One thing’s for sure, Baby Boomers will begin retiring from the workforce in massive numbers over the next few years. This mass exodus will create a huge problem for most organisations as they scramble to identify replacement staff in a timely manner.

One question I’m often asked during Account Management Meetings with clients is “how can OrgPlus help my organisation identify Baby Boomers easily so we can proactively plan for their retirement by transferring skills and knowledge to Gen-X and Gen-Y staff before they leave?”

The answer is simple, and easy to implement – create an organisational chart using formatting to highlight where the Baby Boomers, Gen-X and Gen-Y staff sit within your organisation.

Implementing this type of chart will provide you with a top down view of each department within your organisation highlighting the Baby Boomers and the Gen-X and Gen-Y staff that work around them. From here you can easily identify the staff who work closest to the Baby Boomers and then pro-actively put a knowledge transfer plan in place or identify if new staff are required.  Simple!

This can be achieved by creating conditional formats in OrgPlus:

First we’ll format a base chart, then we’ll overwrite parts of that with conditional formatting. For convenience, our base chart will be baby boomers.

Step 1: Creating the box properties for the Baby Boomers

1. Right click on any box in your chart -> Box Properties..
2. Select the Box Layout tab
3. Add a new Text Box and add the text BOOMER

1. Ensure that you have the box styled the way you wish the Baby Boomers to appear
2. Click OK

Step 2: Create a conditional format for the GEN-X staff

1. Go to Format -> Conditional Formatting…
2. Click on Add… to create a new conditional format called GEN X
3. Create a condition so that their Date of Birth is after 1/01/1978 and their Date of Birth is before 31/12/1964

1. Click OK
2. Click on Format Box
3. Change the color of the box and the text so that it stands out compared to the Baby Boomers
4. Click on the Box Layout tab
5. Change the BOOMER text to be GEN-X

1. Click OK

Step 3: Create a conditional format for the GEN-Y staff

1. Go to Format -> Conditional Formatting…
2. Click on Add… to create a new conditional format called GEN Y
3. Create a condition so that their Date of Birth is after 31/12/1977

1. Click OK
2. Click on Format Box
3. Change the color of the box and the text so that it stands out compared to the Baby Boomers and GEN X
4. Click on the Box Layout tab
5. Change the BOOMER text to be GEN-Y

1. Click OK

Now you should be able to clearly see where all of the Baby Boomers in your company are and manage succession planning accordingly!

For more information on this chart, feel free to give us a call on +61 3 9879 4060.

Note: Date of Birth must be stored within your data extract.