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Use Partnerships to Recruit Experienced Workers

When companies develop recruiting strategies for mature workers, there’s one effective tactic that is rarely considered: partnerships.

Look around your community. More than likely, there are plenty of organizations beyond the job-placement center at your local college or university that would make great partners for drawing mature professionals to your workplace.

But there are other reasons to develop partnerships. Consider how they:

• Expose your company’s products or services to diverse groups of people who may be unfamiliar with your brand
• Introduce your company to future job candidates or even customers
• Demonstrate your company’s commitment to the community, creating good will

Partnering can also fill your pipeline with “passive” candidates. These are people not actively searching for jobs who would re-enter the workforce if the right opportunity presented itself.

Two Heads Are Better Than One

During the next decade, where are you going to find people with the right knowledge, experience, and strong work ethic to tackle mid- or even high-level projects?

Now is the time to get creative, advised Patricia Mathews, president at Workplace Solutions in St. Louis. “Companies don’t realize the value of getting their name out in the community so that when somebody is thinking about applying for a job, their name comes to mind,” she said.

Partnering Strategies Mathews Has Recommended to Clients:

• Contact outplacement firms. Share your company’s employment opportunities on a consistent basis.
• Create relationships with local health-care providers and merchants. Ask if you can leave company brochures or job announcements in their waiting rooms, lobbies, or even on store counters. In exchange, they can place their business cards or flyers on a community bulletin board in your office.
• Tap into nonprofit organizations by attending their fundraisers or cosponsoring events. They rely on volunteers, many of whom are mature workers who may be eager to return to the labor market.

Unfortunately, many businesses don’t move beyond traditional recruiting approaches. “So many organizations are in that old recruiting phase where they believe there’s this limitless supply of talent out there and they can just advertise like they used to. Many don’t even use Web sites, or continue to rely on walk-ins,” said Mathews. “It hasn’t dawned on them that they’re not getting the best, most diverse workforce.”

All in the Family

When Fred Martels worked as vice president of human resources at Dierbergs Markets, a Midwest supermarket chain, he stumbled upon one partnership that ended up as a great recruitment tool for mature workers.

The supermarket partnered with Parent-Teacher Organizations, which often need speakers for their meetings. Dierbergs’ representatives spoke about supermarket operations, industry challenges, and workforce needs. Initially, the company wanted to connect with schools to recruit teen workers. But to their surprise, they began attracting parents, aunts, uncles, and grandparents, said Martels, now a consultant at People Solution Strategies in Chesterfield, Mo.

Other good sources are companies that are merging or downsizing. Martels contacted HR departments at such firms and requested access to employees who were laid off. “[HR] was always eager to do that,” he says, adding that Dierbergs still uses this approach to reach a sizable pool of mature workers.

Strategies for Finding Partners

There’s no one-size-fits-all partnership solution. Consider more ways to team up with organizations in your community:

• Contact golf courses. That’s advice from Pegine Echevarria, president and chief executive officer at Team Pegine Inc., in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. You’ll have ample opportunity to promote your company and its job opportunities to the mature market.
• Partner with hobby groups that are related to your industry and attract mature workers. For example, if you represent the financial industry, contact investment clubs to see how you can work together by offering free financial seminars, says Echevarria. Area newspapers can typically provide current contact information for local clubs.
• Pilot programs in active-adult communities. In June 2007, Accountemps in Sacramento, Calif., launched a pilot program addressing the benefits of temporary work opportunities at an active-adult community in that city. About half of the community’s residents were working full- or part-time, and most were skilled in computer operations. The 38 percent who weren’t working were considering returning to the workforce, says Matt Meigs, public relations manager at the company. Out of the 35 people who attended the two-hour presentation, several mature workers registered with the company. Some had multiple degrees and had held jobs as controllers, vice presidents of finance, bookkeepers, and human resource managers.

Expand your company’s reach into the mature-labor market by including partnerships in your recruitment plans. Otherwise, you may limit your access to experienced talent and miss out on a valuable segment of the workforce.

Resources

Highlights of Winning Strategies: AARP’s Best Employers Program Honorees
AARP recognized these companies in 2007 for developing and implementing exemplary practices to recruit, retain, and manage workers 50+.
AARP Profit from Experience: Perspectives of Employers, Workers, and Policymakers in the G7 Countries on the New Demographic Realities
Go here to read about best practices and case studies on developing and implementing effective strategies for recruiting and retaining workers 50 and older.
AARP Age Equity-in-Employment Checklist for Employers
This online checklist helps employers assess their company’s policies and practices to attract and keep valuable employees, including older workers. Topics include recruitment, policy development, training, and redesigning jobs.