Lincoln Financial Services Company

Headquarters: Philadelphia, PA (US)

Sales (FY2004): US$5,371 ($7,156) million

Employees: 5,441

Industry position: 339 in Fortune 500; 491 in FT Global 500; ranked 9th among AARP’s ‘Best Employers for Workers over 50’ (2004)

Products/Services: Annuities and life insurance products, investment management, and financial advising.

Lincoln Financial was concerned enough about its maturing workforce that it launched a taskforce in 2004 to develop a strategic plan to address the issues of recruitment, retention, and knowledge transfer. It is also seeking ways to better integrate the mature workers in its workforce. Traditionally, Lincoln Financials’ customer service representatives, as in many companies and industries, are young workers. The company recognised, however, that many customers feel more comfortable discussing financial issues with a mature worker. So it is now finding ways to incorporate mature workers into the customer service workforce.

Lincoln Financial has created a paid time off bank, which offers more flexibility than a predetermined allocation of vacation, holiday, and sick time. This appeals to mature workers, who may need time off for medical reasons and/or elder care but want to maintain a certain level of privacy.Employee loyalty and engagement is also important to Lincoln Financial. In discussing how the company can fully engage its entire workforce, George Davis, senior vice president of HR, says: “We’ll have to rethink how we structure our work.” In Davis’ view (and that of many other business leaders), the traditional path up the career ladder is gone. In the future, a more creative and non-conventional view of careers will be needed. All this may lead to work redesign and more flexible benefits. Davis also notes that the generations must be able to work well together.

Source: The Conference Board: Managing the Mature Workforce