We all know it and hear about it at least weekly. If you were to live in my thoughts my brain would ping your mental inbox daily - The Boomers are retiring, the Boomers are retiring!! No this is not shaping up to be a creative rendition of Revere's ride when the British were coming...The Boomers are retiring and nearly everyone who holds any sort of biz sustainment mindset - is thinking of this often. Hopefully your thoughts are moving you to Action - not just thinking!
Sure the numbers tell a lot. Here is one for you - Last year in the US 7,918 people were projected to turn 60 every day. That is 330 per/hour! Check out the US Census Bureau for other wild data (www.census.gov).
So much of the Boomer retiring worry is associated to the upcoming worker shortage. After all, the numbers prove it and we can do the numbers rumba all day long. So long as you have Google you do not need to hear a speaker rant on more and more numbers. There are many more boomers than "This" Gen so we have a mathematical reality that creates a shortage. Fine...move on.
My question to you is: Does this numerical shortage really lead to a debilitation of a company's future?
If you see your company's future in terms of warm bodies (numbers) and your panic button remains red - you're missing it. Upon last check, China is not struggling with a shortage of workers. Heck - if you do not perform at your job in China, they will just find someone else to do it. Why? Because they can! In large part due to the gigantic working populace. In 06' my dad traveled to China with Sara Grace & JMax on an EQUIP trip. They had conversations with business leaders who flat out confirmed this. China has not focused on developing leaders and now they are starving for leadership development. Their surplus has harbored a debilitating mindset. Strength in numbers is not always a sustainable strength. Lack of Development leads to a crisis regardless of the warm body war.
Why not develop the future of your workforce and work insanely hard to create an environment that raises world class leaders no matter what socioeconomic background they come from? Human potential is amazing - you just have to dedicate a huge portion of your sustainability to it!
Take comfort that while smaller in numbers - the next generation is amazingly bright, they desire to be lead and they want a cause. In her insanely awesome article Nadira Hira of Fortune Magazine included the following thought from Bruce Tulgan - founder of Rainmaker Thinking , a leading generational-research firm: " This is the most high-maintenance workforce in the history of the world. The good news is they're also going to be the most high performing workforce in the history of the world."
Their rapid entry into the marketplace coupled with the mass exodus of boomers is actually bringing the demand for timeless leadership principles back to our daily discipline. A warm body is going to be merely that. Harnessing the gifting and wildly creative mind of "This" gen with Radical Leadership will lead to a multiplication factor that can greatly improve business that is good for the future and oh yes Great for the world.
After all, thousands of years ago - there were many many battles dominated by the group who was smallest in numbers but MOST GIANT in passion, community and belief!
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