Dive Brief:
- It's been rumored for years – the expected brain drain driven by the baby boomers finally retiring. Despite the sky-is-falling mindset, there is a way to prepare for it, according to an article at ERE Media: analytics.
- David Creelman, a human capital consultant, writes HR must construct a simple model, department by department, on any retirements most likely to happen in the next five years.
- Armed with that data, the next move is "fact-based discussions" with each department manager, which should begin to minimize the "tsunami" effect to a more digestible disaster.
Dive Insight:
Creelman's "simple model" can be done, he writes, in Excel by calculating how many people currently can retire and then ballpark estimating how many actually will go. HR leaders don't need to limit it to Excel, of course, especially if something more sophisticated if available, but simplicity is the goal.
Don't forget to check out existing attrition rates to gauge if additional attrition due to retirements is actually important. He says qualitative data on how good a department is on filling vacancies can help determine the urgency around whether the problem is a ripple or the oft-mentioned tidal wave.
Creelman's point is analytics, even of the unsophisticated variety, can turn a "major problem” to an objective view of the reality, removing all the speculation and guessing. In addition, retirement calculations are a great way for HR to use data in solving a problem.
