The Baby Boomer Effect: Succession Plans Are Growing in Popularity

With the first of America’s 78 million Baby Boomers turning 60 this year, the hospitality industry is bracing themselves for the onslaught of active senior travelers, as well as a plethora of executive positions to fill, both in the hotel business, as well as in corporate America in general.

In fact, nearly 8,000 boomers are turning 60 on a daily basis, according to U.S. Census Bureau statistics. What needs to take place to ensure the successful transition of our retiring Boomers and the next working generation is education.  Education comes in multiple forms whether its continuing education, succession planning and training or development of formalized mentorship programs.

Hotel Executive Positions on the Rise
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) projects a labor force of 162.3 million individuals in 2012 and expects that the economy will require 165.3 million jobs to be filled. This does not mean that there will be a shortage of three million hotel executives in 2012 due to the retirement of Baby Boomers; however, it does mean the industry will soon see an increased need for corporations to schedule on-going training and education programs in order to replace the retiring boomer generation. 

Not just Hotel Executive Positions…Corporate Training Sessions on the Rise
The hospitality industry isn’t the only business that will be affected by the aging Boomer generation. The U.S. workforce in general will need to create contingency plans for their retiring workforce.

With more than 25 percent of the current working U.S. population reaching retirement by 2010, companies must undertake workforce development and training initiatives to capture knowledge and minimize its losses.

A survey, titled "Avoiding the Baby Boom Bust," showed that 55 percent of 150 executives polled are concerned about losing top staff to retirement in five to 10 years. The study, conducted by staffing service firm Robert Half International Inc. in Menlo Park, targeted executives at the 1,000 largest firms.

Of respondents, 78 percent said their companies are implementing plans to mitigate the loss of key retiring workers. The top strategies included creating and enhancing succession-planning programs and providing training and professional development opportunities, the report said.

Another survey by consulting firm Accenture finds that at least 45 percent of respondent organizations are failing to capture critical workforce knowledge and experience from employees facing retirement, and fewer are transferring that knowledge to newer employees. These organizations simply do not have formal workforce planning processes and/or tools in place to capture their workplace knowledge. Over one quarter (26 percent) of respondents believe that, upon retirement, their organization will just let them go, without any transfer of knowledge.

Capturing this knowledge base and successfully transitioning information, resources and expertise is imperative for companies that want to mitigate negative impact to their lines of business.

By increasing continued leadership and management training, most companies will be well prepared for the proverbial passing of the baton. That being said, unfortunately many companies don’t think they need a succession plan until a crises, death or disastrous incident occurs. Quite the contrary, today’s companies must continually educate their staff through professional development training sessions – and that’s where the hospitality and conference industries come into play.

The meeting and conference industries will be affected by the aging workforce as vanguard companies prepare to create succession plans and work towards bringing middle management to senior level capabilities. Conference centers and hotels have the opportunity to target such companies with their professional development, team building and training seminar locales.