Feature ~ Blog

The big buzz within human resource circles these days is how to address the coming surge of baby boom retirees. It’s this demographic group, now on the cusp of retirement, that sustained their organizations through some of the bleakest economic downturns and who were there during several highly successful business cycles. Canadian demographer David Foot dismisses the current brouhaha being generated over the retirement of baby boomers as hype. Single digit unemployment may mean a tightening of the labour pool but that doesn’t mean that there are no workers to be had. The question is just what skills does this remaining pool bring to the table? What do organizations have to do to bridge the skills gap? This is why we are hearing references to “talent management” and “succession planning” with increasing frequency.

One answer is to stem the flow of those leaving the organization by phasing the retirement of senior workers or offering short-term contracts to retirees. I suspect that those working in the arts, many of which are already used to intermittent work, contractual arrangements and self-employment will take advantage of the relaxation of retirement laws. While many may not be able to continue in the workforce due to failing health or a desire to shift gears to a slower pace, others will step forward to impart what they have learned through trial by fire to their up-and-coming counterparts.

Alternatively organizations will face increasing pressure to attract and keep their younger candidates that have the requisite skills for the job. Employers fear that those who are “fully groomed” may be at greater risk of flight and that they will flog their skills to employers offering a bigger payday, security, health benefits, and with any luck a pension plan. The benefits to job training however should outweigh their concerns. Research is beginning to show that integrating new hires quickly through orientation programs and preparing high potential employees to take on more responsibility through participation in professional development is more beneficial than not doing so. This does not alleviate the fear of employee churn or that of employee poaching by the competition. This cause for concern is one of the reasons we see anti-poaching clauses creeping into employment contracts.

One advantage for the arts community is that emerging arts professionals are coming to their employers primed for participation in workforce learning. The attainment of higher education is a strong indicator that an employee will have a more positive attitude toward continuous learning. Arts professionals tend to be well educated. They view additional learning as beneficial and understand that it will improve their chances at success. The impediment to talent development and guiding new recruits and high potentials through one’s succession plan remains the same today. The key barriers to professional development haven’t really changed. Time, cost, busyness of work and family responsibilities are still the most prevalent reasons for non-participation.
The arts community already operates on a thin layer of resources within its organizations. I don’t envision that there will be a move toward workforce expansion (that is hiring more less experienced workers to do the same work of their predecessors). What we might see happening with workers continuing into their senior years is more on-the-job mentoring and coaching of less experienced employees. So it is incumbent on arts organizations to plan today for tomorrow. They will have to focus on retention strategies to keep experienced talent and ensure that those coming on stream remain engaged and productive as arts professionals. 

Kate Wright is a project manager for one of Canada’s leading learning organizations. She has also worked as an arts professional in the areas of marketing, fundraising, membership services and box office management.