Baby Boomer Retirement: Is Your IT Department Ready?

It has taken years to build the IT team you need to keep your business running like clockwork. You have state-of-the-art equipment, efficient systems, and a team of the best IT people you could assemble. But what happens when key members of your team reach retirement age?

Baby Boomers have amassed a huge base of knowledge and experience, but now they are reaching retirement age at the rate of tens of thousands per day.

How Do You Manage Retiring Employees?

Don't panic. Just because someone turn 65 doesn't mean they are ready to retire. Several factors could keep tech workers on the job longer than their predecessors:

• Sixty-five isn't as old as it used to be. Medical advances mean people are living longer and are healthier than ever before.
• They love their jobs. IT professionals are by their nature problem-solvers. They may not be eager to give up the daily reward of working on challenging projects.
• They can't afford to retire. The recession and the collapse of the real estate market means that many boomers may need to put their retirement plans on hold.

The Best Methods to Keep Baby Boomers Engaged

• Be flexible. Get out of the 9-to-5 mindset. Rather than retiring, older workers may prefer working part-time or consulting. This win-win solution gives you access to their expertise and they get more time to spend on outside interests.
• Be proactive. As boomers age, they may face physical challenges even if they remain mentally sharp. Schedule an ergonomic assessment to be sure that their workstation is still suitable for them.
• Be aware. Consider assigning other workers to perform physically challenging tasks such as company-wide desktop replacement projects.

Of course, plenty of employees will be more than ready to retire at 65. Baby Boomers comprise such a large proportion of the workforce that their departure can mean a big loss to your skills and knowledge base. What is the best way to make sure you have all bases covered when they do leave?

Making an Employee's Retirement Transition Painless

Create a knowledge base. Provide access to written materials, shared documents or an intranet site where people can update information and share best practices.

Create a transition plan. For highly technical positions, a few days of job shadowing is not enough to thoroughly train replacement workers. Plan for a younger worker to work closely with the soon-to-be retiree for several months to learn the unspoken tasks and shortcuts that no one ever writes down.

Hire strategically. Losing experienced workers can be stressful, but it also creates opportunity. The loss of more experienced workers may allow you to bring in younger candidates who are versed in the latest technologies and may be less expensive to hire.

Take advantage of this chance to downsize without the pain of layoffs. Can you reduce your headcount in favor of a more flexible workforce? Bringing in contract employees or consultants on a project basis can give you access to talent with specialized technical skills without adding to your full-time payroll.

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