BRAIN DRAIN: EMPLOYERS DON'T GET IT!

A MetLife study on employers' attitudes about the forecast brain drain when older (Boomer) workers retire was the subject of an Employee Benefits News editor's letter in the February issue. The findings indicate that employers are not taking it seriously yet. Here are some findings:

*   97% of those employers that said they were concerned about the brain drain haven't calculated the cost of knowledge transfer to younger employees. (Are they hoping that the problem will disappear because workers will hang on longer and longer?)

*   When ranking factors that would keep older workers around long enough to accomplish knowledge transfer, employers placed little value on creating an inviting, positive workplace culture and other benefits.

*   MetLife found that only 24% of the employers think their workers enjoy the mental stimulation of work.

*   Responses in the study indicsate that only 12% of employers believe workers wanting to maintain social contact with colleagues is an important motivation to keep working.

*   Only 5% of employers said their workers appreciate feeling needed for an assignment.

So why keep working? Employers seem to think the only important motivation is money but studies throught this decade have indicated that is not so. The intellectual stimulation and social contact with colleagues as well as feeling valued and making a difference have been reported as significant reasons to keep working by workers themselves.

Employers need to turn serious attention to the coming brain drain and knowledge transfer using the following options or others they come up with: mentoring, coaching, enhanced training, developing succession plans, and exploring phased retirement scenarios as well as making the workplace a conducive place for pursuing organizational and individual goals.

Phyllis Weiss Haserot       www.pdcounsel.com