Managing the 'grey hair' drain

A big issue in government, as in the private sector, is the drain of experienced older people as they decide to change lifestyles.

Dow has followed an interesting strategy of developing an alumni social network, which helps keep ex-employees - both retirees and others - linked into the organisation.

This keep their experience on tap and can also serve as a pool of potential recruits back to the organisation.

Given how important the aging of Australia's public service has become on the APS agenda, I'd be interested whether any agencies are considering strategies like this one to help them manage future trainsitions.

Dow's article: "My Dow Network" Provides Dow People with New Way to Connect

Thanks to Web Strategy by Jeremiah for this link in his post, Gen Y Enter Stage Left, Baby Boomers Exit Stage Right.

Note that with new intranet social media tools being developed by Microsoft and LinkedIn, Dow's approach may become very cost-effective in the future, linking into people's existing online social networks.