Follow up to the concerns about an older employee coping with new systems

Follow up
Hi Elizabeth. It wasn’t easy finding the right moment to ask a few casual questions but I have the information now ….It’s love of everything about the work and fear of retirement. PL

 

Hi PL,
I’m pleased you didn’t rush in to get the information you needed. The right moment usually presents itself if time constraints allow you to be patient. Managers don’t always have that degree of flexibility though in determining when they choose to act.

Here’s what I think:
You could give them a specific new role with a firm end date and they could retire at that end date. That would provide a
wind-down period and yet a feeling of having made a valuable contribution. You may even be surprised at how well the person adapts.

The person could work part time and a decreasing time over a year e.g. work full time for 3 months after the change, then 3 days per week for a month, then 2 days etc down to a few hours a week after a few months. A win/win situation for everyone. It’s often found that after such a wind-down, the person actually suggests termination themselves as they become comfortable with leisure time and also realize that the changes are profound and the company situation vastly changed.

Ask HR or someone in payroll have a look at the persons retirement situation. Sometimes people think they have to keep going till e.g 65 to get a certain pension. Maybe the difference in retiring in 6 months time as opposed to 3 years time is only a small monetary difference. Is it possible to convince the person the difference isn’t worth loss of 2 years of leisure? Could you give them a “Loyalty” bonus if they retire which would bridge the monetary difference.

Those are just a few ideas off the top of my head. If none of those work for you, give me more detail and I’ll think again.

Elizabeth