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How do you manage someone that’s on the verge of retirement?
First, let’s get into the mind of the near-retiree.
Older employees bring valuable experience, knowledge and expertise to the table – and they often know it. They can be gracious and team oriented or quite smug and uninterested in their work.
Some of them continue to work because they need the money and others have a passion for it – they love what they do and they’re good at. Some continue to work simply because it’s something to do and they can’t imagine not working or wouldn’t know what to do with so much time in retirement.
They are often thinking about their legacy and reflecting on their time at your company. They are also likely dreaming of where they’ll go (and in what) and where they’ll be a few years down the road. They may even have a countdown calendar or know exactly how many days they have left on the job until they plan on retiring.
While they are often great individual contributors, that doesn’t mean they are necessarily managers or leaders. Given this, its best to build a team with them included – whether an actual working group or a team mentality – that will help you learn from them and allow them to learn from you.
Overall, your posture toward them as a business owner should be one of respect and the feeling that “We’re a team.” That’s what many successful businesses and business owners have in common regardless of the demographics of their workforce.
Still, there are challenges to managing these near-retirees, as you likely know. It can be harder to discipline or hold someone accountable if they’re older and the conversation may be quite different than one you would have with your intern.
You should make time to have a candid conversation with them about when they’re going to retire, however. Not only is it good to know, but it’s a decision that will impact your business and the bottom line. How exactly? I’m sure you know that the older someone gets, the more expensive they get, generally speaking. They often have high medical expenses and salaries and workman’s comp and your contributions to their 401K add up fast.
At this point, you need to honestly consider their value to the company and whether a buy-out would serve both parties, as hard as that can sometimes be. Remember that you can’t make them retire legally, but Colorado is a right to work state, so you can let someone go anytime, for any reason. The bottom line is that you can let anyone go that you can’t afford or isn’t producing the work you want.
But tread carefully, dear friends, and thoughtfully consider the value they and their experience bring to your company before making any big decisions.
Good luck and let me know how I can help!
By Blair Koch
