A few years ago, I was working with a company who offered a lucrative early retirement package. The CEO was shocked when only five of the 80 eligible employees signed up. Why wouldn’t more eligible employees sign up? Money, it turned out, wasn’t an effective motivator for employees who had “enough” money (whatever “enough” happened to mean to them). They preferred to continue coming to work.
I helped the company entice more eligible employees to accept the retirement package. The key turned out to be offering more focus on non-financial aspects –emotional and psychological-of planning for the future. When people don’t have a plan beyond work, they are more likely to “retire while on the job.” When people do have a plan, however, they know where they are going and have ideas on how to spend their time.
Here are three non-financial ways to make your retirement packages more appealing.
Reduce Fears
Retiring is a big life change, and people often fear change. In your HR role, you can help alleviate some common fears of those resisting retirement.
One of these common fears, for instance, is “who will I talk to if I’m not at work?” Most of our socialization comes from interactions in the workplace. That is one reason why mostly remote organizations still want employees to return to the physical workplace a few days a week.
The fear of losing the social aspect of work is supported by the research. Robert Waldinger, current director of the longest longitudinal study called the Harvard Study of Adult Development observed this: “Based on their responses, the No. 1 challenge people faced in retirement was not being able to replace the social connections that had sustained them for so long at work.” The main conclusion was that people don’t miss the work, but they miss the people.
One of the other biggest fears of leaving the workplace is the loss of identity. As Marsha Aldridge, Vice President of Shared Services, explains, “If employees are unaware of the identity transition that may take place in retirement, they will fail to prepare psychologically. Therefore, identity and emotional transition at retirement should be explored, applied, and planned.”
Aldridge makes an important point. If we are what we do and we don’t do it anymore, then who are we? This fear may be holding your employee back from shifting into retirement. (Read on for more about this.)
In your HR role, reducing fears involves addressing loneliness and preparing people to leave with tools and techniques for replacing the benefits from working with others in structured environments.
Educate on How to Navigate the Transition
I designed a workshop called Beyond the Money (BTM) to help future retirees make the rest of life the best of life. The two main components include finding one’s purpose and leaving a legacy.
Purpose is your reason for getting up in the morning. Without a work schedule, people need to plan to discover their passions and gifts based on their values. I’ve had numerous participants tell me they have not had the time or taken the time to do the inner work of exploration. They often feel stuck in their role, title, identity that no longer serves them into the future. Discovering our purpose is a journey and a practice throughout life because our purpose can change as we change.
Another way I help people find meaning is to encourage them to think about their legacy. Much of this work comes from my book, Breadcrumb Legacy: How Great Leaders Life a Life Worth Remembering. My definition of breadcrumb legacy™ is thinking about the impact and influence taking place on a daily basis—in bitesize pieces. By encouraging your employees to think about the small actions they can take every day, the notion of what they’re leaving behind will seem more immediate.
Legacy is usually talked about at the end of a career or end of life. And retirement is a death. Our life as we knew it is ending and it is important to learn to navigate this transition. Try encouraging your people to write a legacy letter (also known as an ethical will) for themselves and their loved ones. This is a process of articulating their values and beliefs in order to pass them on with the people most important to them. The power of legacy writing is it requires employees to reflect on their careers and life to harvest the wisdom gained from years of life experience. This work reminds them of how their lives had meaning.
Show Appreciation for Loyalty
Think about employees who’ve retired from your organization in the past. How were they treated? How employees leave a workplace affects how those who remain feel about the process and the organization. If your current employees believe that you’ve treated exiting employees as costs to be cut rather than assets that appreciate, this too can invoke fears that prevent them from taking advantage of retirement packages. No one wants to invest a significant portion of their life into building something and be forgotten as soon as they’re out the door.
Vermeer Corporation is one company that others should benchmark for their dedication to employees. In 2016, they created a program called “Equipped for Life.” Teresa Hovell, benefits manager, said “This program is part of the legacy left by Mary and Dale Andringa”—family members of the founders of Vermeer. They want people feeling prepared for retirement. In fact, the Andringas feel so strongly about this program that they teach several of the sessions themselves and share their own personal stories and challenges with retirement.
Equipped for Life consists of several workshops each addressing an aspect of life beyond one’s career: financial, physical, emotional, and spiritual. Common responses from employees who completed the program include:
· I only thought about the money—and nothing else.
· I never considered what to do with my time.
· Everyone should take this program because of all I learned.
When I asked Hovell about the benefits to Vermeer for investing the time, money, and energy into employees who will be leaving, she responded, “It is the right thing to do. It reflects our care and compassion to loyal employees. We gain nothing when they leave—we actually lose. This is our way of taking care of the whole employee.”
Retirees can be your best ambassadors if they leave feeling valued and appreciated. Most companies provide financial information to make sure employees are prepared for life after work, but few organizations invest resources into the non-financial aspects of retirement.
As Marsha Aldridge told me, “Investing in employees beyond retirement and beyond financial planning is a low cost and smart decision for any organization. Companies that assist employees with this journey reap the rewards in many ways: truly caring about the employee, viewing the transition holistically, offering a benefit that is low cost, building a positive social media feedback loop, and potentially adding to referrals in the talent pipeline. In this age of social media, a happy and engaged retiree is as valuable as a current employee. Positive social media feedback and talent referrals are important interactions for organizations. It is a win/win proposition!”
Jann E. Freed, Ph.D., is a leadership development coach and speaker, as well as the author of “Breadcrumb Legacy: How Great Leaders Live a Life Worth Remembering” (Routledge). You can learn more about Jann at https://jannfreed.com and more about Breadcrumb Legacy at https://amz.run/6Bbz.