KAA-BOOM! How to Engage the 50-Plus Worker and Beat the Workforce Crisis
by Barbara Jaworski BSc. M.B.A.
The economy is about to experience an unprecedented crisis. Over the next few years, millions of Baby Boomers will be leaving the workforce, taking with them decades of irreplaceable experience and knowledge. Making matters worse is that there simply won’t be enough younger skilled workers available to fill the void. And all this will be happening at a time of increased global competition when companies need to attract and retain the best and brightest employees.
So why aren’t more organizations preparing for this talent crunch?
Jaworski examines corporate roadblocks to effective human resource practice, current labour and demographic trends, and case studies of winners of the Best Employers Award for 50 Plus Canadians who have tapped into the potential of the mature workforce. Her insights provide a new game plan for government, organizations and workers to revolutionize their workplace by engaging the total labour pool. This handbook includes the Workplace Institute Engagement Model for 50 Plus Workers™
| Hard copy | ebook (PDF) | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | 39.95 CAD +$5.00 CAD Shipping & Handling |
$27.00 CAD |
| Delivery | 5 – 10 business days | Instant download |
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Canada and US only, |
Rebel Retirement – a KAA-Boomers Guide to Creating an Explosive Second Actby Barbara Jaworski BSc. M.B.A.
Baby Boomers are refusing to go quietly into retirement. In fact, they’re rebelling – just as they’ve rebelled against convention throughout the last six decades. Not for them endless days of golf and bridge. Not for them the rocking chair and pipe. Retire from career and life at 65? No sirree. Instead, this explosive generation is creating a rebel retirement.
What is a rebel retirement? It’s roaring full throttle into your 60s, 70s, 80s and beyond. It’s building homes for Habitat for Humanity in far flung corners of the world. It’s “retiring” from the corporate world to become president of your own company. It’s buying a Harley. It’s dating. It’s backpacking in Manchu Pinchu. A rebel retirement is living life on your terms…and no one else’s. It’s about making dreams a reality. A rebel retirement embraces the words of the great19th century writer George Eliot, a.k.a. Mary Anne Evans: “It’s never too late to be what you might have been.”
For Boomers, or KAA-Boomers as Barbara Jaworski, author of Rebel Retirement – a KAA-Boomers Guide to Creating an Explosive Second Act — prefers to call them, middle age is not the time to slow down. It’s a time of transformation, of reinvention, of creating an exciting second act. It’s a time to start working on that happy ending.
As stated, rebellion is nothing new for this enormous post-WWII generation. They’ve had a lifetime of experience. They were flower children protesting against war in the 60s, disco denizens rebelling against gender roles the 70s, corporate warriors smashing the glass ceiling with shoulder pads and power suits in the 80s, and helicopter parents redefining parenthood in the 90s. In the early 2000s, they began looking middle age squarely in the eye and they didn’t like what they saw. So, true to form, they changed the meaning of what it is to be 50 in North America today. As their children blushed, KAA-Boomers bought motor bikes, logged onto online dating sites, signed up for Pilates and yoga, and rekindled their hippie roots by eating organic and protesting against, well, everything. Now, as the older Boomers turn 60, they’re rebelling against retirement.
For those 50-somethings wanting to change careers or start their own businesses, or simply get a better job in their industry, a rebel retirement is not just driven by financial concerns. True, many KAA-Boomers aren’t financially able to retire at 55, 60 or 65. But it’s more than that. KAA-Boomers are perhaps the healthiest generation in history. They’ve taken care of themselves. They’ve jogged, they’ve played sports, they’ve watched their diets and they’ve guarded their emotional and mental health. They’ve meditated, chanted and avoided carbs. Fast forward to today and you only have to witness the staggering demand for Botox and Restilin to erase wrinkles, liposuction to rein in a middle-age spread and plastic surgery to wipe away the years to know this generation intends to stay youthful for as long as possible. They’re expecting to live 20 or more years past that magic age of 65 and packing those 20 or so years with as much living as possible.
So by 50, the average KAA-Boomer is only halfway through his or her working life. For many of them, the best is yet to come because they’re only just reaching their full potential. And they know it and are fighting back against ageism and the stereotypes attached to older people.
But while many KAA-Boomers fully embrace rebelling against convention by staring over with a new business, a new career path, a new community or a new relationship, it can be overwhelming for others. Dramatic life changes that seemed so effortless at 25 now seem so difficult. Just when the timing is right and they have a second chance to make dreams come true do they not take it?
Rebel Retirement explains why change is so difficult for many Boomers. Jaworski explains the importance of attitude, confidence and how every KAA-Boomer possesses a wealth of valuable skills and assets that only years of experience can produce. She discusses how the change process works and how people can use the process to create their own rebel retirement. Want to start a whole new career? Rebel Retirement leads the reader through the entire process from assessing their skills, overcoming fears, networking, creating the perfect resume and pitch letters, honing interview skills and nailing the job they want. Want to start a business? Rebel Retirement shows the way with information, strategies, resources and advice.
And for those unsure about their writing skills examples of different resumes styles, cover letters and other handy resources can be found in the back.
Dispersed throughout the book are stories from KAA-Boomers who have voluntarily made significant changes in their lives or have made adapted to changes thrust upon them. These people relate exactly how they made the rebel retirement they wanted.
When it comes to creating a rebel retirement, Barbara Jaworski also writes from experience. She’s not only changed careers herself, but launched her own successful consulting, research and training business – The Workplace Institute. She’s also the creator of the Best Employers Award for 50-Plus Canadians which recognizes organizations of every size and in every sector for innovative and effective programs or initiatives that lead the way to best practices for 50-plus workers while achieving organizational goals.
Rebel Retirement is an informative – and absorbing – chronicle is packed with hard facts, great advice, strategies and the inspiration to be the person you might have been.