Retaining Retiring Employee Knowledge though Phased Retirement

By AgCareers.com

Within the next 20 years the international work force will lose an alarming number of workers. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, within NSW alone 37 percent of the labour force is over 45 years old. This mass migration of employees out of the workforce is going to leave considerable gaps in experience and knowledge. Employers and organisations need to begin setting up policies and procedures to ensure that the gap of knowledge left by retiring employees is as small as possible.

Phased Retirement is one process which has been developed to allow the transfer of knowledge to flow between retiring employees and the continuing workforce. While traditionally an employee would work full time in the position they hold until the day of their official retirement, phased retirement allows an employee to gradually ease out of the workforce making the transition easier and more effective for both them and their organisation.

There are several forms of phased retirement. One approach involves reorganising the retiring employee’s responsibilities so that rather than focusing on the completion of day to day tasks, they are focused on training and mentoring other staff members.

Often a phased retirement plan also involves reducing the number of hours the employee works. This allows the employee to adjust gradually to their new life balance. The Government of Western Australia Department of Consumer and Employment Protection suggests that "successful implementation of phased retirement also requires that employers foster a culture that enables mature workers to reduce hours or withdraw from former duties with dignity and respect." A phased retirement plan will only help an organisation retain the knowledge of the retiring employee if the ongoing employees can value the importance of the retiree’s experience and knowledge.

Creating a structured plan for phased retirement will help achieve the best results. Determine the time frame of each section of the retirement plan. At what point will specific tasks be reassigned? On what date will the employee’s hours be reduced, and by how much? On what day will the employee completely retire? Does the employer want to keep the retiring employee on a retainer for consultation purposes after retirement?

After 40 to 50 years in the workforce, the idea of retirement can be very daunting. The idea of replacing someone with 40 to 50 years of experience can also be very daunting. Phased retirement has many benefits for both the employee and the employer. The retiring employee has an opportunity to begin experiencing retirement whilst still feeling like they are making a worthwhile contribution. The employer has an additional period of time in which they can extract expertise from the outgoing employee. It’s a good idea to implement phased retirement in any organisation.