Surviving the Generation Brain Drain

The Baby Boomers are retiring. While that may seem like good news for subsequent generations looking to capitalize on new opportunities, another outcome has corporations wringing their figurative hands. As older employees pack up their desks to enjoy their sunset years, they’re taking with them decades of institutional knowledge. The result is an unprecedented brain drain, which is leading to a nationwide seismic shift as organizations try to recruit top-tier talent and fill open positions.

Companies are realizing too late that they haven’t implemented a feasible succession plan to account for the retirement wave. For businesses that still have time to initiate a process to stave off the workforce crevasse, consider these steps:

  1. Roll Out a Mentoring Plan – One of the best ways to transfer knowledge and minimize hiccups is to institute a mentoring plan matching senior employees with younger hires. A company-sanctioned process helps to eliminate the fear that older employees are being forced out, but also enables younger employees to realize investment in their futures.
  2. Maximize Shared Learning – Seasoned employees will have plenty of information and experience to share with newer hires, but it’s critical to not overlook that shared learning can be a two-way street. Those with less experience in the workforce have technological and efficiency advantages they can impart on more tenured cohorts. A shared learning program helps facilitate the flow of knowledge.
  3. Adjust Career Tracks – Just because your company has adhered to a seniority structure for a long time doesn’t mean it can’t adapt to new opportunities. Similar to how colleges and universities allow students to design their own majors, you can follow a comparable procedure to allow employees to maximize their talents and interests to better the company – while still meeting the needs of the business.
  4. Create and Execute the Succession Plan – After you take time to implement the above items, consider partnering with a recruiting firm. Multi-hire project search and contingency search are two solutions you can start now in preparation for the vacancies of the future.

Is your business set up to survive the generation brain drain or struggling to find top talent? Key Corporate Services can help. We’re here to help and we’d be happy to discuss solutions to any executive hiring challenge you have or might have. Contact us today.

About Key Corporate Services

Key Corporate Services specializes in executive headhunting, with expertise in the industrial chemicals, pharma & biotech, food ingredient, finance and accounting, and manufacturing and engineering industries.