Metrics Three, Four, Five, and Six: Succession Planning and Baby Boomer Retirement

The Baby Boomer retirement wave that will begin in 2008 has placed companies in a situation they have not previously managed in the modern business cycle: mass retirements of highly skilled, knowledgeable workers at a huge rate. No industry has been spared this management hurdle, nor have government, hospitals, and so on. Ask any engineering firm where their next generation of engineers is coming from; or any nursing team at a hospital in the United States, and the problem is clearly outlined in their minds: Their most senior leaders and workers will shortly be unavailable to their organization. Enter, an evolved view of how to use succession planning.

Succession Planning Will Exist Only at the Highest Levels in the Organization. The plan can’t reside in the desk drawer of the vice president of Human Resources, nor should it be the only topic of discussion at the annual managers’ meeting before lunch is served. This plan should be taken as seriously as a product roll out, a new division being formed, or any other group initiative that the company must face. It’s a cross functional plan as well, touching almost every aspect and level of the organization from Learning and Development to Finance, throughout all levels of management to Human Resources and, of course, the employees themselves.

Certainly this retirement wave will provide ample opportunity for Human Resources to lead the company through a rough terrain of recruiting, employee development, and strategic management, and ultimately prove yet again the value that best-in-class Human Resources management can bring to long-term company competitiveness. The first set of metrics will begin with evaluating the depth of impact to the organization. We then move into tools to help build business strategy around anticipated impacts.