Why this fintech isn’t rushing retirees out the door | EBA
Collaboration was a core tenet of DCI’s foundation more than 60 years ago, when four banks in Hutchinson, Kansas, came together to build a core processor for institutions of all asset sizes.
Those ideals remain important today. DCI has created a retention program for employees who want to scale back their hours but not retire completely.
The birth of the firm’s part-time retiree program came about in early 2022, after a conversation between Janet Seiler, who was then a development manager for DCI, and her manager Sandra Schmitt first led to the prospect of helping employees ease their way into the next phase of their lives. Seiler was nearing retirement age but was interested in staying on at the company in some capacity.
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“Through many discussions, [Seiler and Schmitt] talked about hearing from friends and past retirees of enjoying retirement but feeling a sense of boredom. … That is what prompted their [boss] to throw out the idea to see if a part-time arrangement could be possible,” said Katie Albers, vice president of human resources for DCI.
When determining if an employee is eligible to stay on in a part-time capacity, specific criteria for the program must first be met. This starts with making sure the opportunity is mutually beneficial for both DCI and the individual. That includes a discussion about whether the employee is interested in the arrangement and determining if there is a business need that could be addressed with the person only partially retiring.
After initial discussions, both parties work together to build an appropriate plan for what the reduced workload will look like, help train the employee’s successor and set a potential benchmark date to fully step away from the company. Seiler, who was the first employee to take advantage of the program, ended up working for another two years past her original retirement date and stepped down earlier this year.
“This first use case was so successful, that employees nearing retirement age have begun asking about the possibility of a similar arrangement,” Albers said. “While it doesn’t fit all cases and scenarios, it is a great option to explore and use when the conditions are right.”
Overall, four staff members have participated in the part-time retiree program.
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Employee retention and succession planning are two big issues that the financial services industry has been grappling with over the last few years. C-suite executives who delayed their planned retirement due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 have stepped down in a wave of departures, creating a dearth of expert talent.
More recently, institutions like Zions Bancorp in Salt Lake City, the Toronto-based TD Bank Group, Navy Federal Credit Union in Vienna, Virginia, and JPMorgan Chase have appointed new chiefs or begun facing the question of who to appoint for senior managerial spots.
Allowing for the partial retirement of veteran workers can help ease these transitions throughout an organization and retain important institutional knowledge so it is passed onto the next generation of workers.
And it’s an issue that companies will likely have to deal with for the next few years as baby boomers outline retirement plans.
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Roughly 62% of older employees, those who are 65 and older, are working full time, compared to 47% in 1987, according to the Pew Research Center. Last year, the nonprofit analyzed earnings, hours and employment characteristic data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey, as well as findings on employment, retirement and participation in gig activities from the Federal Reserve’s 2022 Survey of Household Economics and Decisionmaking to better understand the role of the workforce 65 and older in the U.S.
Factors such as higher education levels, better health standards and evolved retirement plans have made it possible for older Americans to remain in the workforce. Wages have also gone up, with 2022’s average of $22 per hour close to double that of $13 per hour in 1987.
The combination of these market conditions has led older workers to account for 7% of all wages and salaries last year, more than triple its 2% share in 1987.
But beyond the financial and employment advantages afforded to both employers and employees, experts say that retirement experiences are individual to each person, and programs like the one offered by DCI can help dispel negative stereotypes toward older workers.
“Semantic memory, which is the [storing and recollection of] facts and information, is something we actually know is well maintained into late life,” said Dr. Laura Richmond, a psychology professor at Stony Brook University in New York. “As you might imagine, it’s not uncommon for older workers to serve as mentors or leaders in their field and help bring new workers on, help get [them] integrated and provide guidance for how to think about solving complex workplace problems.”
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Richmond, who specializes in researching everyday cognition, said that older members of the workforce, by virtue of the time spent in their respective fields, expectedly carry more expertise than others.
Programs such as these that assist in using an aging knowledge base to support ongoing projects and train successors “speaks against some of the typical ageist attitudes that we might see pervading the workplace environment and I think western culture as a whole,” Richmond said.
Hiring employees with varying skill sets and knowledge remains a key focus for many organizations across the financial services industry, pushing leaders to develop programs like mentorships, employee resource groups and more in the hopes of attracting — and retaining — talent. The part-time retiree program is just one example of those concerted efforts to bolster staff.
“Even after they’re gone, how many companies can say that they stay in touch with their retirees to the level that we do. … It’s the relationships that we’re building with those folks while they’re working here and inside our four walls,” Albers said. “We become family.”
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DCI has taken other steps to help ensure smooth transitions as staff members consider retirement. Earlier this year, fintech surveyed all 307 of its employees to gauge interest in taking on a management or leadership role, as well as what the ideal timeline for that change would look like.
They found that by allowing employees to express those goals without the need for an in-person interview, more staff members than expected were interested in leadership positions.
These opportunities are not exclusive to early career professionals, as many seasoned employees are also eager for advancement.
“It’s been really cool to see [those responses] and then be able to start sifting through the responses to match interested employees with current experiences “to make them better suited and ready for when that opportunity knocks at the door,” Albers said.
