It is important to discover how to stay relevant as a legacy employee. Have you been with your community bank or credit union over 20 years? Do you have a lot of knowledge that few employees have in your institution? Do you remember how “things were done” 20 plus years ago? Then you are what I lovingly call a “legacy employee.” You are valuable!

Do you find yourself trying to keep up with technology? Are the “new people” changing everything you used to do to a new way of doing things? Do you sometimes feel lost in the sea of information and don’t know where to begin to stay on top? Then you are what I respectfully call a “legacy employee.” You are in transition!

If you have been with your organization for 20-50 years, and want to learn how to stay relevant as a legacy employee, below are some tips that will inspire you to enjoy this season in your career:

Willingness to learn.

One of the keys to being a successful professional is to adopt a life-long learning attitude. The moment you lose the ability or willingness to learn, you start lagging. Attitude is everything! Your continued willingness to learn will open new doors of opportunity within your organization and you will experience less stress on your job.

Share your knowledge.

When you are willing to share all the amazing knowledge you have accumulated over your career with your coworkers, you will become a most valuable asset! It may seem that if you share information you will not be needed anymore. But it works the other way around. The more you share, the more others will seek your advice and input.

Mentor others.

Mentoring is taking someone under your wing and sharing your experiences with them. Mentoring is different than training in that mentoring is more informal, and you choose to mentor someone. Most likely what you mentor others on is not in any book because it’s based on your own life experiences. As you start thinking of your next adventure in life, you will find that leaving a legacy of knowledge is very satisfying. Your organization will keep you for as long as you want to because you are voluntarily creating your own succession plan.

Be open to new jobs.

Often workers who are contemplating retirement, want to stay put those last 3-5 years and not be bothered with having to move to a new position. They feel scared to learn and may feel threatened by others who have more technological knowledge. But taking on new jobs can help you stay sharp and may open new doors to stay in the workforce longer than you planned—not because you had to but because you want to and enjoy your new responsibilities. You may fill a need in your institution precisely because of your longevity with the organization.

Be coachable.

Typically, you may think of coaching the new generation or emerging leaders. However, being coachable simply means being open to doing things in a different way. Additionally, and regardless of age, some people may always need coaching to improve their communication or interpersonal skills. It takes humility to stay coachable throughout your career but it’s very rewarding to see your continued improvement.

It is important to discover how to stay relevant as a legacy employee. I hope these tips inspired you to act and continue to learn as you enjoy your present season in your career.

In Part I of this two-part blog on outsourcing HR in a hybrid work environment, we focused on what activities to outsource and why. In Part II, we now focus on what functions to keep in-house and the benefits.

A key component of a strong Talent Management Program is talent development. And that’s what gets sacrificed when institutions keep their entire HR operations in-house. As I shared in Part I, when I was the Director of HR, administrative tasks such as payroll and benefits administration consumed most of my time. I couldn’t do my favorite part of Human Resources which is to develop the talent we had. Part of the development includes some of the activities we recommend handling in-house.

Below is a list of activities that you can (and should) keep in-house:

• The “people side” of the hiring process: Someone in HR reviews the resumes to screen candidates. Then the hiring manager along with the HR representative interview the top candidates. For senior executive positions, typically the president/CEO of the institution and the senior leadership team conduct the interviews either in-person or via a video call. You must always check the references provided. Lastly, follow up after interviewing as a best practice. We recommend deploying automated systems around the hiring process, such as human assisted, but automated resume reviews, candidate tracking and emailing thank you letters or next steps, so candidates know what to expect. There are many quality applicant tracking systems out there so it is hard to make a recommendation on this one. However, we always recommend pairing your tracking system with the applicant screening system from Wonderlic.
• Establish a career path: The performance review process is one of the best times to discover your employees’ aspirations for future career growth. The manager can then coach the employees on how to get there. The leadership team provides growth opportunities and needs to work with HR on a path based on the jobs the employee is interested in.
• Establish a mentoring program: Most small community financial institutions do not have a mentoring program in place (formal or informal) and don’t know where to start. One of the best places to start is by making it part of your succession planning process. Many community financial institutions are experiencing turnover due to “legacy employees” retiring. This is the perfect opportunity to pair up the retiring employee to mentor the successor. Establishing a successful succession plan takes time and resources as well as careful thought process. Communication is key for all parties involved.
• Develop a personal development plan: In addition to a career path, employees need to develop personally as well. What does this entail? Developing the soft skills which includes leadership talent and management skills training, negotiation skills, time management, presentation skills, and presence. Managers work with HR to develop personalized development plans for your employees. Talk about a retention strategy!
• Provide internal (or outsourced) emerging leader training and leadership development for established leaders: Your institution can choose to create an internal plan but there are plenty of leadership institutes to send your emerging leaders to. Don’t forget to also continue to develop your seasoned leaders. Their needs are different, and they may be looking for different types of development such as networking with peers in the industry to stay on top of their fields.
• Culture: Lastly, do not delegate but instead, own the culture training for your institution and intentionally select ways to maintain it – even with remote staff. You need to preserve your culture as your organization grows to ensure your employees do everything “your institution’s way.” In the end, it’s all about how you treat your employees who in turn work with your customers! Preserving your culture is how you retain top talent and top customers too. Don’t know how to define culture? Maybe start with your core values. We recommend reading the book The Core Value Equation by Darius Mirshahzadeh for help in documenting and shaping your core values.

As you can see, when you Centralize your HR outsourcing to one main third-party service provider and outsource HR administrative tasks, your HR team has time to focus on attracting, retaining, and developing your talent.