A 2017 article from the Society of Human Resources notes that 10,000 Baby Boomers turn 65 every day. With thousands of Boomers reaching retirement age every day, more and more companies are seeing large numbers of employee exit, leaving huge talent gaps and reducing overall employee productivity and company effectiveness. Because of their many years of experience and established industry relationships, losing Boomers from the workforce creates more risks for businesses. Here’s how some of that turnover is affecting businesses in every industry, including building materials companies and construction organizations.

  1. Lack of knowledge: When Baby Boomers leave, they take their knowledge and experience with them. This leaves companies open to important tasks not meeting the same standard of completion or even falling through the cracks entirely during the transition.
  2. Relationship risks: Many Baby Boomers have been in their roles for decades and have created strong relationships with vendors and clients in the industry. Once they leave the company, these partnerships risk falling apart due to a lack of trust with new contacts or resistance to working with someone new.

One of the best ways to approach the challenges of an aging workforce is to create a strong succession plan. This ensures a complete knowledge transfer and prepares younger workers to step into these roles more naturally and confidently. One of the most important steps in succession planning is mapping the employees who are exiting with the most likely internal replacements. This helps to identify any gaps that will need to be hired externally, as well as match retiring employees with those being promoted to start mentoring-type relationships. These relationships help mentees can understand the what, why, and how of the roles and responsibilities of their new roles.

Another way to plan for and execute the best possible transitions during more frequent employee retirement is by working with a talent agency that can find leadership talent with the right experience as well as an excellent cultural fit. Losing leadership talent can be a difficult transition for employees, and finding the right talent to step in and support the business as well as maintain morale and positive employee relationships is critical. Our organization has years of experience in locating and placing the right industry talent. Contact our team at TalentSphere Staffing Solutions today to start working on filling upcoming vacancies and keeping your business on track for the future.