How to replace retiring employees with new talent

If you’re searching “how to replace retiring employees”, you’ve likely just found yourself with the daunting task of replacing someone that is irreplaceable!

Retiring staff members possess years of knowledge, experience, and contacts, and are relied on by other colleagues to answer any queries because of their extensive industry know-how.

But it’s a situation that businesses are increasingly going to be navigating due to the UK’s ageing workforce. There is currently a record level of older employees, aged 65 years and over, working in the UK. With the Office of National Statistics putting it at 1.5million people older people active at work. Not only does this mean it’s essential for a successful business to have a strategy in place to replace retiring staff with new talent, but it is time businesses used it as an opportunity for learning and growth.

If you’re dealing with a resignation, learn how to handle an employees resignation in our blog.

Involve the retiring worker for knowledge transfer

The first step when looking to fill the role would be to look at the original job specification and interview process. Whilst this will give guidance, it’s important to assess how you see the future of this role and whether you want to broaden their remit and required skill sets.

Although it’s likely you have a solid understanding of their role, ask them about their day-to-day work, the main skills they use, how they see the role progressing, and whether there are any internal members of staff they think would be a good replacement. The success of the replacement could be greatly affected by this feedback. It’s a great recruitment strategy as they will have an in-depth knowledge of the requirements for the role, so incorporate as much of their insight into developing a revised job specification so there is clarity for those interested in applying.

Inviting the retiring employee to participate in the recruitment process and interviews alongside the hiring manager could be an appropriate next step or devising some relevant interview questions at the very least.

Have staff ready to progress

When members of your workforce are nearing retirement age, it’s more important than ever to invest in training and development of promising staff that could progress. It’s great for team morale to feel like career advancement is prioritised and means future recruitment decisions can be made quicker. There is also the huge bonus of not having to spend time onboarding as many external people if there are a steady stream of talent coming up through the business.

It’s important to remember to practice this approach throughout the company structure, as promoting a staff member internally in one area means there will then be a vacancy elsewhere. Also that if each role is filled with internal candidates, you could be missing out on exploring quality external candidates who could bring fresh skills and perspective into the business.

Collaborate on onboarding

Knowledge silos are a real problem in modern workplaces and occur when an employee leaves an organisation and takes their extensive knowledge with them. A period of knowledge transfer and transition, is where the retiring member of staff can share their knowledge with the new candidate.

This is a great solution for training and onboarding and could potentially be rolled out for a number of months if they give advance notice of their retirement date. Business could even offer a phased retirement, where the staff member goes down to part-time hours or even takes on a consultancy role.

Involve an experienced agency to replace your retiring employees

Recruitment agencies are a failsafe way of finding quality permanent employees. Agencies like RE Recruitment will help you find candidates for open vacancies and you will only pay should your vacancy be filled.

As a a recruitment agency we have over 20 years’ experience across a wide number of sectors and have offices across the UK in Cheltenham, Hereford, Telford & Worcester. We have a team of recruitment specialists who are experts at attracting talent and filling roles with quality individuals who fit your company culture.

If you are looking to hire and would like a no obligation call, please submit a staffing requirement and let us know who you are looking to hire.