How to design a wellbeing strategy that supports employees approaching retirement
For the first time, businesses and HR teams are facing unique challenges in supporting their older employees who are staying in work for longer. So, how can you make sure your business can best support employees as they reach retirement and move on to the next chapter of their life? We believe there are four key areas to focus on when designing your strategy.
1. Flexible working
The reason why flexible working is important for this demographic is twofold. First, allowing employees nearing retirement to start winding down their working hours can be really helpful in enabling them to adjust more easily to a new routine that doesn’t involve work.
Second, there are currently around 2.4 million people in the UK who fall into the ‘sandwich generation’, and it’s likely you have some of these people in your workforce. The ‘sandwich generation’ refers to people who might be looking after their elderly parents, and have their own children still living at home. There may also be some who have caring responsibilities for grandchildren. Work/life balance and flexibility around work is crucial for these employees.
2. Coaching
For employees who are about to retire, there may be uncertainty around what they will do after work. The change from a full working life and busy routine, to a slower pace of life can be overwhelming. And people may feel at a loss for what to with the extra hours in the day.
A career coach can help employees think about life beyond the workplace, and explore options for staying active post-retirement; looking at an employee’s skills gained through work and how they can be applied in other ways. This could be volunteering their time for a charity, undertaking board director roles or maybe even starting their own business.
3. Financial education
With lower levels of pension provision and the State Pension needing to last longer, employees approaching retirement may need extra support with financial planning. Your pension provider should be able to help you with this, or perhaps you can support employees in finding an independent financial planner to ensure their finances are in order.
Alongside the functional aspects of a pension, such as gaining access to it, employees might not only need help preparing to have a lower income, but also for increased spending on things like leisure activities. You could run workshops to help employees plan a budget for their new income.
4. Mental wellbeing
This is often an area that can be overlooked when planning for an employee’s retirement, as the concentration will be on the practical stuff. But retirement is a huge change and, as a result, mental wellbeing can suffer. As a person reaches the end of their working life, they can be affected by the loss of workplace relationships or support networks. They might also experience low self-worth or self-esteem, as their valuable contribution to work ends, before they find what’s next.
It’s important to have mental health support in place, such as an employee assistance programme or access to counselling services before retirement to guide employees through the transition, if needed. If you can, try to signpost employees to resources that can help them post-retirement. The Mental Health Foundation offers some helpful information.
This article was provided by Simplyhealth.
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