For so long as I’ve been a enterprise proprietor, the narrative surrounding the newborn boomer era was all concerning the coming retirement wave. We have been promised a mass exodus from the workforce, a seismic shift that would go away firms scrambling to fill the void. At Optima Workplace, an outsourced accounting and HR firm I based nearly six years in the past, we started getting ready for the shift within the workforce by specializing in excessive retention. We felt that listening to the wants of our workers was a technique to do this.
After talking with a few of our child boomer workers, I noticed that lots of them cherished their work—and mentoring the youthful group members—a lot that they didn’t wish to hold up their hat after they turned 65. That era was led to consider that retirement was the dream that they’d labored so onerous to realize, however upon reflection, the stark transition from full-time work to full-time retirement felt extra like a demotion than a reward.
Whereas at many firms the trail to retirement is a inflexible ladder—climb to the highest of your profession, hit a delegated age, after which retire—this one-size-fits-all method typically leaves retirees grappling with monetary anxieties, identification shifts, and a sudden lack of objective. Some forward-thinking firms are reimagining retirement with a brand new method, and I made a decision we’d create an alternate choice for our workers: Flextirement.
Easing into Retirement
Flextirement is a versatile work association designed to ease the transition between full-time employment and retirement with versatile hours, lowered workloads, and phased approaches to leaving the workforce. This bridge affords a lower-stress transition. Workers can ease into retirement by working 10, 20, or 30 hours as an alternative of 40, permitting flextirees to regulate to an revenue shift, discover hobbies, and spend extra time with family members, all whereas step by step letting go of labor.
For many of our flextirees, working part-time is a privilege. For others, it might be a monetary necessity. In keeping with a Bankrate survey, 56% of U.S. employees consider they’re behind on their retirement financial savings.
For enterprise homeowners like myself, there are numerous benefits. Seasoned workers, when transitioning to a flextirement function, can grow to be invaluable mentors for youthful colleagues. Plus, as we all know nicely, as an outsourced HR firm, discovering and coaching replacements for senior workers will be costly. Flextirement gives a cheap approach to appeal to skilled workers and retain them—and their institutional data.
I’ve at all times advocated for a really versatile work surroundings, which is why my firm supplied flextirement from day one. We want extremely expert assets comparable to CFOs, and I’ve discovered an unimaginable expertise pool that’s close to retirement or popping out of retirement to work part-time. It’s essential to notice, nonetheless, that versatile work hours are usually not solely a perk for our workers nearing retirement; we let individuals of all ages work the hours that make sense for them. In actual fact, solely a dozen of our 100 workers work greater than 40 hours per week, and that’s by alternative.
Flextirement has had an extremely optimistic affect for our group. These seasoned veterans, those with a long time of expertise beneath their belts, didn’t need to fully step away. They craved a steadiness—the mental stimulation of their careers with out the full-time dedication. And for us as an organization, the advantages have been simple, reaping the worth of their expertise and know-how.
In the present day, 12 of our workers are on a flextirement plan. They work wherever from 12 to 25 hours per week, mentor junior workers, and contribute to particular initiatives the place their experience shines. They can make their very own schedule and spend time with grandkids, but in addition give their a few years of experience to the businesses who want them. Past technical experience, our flextirees carry a wealth of sentimental expertise honed over a long time of expertise. They perceive group dynamics, the artwork of negotiation, and the significance of clear communication. These are invaluable classes for our youthful workforce.
Our flextirees are demonstrably happier and extra engaged. They’ve the time for his or her private lives, hobbies, and households, but they continue to be linked to the work they love. This, in flip, fosters an organization tradition that prioritizes well-being and work-life steadiness. And, as I discussed, it isn’t simply boomers that get this profit; I’ve at all times let our group work part-time if that’s what matches their way of life, so there isn’t a resentment from youthful workers.
Embracing Flextirement
To implement flextirement in your organization, you could possibly begin by providing part-time roles to the older era. Begin in areas you want them most! It might even be in positions comparable to assistant work or administrative. Or it may very well be in extremely expert areas such because the C-suite.
Be open-minded when talking with candidates. Exterior of flextirement, think about what number of mother and father desire a extra gradual transition again from maternity/paternity depart or wish to work part-time whereas their kids are younger. As a mother of a toddler, I realized this firsthand and that’s why I made it our official coverage to supply mother and father with extra flexibility so that they know they’ve our assist to regulate their work schedule in several phases of their parenting journey. A lot of our child boomer flextirees—now working part-time to be able to tackle a extra lively function of their grandchildren’s lives—want they’d this association after they have been new mother and father as nicely.
Because the child boomer era continues to redefine retirement, flextirement is poised to grow to be extra commonplace. Corporations that embrace this mannequin will reap the advantages of a wealth of expertise, data switch, and a happier, extra engaged workforce. Right here at Optima Workplace, we’re not simply weathering the storm of a altering workforce, we’re driving the wave. Flextirement isn’t a concession, it’s a nontraditional method to retirement with benefits for firms and their workers.
As extra firms embrace this revolutionary method, the normal retirement cliff may simply grow to be a mild, versatile slope the place everybody can discover their very own comfy touchdown level.
Contributed by Jennifer Barnes, an EO San Diego chapter member who’s the founder and CEO of Optima Office, which affords outsourced accounting and HR companies to assist companies of each dimension―from offering total accounting or HR departments to filling gaps on current groups. This publish first appeared on Fortune and is reposted right here with permission.
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