not <\/em>keeping retirements a secret.<\/p>\nMaking Time for Knowledge Transfer<\/h2>\n
When an employee leaves on good terms with the company, it\u2019s about more than the next phase of their lives; it\u2019s about making sure their accumulated knowledge doesn\u2019t walk out the door with them.<\/p>\n
\u201cKnowledge transfer takes time and effort, so don\u2019t wait until a week before the retirement party to start the process. Either through mentorship, job sharing, job shadowing, or other techniques, have your retiring workers share the whys behind what they do and the way they do it,\u201d the Insperity staff points out.<\/p>\n
If you announce the retirement when the employee first informs their manager and Human Resources about it, you have time for an orderly transfer of knowledge.<\/p>\n
First, you can ask the outgoing employee for their recommendation on which employee(s) might be best suited to assume their work responsibilities. Once those employees are identified, the retiring employee and their boss can sit down with each of the employees identified to ask if they would be willing to take on the additional responsibilities, and to come up with a way for them to do it.<\/p>\n
Ask Employees Left Behind What They Need<\/h2>\n
The retiring employee may have provided support to those working alongside, or under, them. In some cases, it isn\u2019t about asking what the remaining employees can do to assume the retiring employees\u2019 responsibilities; it\u2019s about asking those left behind what they <\/em>will need.<\/p>\nWere there specific things the retiring employee did for others in their work group? If so, will they have to start doing those things for themselves, or will someone else take over those duties?<\/p>\n
These questions sometimes can be answered by determining who will take over the responsibilities of the retiring employee, but you still need to ask the employees left behind how the retiring employee supported them. There may be unofficial duties the retiring employee took on that supported colleagues.<\/p>\n
For example, at trade shows, the retiring employee may have served the role of \u201cwingperson\u201d to colleagues. They accompanied them to booths to meet and negotiate with vendors and potential business partners. They also may have gone with their colleagues to industry cocktail parts and other informal events to help make connections, easing the conversation.<\/p>\n
Who\u2019s going to help with the schmoozing now?<\/p>\n
Get Remaining Employees on Board with the Succession Plan<\/h2>\n
As the company plans to distribute the workload and informal support provided by the retiring employee, it also has to make sure the succession plan is workable. That means finding out whether those affected by the plan are on board with it.<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s say the plan calls for a new position to be created above an employee, so they will be pushed down in the corporate hierarchy, and may even have some of their autonomy taken away. You\u2019re going to want to make sure the affected employee is OK with that. You certainly want to make sure the change in corporate hierarchy doesn\u2019t come as a surprise to them.<\/p>\n
Give Colleagues Time to Say Goodbye<\/h2>\n
When you have worked with a colleague for years, or even decades, it\u2019s only natural to want to say goodbye. In many cases, you may never see this person again. It\u2019s important to have a farewell event. These events can range from a cake in a conference room in the office to after-work drinks, a work group or departmental dinner at a nice restaurant, or even a lavish party in a rented space.<\/p>\n
The important thing is to do something <\/em>and make it inclusive. You don\u2019t want only a small group of executives to toast the retiring employee. You want to give everyone whose work life they touched the chance to say thank you and goodbye.<\/p>\nOrganizing a digital page or \u201ccard\u201d where colleagues, both above and under the retiring employee, can offer reflections and well wishes can provide closure.<\/p>\n
The person responsible for filling the retiring employee\u2019s job role or dividing up their responsibilities also may find such a card enlightening. It\u2019s an easy way to see the many qualities that made this employee so special\u2014and potentially so hard to replace.<\/p>\n
How do you manage retirements in your organization? Do you have a policy of keeping retirements secret until the last minute? How do you ensure colleagues don\u2019t feel blindsided and the outgoing employees\u2019 responsibilities are covered after they leave?<\/p>\n
\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Tips for successfully managing employee retirements.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"cybocfi_hide_featured_image":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[69],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-51496","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-blog"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
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