Millions of baby boomers will no longer be in the workplace as they will be retiring soon. This will have a direct impact on the workplace.
Baby boomers, who entered the workplace many years ago, will affect the workplace directly simply because they bring a lot of knowledge, skills, and abilities to the table. The corporate dangers of baby boomers leaving the workplace will affect it in the following ways:
Loss of Expertise
The workplace will get affected by the loss of expertise once the baby boomers leave the workplace. With years of experience, baby boomers know exactly what they are bringing to the table and once they leave, the workplace will struggle directly because there will no longer be people who have years of experience and expertise in the field.
Loss of Skills
The higher the experience a person has, the higher the skills they bring to the table. Therefore, once the baby boomers retire, the workplace will struggle from a loss of skills. These skills are generally missing in the new generation entering the workplace. Skills are important and they benefit the work in a positive manner. Baby boomers have an incredible amount of experience and have worked hard to attain these skills. As a result, they may cause a loss of skills in the workplace, jeopardizing the workplace with a lack of skills.
Loss of Knowledge and Talent
Baby boomers are fully equipped with knowledge. They are well rounded in whatever they do and they bring a lot of expertise and talent to the table. Therefore, baby boomers, once they leave the workplace, will cause a loss of knowledge, the knowledge that is integral and vital to the company. It will also lead to a loss of talent because baby boomers have a lot of experience in their field and their leaving the company may negatively impact its overall well-being.
Loss of Experience
Another major impact that baby boomer leaving the workplace is that it will lead to a loss of experience. Baby boomers have a lot of experience because they probably entered the workplace many years ago and therefore, they bring a lot to the table. On the other hand, once these boomers leave, they will have a negative impact on the company simply because the company will have to deal with the major setback of losing experienced professionals. There is nothing better than having someone who has a lot of experience and baby boomers leaving the workplace will mean a loss of experience in every way.
Companies Will Have to Spend More On Training
Lastly, baby boomers are experienced professionals and therefore, once they leave the company, companies will have to spend more on the training of new hires. Training costs are high and companies will have to invest in new employees to replace the expertise and experience that baby boomers bring to the table.
Therefore, baby boomers leaving the workplace will have negative impacts on the company in every way. Them leaving the company would translate into a loss of experience, skills, talent, higher expenditures and more.
So what are we left with and how will it affect the insurance industry?
Historically the insurance business is built on personal relationships. It is the very foundation on how successful producers develop new business and keep their existing business. There have been noticeable changes in the personal lines and small commercial area of the business with the entry of online choices and carrier programs. There seems to still be a real need on the consultative side of the business. A knowledge base that adds intellect to the process and not just writes insurance policies. This is true on the Property & Casualty side of the business and the Employee Benefits side of the business. There is still a need for a strong relationship that may even be face to face. There is also still a need for someone that can write a full sentence with recognizable words rather than the shorthand and emoji driven written communication.
Without the baby boomers we are left with the following new entries in the workplace:
Millennials (those born after 1981 and before 2002) They are often associated with being the generation that prefers to binge-watch Netflix series instead of heading to the movies. They use text messaging instead of calling and they use an app to date instead of meeting someone face to face. They do have some personal interaction but it is very limited. They brought technology into the cultural focus and forced other generations to use it just to keep up.
The Linkster Generation or Generation Z ( those born after 2002) is the first generation to be linked into technology from day one. It is widely believed that this is the generation that may become unstuck when it comes to good old-fashioned face-to-face communication and relationship building. This Generation may never hold a textbook, they will read everything from a tablet and never learn cursive writing. The Linkster Generation may never write a check or walk into a traditional bank.
There is a shift coming and the insurance industry is usually very slow to react to these types of shifts. There are already signs of this type of shift with the idea of Insuretech.
It is very important to recognize this shift because the future of our industry is going to depend on the generations to come and their ability to continue to build relationships.
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