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Professional Development for Career Practitioners

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The Couple’s Retirement Puzzle. By Roberta K. Taylor and Dorian Mintzer

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The Couple’s Retirement Puzzle.couple's retirement
10 Must-Have Conversations for Creating an Amazing New Life Together

I have known Dori Mintzer for awhile now and in the fall of 2017 I finally had the pleasure to meet her in person. We were both presenters at a Boomer Conference in Portland Maine. We had a wonderful lunch sitting outdoors enjoying a beautiful fall day.

She gave me this book and signed it for me “Enjoy your journey“.

Dori and Roberta have written a very upbeat, optimistic, practical book for anyone approaching retirement or in retirement now. Their advice is all based upon breaking this time of our lives down into essential parts and then communicating with our partners.

The cornerstone of their advice is communication and at the end of each chapter are prompts to talk through the essential topic of that chapter. First time alone to write and process. And then time together to listen, really listen and understand what your partner is saying and thinking. Then to work on a plan -and compromise – if needed.

It ends with a very practical worksheet “Creating Your Shared Vision” and tons of resources to help anyone move beyond the book.

The book covers topics from; If, when, and how to retire; Money; Changing Roles; Relationships; to Choosing where to live, and more. They break each topic down to the essential parts that should be discussed and examples to help you understand the why behind each.

If you are facing retirement soon and want to know what needs to be thought of and discussed, this is a great book that I highly recommend to you.

Read my blogs on Boomers here

Jim Peacock is the Principal at Peak-Careers Consulting and writes a monthly newsletter for career practitioners. Peak-Careers offers discussion-based online seminars for career practitioners focused on meeting continuing education needs for CCSP, GCDF and BCC certified professionals as well as workshops for career practitioners and individual career coaching.

Sign up here to receive my  TOP 10 TIPS WHEN WORKING WITH AN UNDECIDED PERSON.  You can also receive the career practitioners newsletter which includes a variety of career topics, industry news, interesting events, and more.

Why our Mindset Regarding Boomers in the Workforce Needs To Change.

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The answer is: “Labor force demographics”

The question: What is the train wreck coming our way that few businesses are doing anything about it?

You may have seen some of this before but here are a few *demographics.

  • 10,000 Boomers per day turning 65 until 2020
  • Life expectancy at age 65 is +/- 83
  • Growth of the labor force for 16-24 years is projected to DECLINE by 2024
  • This means that the percentage of people 55 and older is INCREASING in that time frame!!

**While many of these Boomers are thinking about LEAVING the labor force!

*Data from bls.gov

Let me use Maine as an example of the labor shortage coming in many states and countries around the world. Let’s just look at this one piece of information regarding our labor force projections.

700,000  = Maine’s total labor force
-411,000 = Next 20 years, this is how many people will be “leaving” the labor force
289,000  = If they all leave, this is what we are left with
+302,000 = This is how many younger people are under the age of 20…the “entrants”
591,000   = This will be the size of our labor force in 20 years!!

109,000 people SHORT!  *Obviously this depends upon lots of things, but as you can see, this is a large number of people to replace.

This my friends is a crisis and we KNOW it is coming. It may not be this large but here are some suggestions on what we should be doing as career practitioners / professionals.

BUSINESSES MUST CHANGE THEIR MINDSET

People in their 60’s can do the work required. The world of work has changed so much in the past few decades. For 100’s of years, a 60 year would have difficulty doing the manual labor required in manufacturing, agricultural, and construction. Today, so many jobs require “thinking” skills over manual labor that people in their 60’s can keep working and adding value to the workplace.

Look at this graphic below from the Maine Department of Labor showing the skills required in the growing occupations for the next decade in our state (I am sure many states are similar).

Critical thinking, problem solving, deductive reasoning, etc… a 60 year old can do all of these.

Businesses and society at large need to look at people in their 60’s (Boomers) as being capable of doing the skills required in these growing occupations and find ways to keep them engaged in the labor force.

Also with the addition of ‘universal design’ changes in a workplace, a number of companies found that ALL their workers improved productivity, not just the Boomers. Simple changes in the physical aspects can make a big difference, but a bigger change is needed in ‘perception’ of this age group.

As Geoff Pearman, Managing Director of Partners in Change, states, “Creating a workplace where we can all succeed, regardless of race, gender, age, sexuality, or ability, is the right thing to and also makes good business sense.”

BOOMERS HAVE CHANGED THEIR MINDSET ALREADY
(compared to many in this age group in the 1900-60’s)

*Many Boomers are healthier and more highly educated than their parents and grandparents at this time in their lives.  (43% are college graduates when you include 2 year degrees).

*Many families have adult children or parents living with them. And many have taken out parent loans for their children…at a time they should have been saving for retirement.

*There are many who want to leave a legacy as well for their grandchildren, (could be time, money, inheritance, etc…) with nearly 80% of these Boomers with grandchildren.

   *From a 2010 MetLife Report on Early Boomers

This “push / pull” for many Boomers is keeping them interested in staying in the labor force.

  • “I feel good”
  • “I’d still like to make a difference”
  • “I need the money to make ends meet”
  • “I would like the money to help my kids and grandkids”

WHAT DO BOOMERS BRING TO THE LABOR FORCE?

We already have a multi-generational workforce at many companies. So why not take some of the historical knowledge in a company and put it to good use? Keep some of these Boomers in the workforce by offering flexible scheduling, part-time opportunities, and time off,  which will help delay this impending labor shortage.

What about mentoring some of these younger workers to groom them for future leadership positions. How about consulting or contract work? Job sharing? There are so many things a company can do to engage and entice Boomers to stay in the labor force.

AARP is recognizing employers who are doing some of these things now in their Employer Pledge Program

  • Believe in equal opportunity for all workers, regardless of age
  • Believe that 50+ workers should have a level playing field in their ability to compete for and obtain jobs
  • Recognize the value of experienced workers
  • Recruit across diverse age groups and consider all applicants on an equal basis.

Learn more 

WHAT CAN WE DO AS CAREER PRACTITIONERS TO HELP?

Our job is to help our clients in this age group to be able to articulate their value in the labor force.  Career practitioners could help clients see their strengths as possibly:

  • understanding company culture
  • ability to mentor young people to grow into leadership positions
  • bring a skill set that is still needed such as critical thinking or analyzing data
  • maturity and experience in difficult situations

We also need to help these folks realize the importance of networking and making personal connections in order to secure work opportunities. This could be attending networking events, doing informational interviews, volunteering, using social media to enhance their professional online presence, and more.

Each client is different and our job is to help them identify their skills, passions, and values so they can articulate them to employers to solve company problems efficiently and effectively.

We need to help people in the “pre-retirement” stage to look at what is coming, understand they can indeed play a role, then articulate that to their supervisors and key people in their company.

Five things you can do now

  • Recognize the issues
  • Challenge your beliefs  and attitudes regarding age
  • Help your organization understand the risks and develop practical strategies and action plans
  • Ensure your employment practices are age-friendly
  • Talk with older workers about the contribution they want to make and what would make your company a great place to continue working

From Geoff Pearman  Partners in Change – New Zealand.
**Look for my interview with Geoff Pearman and Marc Miller of Career Pivot next week.

If you work with this age group (or would like to), check out our 5 week online, discussion-based seminar with other career practitioners, focused on working with Boomers to Reinvent Retirement.

REGISTER now for the Boomers: Reinventing Retirement which starts October 28
Also offered again beginning April 28

Check out this INTERVIEW with two experts in the field, Geoff Pearman and Marc Miller, who give their tips on working with companies looking for ways to engage people in their 50’s+ and also tips for working with mid-life career changers. 

Jim Peacock is the Principal at Peak-Careers Consulting and writes a monthly newsletter for career practitioners. Peak-Careers offers discussion-based online seminars for career practitioners focused on meeting continuing education needs for CCSP, GCDF and BCC certified professionals as well as workshops for career practitioners and individual career coaching.

Sign up here to receive my  TOP 10 TIPS WHEN WORKING WITH AN UNDECIDED PERSON.  You can also receive the career practitioners newsletter which includes a variety of career topics, industry news, interesting events, and more.

Ahhhh…retirement. Hey WAIT A MINUTE!!!

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Image from Wikipedia

“The future ain’t what it used to be.”  Yogi Berra

“Retirement ain’t what it used to be.”  Jim Peacock

First off, ‘retirement’ is clearly not the correct word. I don’t think we have found the right word yet but they also didn’t know what to call young people in their teens in the early 1900’s until a psychologist studied them and came up with “teenager” sometime in the 1920’s.  *(Did you know that it was the automobile and the freedom it gave this age group that helped create “teenagers”? That and the fact that many people moved from rural farm life to a more urban manufacturing life).

What we are calling this retirement time period ranges from 3rd Age, The Third Quarter, Graduation, Commencement, Encore Career, The Bonus Years, and more. I prefer to call it “rebalancing” (Read my blog on rebalancing).  Why? Because I don’t see this as a time to end (retire), begin, or change –but more as a transition that requires rebalancing your values, interests, passions, time, and energy. But as the 76,000,000 Boomers wander into this new developmental stage, psychologists and sociologists will be studying the traits that make up this stage in our lives. We just need to wait until they figure us out 🙂  Listen to Jane Fonda talk about this new adult developmental stage. Yes, seriously, it’s Jane Fonda and it’s very good —TEDTalk.

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Interview with Dorian Mintzer, Life and Retirement Transition Coach

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November 2, 2016

This is a summary of my interview with Dorian Mintzer a Therapist, Life and Retirement Transition Coach, Relationship Coach, Executive Coach, Teacher, Author and Speaker. She works with individuals and couples and help them navigate pre-retirement and retirement transition issues. She also consults with Financial Planners and other professionals to help their clients and is an author of a number of books on retirement.

Dori has enrolled in a two of my online seminars, Working with Boomers & Transitions. It has been a pleasure to get to know her. She started a monthly webinar series interviewing various people who work with this population, called Revolutionize Your Retirement. I’ve listened to a number of them and they are always very interesting interviews. Learn more at her website.

TRENDS

I asked Dori what her thoughts are on TRENDS in career coaching boomers.  She talked about the changing world of work we live in today and how if Boomers want to work, they need to let go of what work was and really understand what the world of work is now. Work now often involves technology and Boomers may need to improve their tech skills along with realizing there are more service jobs than before.

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4 Areas to Explore to Help Your Clients Rebalance Their Life

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When I first heard Geoff Pearman (workforce development consultant in New Zealand) use the term ‘rebalancing’ to describe how Boomers could look at the next phase of their lives, I knew I liked it. I have struggled with how to describe this time after leaving full-time employment to clients I work with, and now have embraced ‘rebalancing’ rather than retirement, “3rd age”, or whatever else is out there. This is a great way to look at ALL career changers as well. (Read Geoff’s article).

People don’t just stop living when they turn 62 to retire and watch eight hours a day of I Love Lucy reruns. This time in their lives is an opportunity to really look at their life and rebalance. Most people want to keep active: possibly volunteering, traveling, picking up new (or old) hobbies. Some will want to keep working, albeit maybe something different than what they’ve done for most of their careers…and maybe with more flexibility.  

Here are four areas to explore when you are working with a client who is changing career paths, and in particular for Boomers who are leaving full-time employment and facing their ‘second adult lifetime’.

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How do you find that “sweet spot” when working with midlife career changes?

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How do you find that “sweet spot” when working with midlife career changes? Well, my advice is no different than what I often discuss with college students: “What do you bring to the company or organization that you want to work for?”

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The biggest difference for midlife career changers is that they have an opportunity to look back on their lives and years of experience with deeper knowledge and perspective. Whether they want to leave jobs that they’ve held for many years or find meaningful activities to do with their forty hours per week, most of them still want to make an impact somehow. Our role as a career coach or practitioner is to open up discussions to help people find that “‘sweet spot”, and to help them identify and articulate those key pieces that are important to them.

I love using card sorts as a way to get my clients thinking about skills, passions, interests, strengths, and/or values, and then begin to think about prioritizing and connecting the dots between these various areas. The cards are a kinesthetic way of getting their heads away  from the idea that an occupation is what they’re looking for. It allows them to really look at what is truly important to them, and to consider what they bring to the table that will then generate discussion and greater thinking.

In my current Boomer online seminar, we have used cards to look at passions, strengths, and concerns. We’ve also used an online assessment which helps people to determine what values they want to focus on in the near future. When working with passions, I like to explore if there was a passion that they always wanted to pursue, but their job got in the way. Is there a new passion they discovered by chance in their own career development, through their social connections, or just through curiosity? The questions for these people are: “What are you passionate about? How can you explore it more deeply?”

When we look at strengths using the cards, the challenge is to look beyond the top strengths that they developed in their current job. The objective is to also explore some skills that may have been untapped in their work that they could bring to a company or an organization.

The values discussion is often interesting as the assessment I use online does not rate which values are important to the client, but which ones need work right now. Most people know what is important to them at some level, but this discussion is really about where are they going to put their energy now to focus on their values. One client I work with wanted to do something to contribute to his local community but didn’t want to be tied to a specific time each week or day. What we discovered was that by raising his chickens, collecting eggs and donating them to the local food pantry, he was using his time the way he wanted but was still able to contribute to his local community in a positive way.

I’ve found that by spending one week on strengths, another week on passions or interest, and one more week on values, my clients then have a chance to process and think about each of them separately. Then our work begins to connect these different areas to find that “sweet spot” for his / her next move, whether it’s paid or volunteer. Remember that you might be the first person to ask these questions, and to initiate discussions which are often very thought-provoking for your clients. I’m working with a client now in one of the mid-Atlantic states, and I’m always so impressed with how much thinking he has done each week.

So when working with clients keep in mind that whatever their next move is, it is likely to involve trying to find that “sweet spot” between passions, strengths, and values. The power of the discussion is that this is where much of the thinking happens. Our job as coaches is to help them find words that mean something to them and to help them find ways to group them together in meaningful ways that make sense to them.

What do you do to help your clients find the “sweet spot?”

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Jim Peacock is the Principal at Peak-Careers Consulting and writes a monthly newsletter for career practitioners. Peak-Careers offers discussion-based online seminars for career practitioners focused on meeting continuing education needs for CCSP, GCDF and BCC certified professionals as well as workshops for career practitioners and individual career coaching. He is the author of A Field Guide for Career Practitioners: Helping Your Clients Create Their Next Move

Sign up here to receive my  TOP 10 TIPS WHEN WORKING WITH AN UNDECIDED PERSON.  You can also receive the career practitioners newsletter which includes a variety of career topics, industry news, interesting events, and more.