Retiring baby boomers are already creating critical challenges in health care, and the oil and gas industries, according to a recently released study by WorldatWork, Buck Consultants, and Corporate Voices for Working Families. The study assessed the responses from more than 480 organizations in a broad cross section of industries. Regardless of industry, many companies have not planned for the exodus of mature workers. “It’s more than just a problem of not having enough bodies to replace retiring boomers; the real challenge is transferring their knowledge and talents to succeeding generations of workers,” said Buck Consultants’ spokesman James Sowers. Forty-two percent of the companies participating in the study have not identified who is responsible in their organization for knowledge transfer and knowledge management.

Reward and performance management programs are not keeping pace with current business demands and needs, according to a new Towers Perrin study. The study, fourth in a decade-long series of studies on rewards and performance management, is based on a survey of 600 human resource and compensation managers in 21 countries.

Although the majority in the survey said their reward strategies were designed to retain and attract talent, few of the actual tactics were consistent with this focus, the survey finds. Among the trends highlighted in the study: most customized rewards are directed to sales positions, not customer service or research and development; a “disturbing” 68 percent of the respondents said their company had no formal method of measuring the return on their investment in rewards; and over 40 percent said that their performance management systems did not effectively link to business needs, and that their systems did not effectively equip managers to identify, develop and reward high performers or deal with poor performance.

Employers have up to two years in which they may be able to change a retiring worker’s decision by offering incentives to remain with the company, according to results of a survey by the nonpartisan Employee Benefit Research Institute.

“Although no single incentive is likely to motivate the majority of retirees to stay longer with their employer, it appears that employers may be able to assemble a toolkit of alternatives that would be effective in retaining substantial numbers of workers,” says EBRI. It cited incentives such as making the potential retiree feel “truly needed” for assignments, providing a pension while the retiree is working, contract work, pay raises and health benefits, allowing telecommuting or part-time work, among others.

According to the Urban Institute, employers may need to rethink traditional workplace practices in order to attract and retain highly experienced, knowledgeable, and skilled older workers. In its report Current Strategies to Employ and Retain Older Workers, researchers find that many older people prefer part-time work so they can enjoy more relaxed lifestyles and pursue leisure activities, or may need flexible schedule to accommodate family care or physical limitations. Work policies that prevent part-time workers from collecting retirement benefits from their employer often force these workers to leave their career jobs, thus squandering firm-specific skills accumulated over long careers, notes the study. The report suggests employers could offer formal and informal phased retirement options, and creating flexible schedules, job sharing, and telework arrangements to keep the skilled older worker.

No surprise for Hawaii employers, a nationwide survey shows that of companies reporting a lack of affordable housing near their location, 67 percent believe it is having a negative impact on retaining qualified entry-level and mid-level employees. The survey was released by the Urban Land Institute, a non-profit education and research organization. ULI says that 58 percent of larger companies (100+ employees) reported losing employees in part to long commute times; 69 percent believed that a long commute time increased employee stress, 63 percent believed it triggered negative emotion, 48 percent said it caused more absenteeism, and 46 percent said it contributed to employee turnover/attrition. According to the survey, 45 percent of the larger companies offer flextime to reduce commuting time and 21 percent offer telecommuting.

According to a recently released national survey by MetLife, employee retention was rated the most important benefits objective by more than half of employers. “Over the past 18 months, 22% of employees changed employers,” the study says. “Looking ahead over the next 18 months, nearly three-quarters of employers believe that the competition for talent will intensify.” The study looks at the importance of employee benefits as a recruiting/retention tool and the need for benefit education and advice. It suggests that employers who tailor benefits to meet workers “life-stage” needs and can effectively communicate benefit options will be able to better attract and retain the best workers. See The MetLife Study of Employee Benefit Trends for the survey report.

Millennial workers—those born between 1980 and 2000—will soon be replacing the retiring baby boomers, and employers will have to learn to “understand their generational footprint in order to keep this tech-savvy, plugged-in group of employees engaged in their work,” writes Tom Gimbel, CEO of The LaSalle Network, in a recent article for Kennedy Information Recruiting Trends.

He says that to keep millennial staffers “passionate” about their work, employers have to provide challenges as well as guidance. “Give them a mentor — someone they can connect with on a personal and professional platform who will provide them one-on-one attention that will help them gain experience and knowledge,” Gimbel says. “The most important thing to remember about recruiting and managing millennials is that just like buying a new pair of jeans, the perfect fit is hard to find. But with a little time and wear and tear, they become comfortable, and eventually, irreplaceable. Always keep in mind that eventually, change leads to comfort.”

A “significant number” of workers leave their employers due to ineffective leadership and a lack of opportunities or challenges within the organization, according to an online survey by Right Management.

Of the 1,308 respondents, 30 percent said they left their job to seek new challenges or opportunities that were lacking with their previous employers. In addition, 25 percent of the respondents reported leaving employers because of ineffective leadership, 22 percent cited poor relationships with their managers, and 21 percent said their contributions were not valued. Poor management results in lower morale, decreased productivity, and employees who are disengaged from their jobs,” says Right Management spokesman Douglas Matthews. Only 43 percent of U.S. employees are fully engaged in their jobs, meaning that a majority – 57 percent – are not, according to Right Management's research.

“There is a direct correlation between the level of employee engagement and important business benchmarks such as higher customer retention, lower employee turnover, and increased sales and operating results,” says Matthews. “Organizations with high levels of engaged employees are also better able to retain customers, and generate higher sales and operating results.”