Welcome back to the Hiring Edge Podcast. I'm your host Jen Gozer and I am thrilled to
have you here today. This is the show where we bring you the latest tips and strategies
to stay ahead in the ever evolving world of hiring for your business. Today, we've got
a game changer for you. We're tackling a topic that's on everyone's mind, hiring during
an fiscal year tsunami and not just that, hiring this year. With an aging workforce
and a tidal wave of retirement coming, how can you ensure your business not only survives
but thrives? Stick around as we dive deep into the critical issue and share actionable
insights to help you navigate these changing tides. Let's get started.
Okay, let's dive into this tsunami. So what is a silver tsunami? We definitely need
to talk about this. It refers to the large number of Americans entering their retirement
years. The baby boom generation, so anybody born between 1946 and 1964 is aging. And this
year alone, a record number of 4.1 million Americans will turn 65. That is wild to think
about. That is a large number of Americans turning 65 this year. And since 2011, we've
seen 10,000 Americans turning 65 every single day. A trend that will continue through 2030
according to the Pew Research Center. As these season professionals retire, small businesses
will face a critical challenge of filling the workforce gaps they leave behind. This is so
important. It's a significant shift, but understanding it is going to be the first step so we can
navigate it successfully. Alright, let's dive into the challenges businesses are facing during
the silver tsunami now that we know what it is. Let's talk about all those challenges. First,
we have labor shortages. There are many industries that are seeing a shortage of skilled workers
as the older employees retire. This can slow down your productivity and growth if you don't
address it. Second, there's an issue of knowledge gaps. This is the one area that I think is going
to be the biggest challenge for business owners, especially small business owners. For example,
when I worked in HR, we preplanned for this type of thing. If we knew we had a certain number of
employees retiring, we started the knowledge transfer and we put those processes in place.
As a small business owner, you might not have a big HR department. I mean, maybe you do,
but if you don't and you don't have those processes in place, what are you going to do about this?
So I really want to highlight the second issue for you to, if you're listening to this podcast,
to really think about what you're going to do. So with those knowledge gaps, you have retiring
employees that take with them a wealth of expertise and knowledge that is hard to replace overnight.
So that is what I was saying is that you have to pre plan for this. Okay, number three, we're
witnessing changing workforce demographics. This is another challenge not a lot of people are talking
about, but I hear a lot of complaining when I'm working with hiring managers or I'm working with
candidates. There is a changing workforce in demographics. So the workforce is becoming
younger with different expectations and work preferences than previous generations. So
let's talk about that third issue and what are hiring managers, business owners,
in candidates doing to address the changing workforce of demographics. Besides complaining,
what are you doing about it? That's where I'm going to ask you. Maybe you might be complaining
about millennials or you might be complaining about how you were reporting to a baby boomer.
And there's a disconnect in what the expectations are and the work preferences. How can you get on
the same page? Okay, and we'll circle back to that. So all three of these challenges,
number one, labor shortages, number two, knowledge gaps, and number three, workforce
demographics changing. All three of these challenges might seem like a lot, but don't worry,
there are ways to navigate them effectively, and that's what we will tackle next. So let's go into
tips for small business hiring. Tip number one, I want you to develop a strong employer
brand today. If you were listening to this podcast, when you get off this podcast, I want you
to start thinking of how to develop a strong employer brand. Younger workers are looking for
more than just a paycheck. I'm going to say that again, because it's really, really important.
Younger workers are looking for more than just a paycheck. So highlight what makes your business a
great place to work. Let's say it's your company culture, you offer opportunities for growth,
and maybe it's your commitment to work like balance. Use social media and your website to
showcase all of these aspects. And I'm going to give you a secret tip here. If you're not on LinkedIn,
I highly recommend it. I have a pretty reasonable price course out there. It's called social business
builder. And for $47, you can learn how to create a business page and it walks you step by step
on how to do that and also build and grow your business page on LinkedIn. So I highly recommend
it if you want to check it out after this podcast. LinkedIn is in my opinion, the best way to start
creating a strong employer brand, other than your website. It's where all the candidates are
hanging out. There's 1 billion users as of 2024 on there. And it offers a lot of free resources. So
I'll say it again, it offers free resources. You can create a company page. You can actually
talk about your company culture, opportunities for growth, and kind of show your work life balance.
And you don't have to be an ex on or shell or a BP to do this. You can do this as a small business
owner. It doesn't take that long. You might want to carve out one hour of your day and create a
business page. I describe your culture and your work life balance and have that reflect on your
LinkedIn business page. So when candidates come to you and you have a job posting, they're going
to research you. And this is like my number one recommendation to create a strong employer brand.
Okay, so that's enough about tip number one. I'm very passionate about LinkedIn and helping
small business owners. So that is the one area I will talk for hours about. But we're limited on
time. So let's go to tip number two, offer flexible work arrangements. Flexibility is going to be
key to attracting and retaining talent. So maybe you're a small business. Maybe you're not a BP
or ex on. But what are you offering these candidates, these employees that are going to come work for
you? If you're offering a flexible work arrangement, that is going to go very far with attracting
talent to your company. So consider offering things like remote work options, not every day,
but maybe you want for like one or two days remote. Flexible hours is something you could offer or
maybe you have positions open, you can offer somebody to work for you part time. These arrangements
will make your business more attractive to both the younger generations and get this, the semi
retired professionals looking to stay engaged. Think about that for a second. Okay, tip number three,
invest in training and development. So you need to prepare for the future by upskilling your current
employees and providing a robust onboarding for new hires. This ensures that your knowledge
and skills are effectively transferred and that your workforce remains competitive.
So by understanding the impact of the Silver Tsunami and adapting your hiring strategies,
you can turn these challenges into opportunities for growth and innovation. Remember, a proactive
approach to workforce planning will help your business not only survive, but thrive during this
demographic shift. Thank you for tuning in to the Hiring Edge podcast. If you found this
episode helpful, please subscribe and leave us review. Until next time, I'm Jen Goser, helping
you build a better business. That's it for today's episode. Stay tuned for more hiring, insight,
and tips for your business. See you next time.
