FLEXIBLE PHASE-OUT

Where an organization's options regarding retirement are not constrained by a traditional defined benefit pension plan, retaining people, rather than rehiring them after their formal retirement, is the preferred course of action. With this strategy, a company decreases the chance that it will lose talented individuals to another company or to full-time retirement, and reduces the disruption to a work group if the person's new job requires working with the same people. To keep them employed past their retirement eligibility date, all these people need is a clear path to the finish line in the form of no loss in pay or benefits, and management's encouragement to stay. The people who want to continue working are looking for more major adjustments in their work situation; that is, they want to start making the transition into retirement. Some inducements that management needs to offer to key, high-performing older employees who want to continue working past normal retirement age would be relatively easy to implement, while others would involve alterations to long-established HR policies as well as the acceptance of individualized offerings in many cases. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]