Most HR managers for the past few years have been reading about the pending
talent shortage their companies will face once the baby boomers retire. Yet few
of them have the backing of their CEOs to start addressing the issue.
The
problem is, HR often doesn’t have the data to back up the belief that their
companies will be affected as the baby boomers leave the workforce, experts
say.“Until they feel it, many CEOs tend to not take action,” says Jamie
Hale, practice leader of workforce planning at Watson Wyatt Worldwide.
A new
tool introduced by AARP aims to help HR managers gather the data they need to
show how the maturing workforce may affect their companies and provide action
steps to address those challenges.
AARP created its Workforce Assessment Tool
because it was increasingly hearing HR managers say they knew about the changing
demographics of their workforces but didn’t know how to go about confronting
them, says Deborah Russell, director of workforce issues at AARP. “But we also
wanted the tool to generate a report that the HR manager could bring to the
decision makers at the company to illustrate the issue and how it’s going to
affect their organization.”
Users complete a multistep online questionnaire
that asks about the company’s organizational structure, demographics and culture
as well as what kind of programs the company has in place, such as training and
development and flexible work arrangements.
Upon completing the
questionnaire, users receive a report detailing the demographics of their
organizations, identifying skill shortages and detailing action steps the
company can take to get ahead of the problem.
For example, after using the
tool, executives at CVS learned that while they were doing a lot already to
attract and retain older workers, they needed to do more to bring them together
with younger employees, says Stephen Wing, director of workforce
initiatives.
As a result, the pharmacy chain recently launched its Senior
Pharmacist Legacy Mentoring Program, by which senior pharmacists act as mentors
to inner-city students attending pharmacy school, Wing says.
The tool is
also helpful in forcing companies to make sure they are gathering the right
data, says Bernadette Kenny, senior vice president of HR at Adecco Group North
America, a Melville, New York-based temporary staffing company that has used the
tool.
—Jessica Marquez
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