Lifelong Learning Toolkit (LLT)
Retain

An organization's former employees are an important source for current job candidate referrals as well as being an important source for mentors and faculty for formal learning programs. Consider creating an online network of former employees, offering online networking as well as select face-to-face events.

In a study entitled, HR Executive's Guide to Web 2.0 conducted with 537 organizations by the Aberdeen Group, findings indicate:

  • 40% of organizations use social networking to stay in touch with former employees-most of these organizations are over 10,000 employees;
  • Another 29% of organizations plan to implement some type of corporate alumni networking within the next 12 months.

As Boomers retire, staying in touch with former employees will be critical to future talent acquisition strategies.

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Reach out to newly retired employees to become mentors to new recruits. In an article in the Wall Street Journal on July 13, 2009 entitled, "Delayed Retirements are Boom and Bane For Firms," IBM states that it is reaching out to older workers and newly retired workers to become mentors to newly hired workers. IBM reports that in the past six months, 3,500 employees have signed up to be mentors and more than 2,600 co-workers have sought them out, showing demand for coaching and mentoring among new hires.

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Examine your tuition reimbursement policy to ensure your organization is making strategic use of this and it meets your organization's strategic business priorities. A study conducted by the Council for Adult and Experiential Learning (CAEL) found that only 20% of 300 firms currently measure the strategic impact of tuition reimbursement and almost half have no plans to do so in the future. While tuition assistance programs are a key and critical aspect of talent management, they must be transformed from an entitlement benefit to a business driven part of each employee's learning and development plan. This means re-tooling talent needs to start with an agreement on what skills and competencies are needed for job families in the future to meet your organization's business goals and how a select group of universities can be your partners in this endeavor.

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Updated on: November 10, 2010