Older employees are valuable assets. They have skills developed over a lifelong career, knowledge and expertise about your company, and an established relationship with business vendors and clients alike.

In a tight labor market like today, retaining these older workers is more important than ever. But how can you encourage people to stay with your company for longer than planned? Here are a few easy steps to try.

Offer Remote Work

Remote work isn't just for millennials. Older employees may be the perfect candidates for remote positions. Remote work allows people to avoid a stressful and time-consuming daily commute, which may make it easier to convince them to keep working. In addition, people who have a harder time with health issues often find that the ability to work on their own schedule is a big help to being productive.

Arrange Off-Site Offices

Of course, not every position lends itself to remote work. If the job involves maintenance of confidential files or company equipment, you may prefer to store it at a business location rather than an employee's home. And if the employee needs to hold meetings or work with clients, they need a professional office space.

Solve both problems by arranging to rent a satellite office space where the employee lives. Modern co-working spaces provide inexpensive office rentals you can tailor to your specific business needs — conference rooms, video conference equipment, individual offices, receptionist services, and mail delivery.

Set up one employee in an individual office space, or rent out a facility for an entire team to work in an area better suited to their convenience. This type of move may add creativity to a team or boost morale. You could also use it to create a mentor arrangement with one or more younger employees who would benefit from the personal assistance.

Try Part-Time Positions

If someone plans to retire, can you talk them into staying on as a part-time employee? Many potential retirees are actually nervous about going from full-time work to no work, so they are often open to a lighter work schedule or similar transition.

Some extra effort is usually involved in changing a position from full-time to part-time, but it could allow you to keep an experienced staff person within the team. Reorganize duties to farm out less technical or non-customer-facing tasks to a newer employee, allowing the skilled senior employee to focus on what they do best.

If you don't have the physical space to create a job-sharing situation, consider renting an office space or meeting area for some of the work. This could free up the part-time employee's schedule to work at their own pace or oversee new projects, knowing that other tasks are still being completed by others.

Boost Benefits

The right benefits can have a great impact on employees' decisions to stay or move on. Health insurance is an excellent means to attract and retain quality older workers. Anyone who is younger than standard Social Security retirement age generally doesn't have access to Medicare health coverage, so you have a bargaining chip with good health care coverage.

In addition, talk to employees about senior-friendly benefits like life insurance, accident coverage, and improved retirement plans or matching contributions. Today's older workers have a variety of interests, and you can get mileage even out of unexpected benefits like paying for family members' college tuition.

Show your older employees that you value their continued contribution to the company by being flexible and creative. At Executive Suites, LLC, we can help you find solutions for every employee and every company. Make an appointment today to learn more about our services.