Retirement coaching is an important employee benefit. Making the decision to retire can be very difficult for many employees. Sometimes life doesn’t give us much choice about when to retire. An injury at work or a serious illness might force some to leave work early. While these people may not be able to perform the same job, they may need to continue to make money or keep busy. These troubled economic times have forced many to work longer than they had planned just so they can continue to make contributions to their dwindling retirement accounts. Others have lost considerable value in their homes or other investments and consider extending their working years, a necessity. These workers may be just “doing time”, feeling burnt out or resentful that they cannot leave work as early as they had planned. You may not be getting the same productivity or enthusiasm from these employees as you had in the past.
As an employer, you may be facing the need to downsize or encourage employees to take an early retirement. These employees may not be ready to stop working or to leave their jobs, either financially or emotionally. As an employer, how can you help them make a transition to retirement?
For a large number of employees, work is a big part of their identity. Who someone is may often be a relection of what they do. Work provides social interaction, a sense of community and creates structure and routine in our lives. Many of us have worked with those who have little else in their lives besides work. For these people, retirement can be downright scary. These individuals may be able to retire financially but not emotionally. They need to replace the function that work plays in their lives with new hobbies, interests or a different kind of work.
What happens for people when they retire before they are ready or prepared? For men, the number one malady in retirement is depression. When leisure activities are always available, they may be less pleasurable and most people need more in their lives to keep them happy and busy. Couples may face a difficult adjustment to spending more time together and they may not agree on how and where they want to spend their retirement years.
The people who retire “successfully” tend to share the following characteristics:
- Being socially engaged and active in their community
- Volunteering or assisting others
- Participating in a new hobby, interest or activity
- Working part time or in a new career
- Financially prepared for retirement
- Physically active and working on wellness
We can help you prepare your employees for retirement. We offer group sessions for small groups of employees as well as individual coaching. Our progam includes a retirement readiness assessment and then we work with clients on the areas that may need some focus. Retirement coaching is a great return on investment. When employees can feel positive about entering the next phase of their lives, they will be more productive during their last few months or years as an employee.
For more information contact Audrey at audreyr@fee-eap.com