives forced to sell all possessions and self-fund nursing homes or enter into Medicaid programs. Accordingly, the avoidance of these issues at the end of a life span is paramount in the minds of aging workers.

Elder-care programs for spouses will be favored as associates struggle to care for feeble loved ones. Shopping services and shuttles to and from work will assist those unable to drive or experiencing discomfort with driving.

Provide ongoing training to enable the development of new skills and to ensure staff maintains a belief that existing skills remain up-to-date.

Intangible benefits will be just as critical as the tangible ones. Flexible work schedules will be at the top of the list. Career assistance also will be popular.

Develop multiple, company-wide career paths to help older team members with career management. Offer career planning training and individual career counseling.

Allow individuals the option of transferring into positions with less income and responsibility. Establish programs to smoothly move retirees from full-time to part-time positions.

Later options might encompass consulting, independent contracting or temporary jobs. Consider job sharing as a choice.

Additional intangible benefits to promote consist of various positive feelings that working for you will generate, such as usefulness, being needed, the productive usage of time and a sense of accomplishment and growth.

Further perks include a structure to daily life, a reason for getting up in the morning, the chance to make new friends and the opportunity to remain in touch with current events.

The work environment, or organizational climate, must also be conducive to the older worker. Negative stereotypes abound regarding the mature worker, such as increases in infirmities and declines in intelligence, memory, accuracy, motivation and the ability to learn new tasks.

Offer workshops to eliminate these age-related biases. Provide education concerning the advantages of mature employees, including punctuality, proven experience, emotional stability, a positive attitude, strong people skills, commitment to quality, a solid work ethic, customer service skills, an eagerness to learn new tasks, the ability to make good decisions, and lower absenteeism and turnover.

Begin devising benefit strategies now to ensure your business is attractive and accommodating to older workers. The benefit to you will be remaining fully staffed during the upcoming employee shortage.

(Lynne Haggerman is president/ owner of Haggerman & Associates, an employment, management training, human resources consulting, and outplacement firm.)