Remember when Transition Planning was the rage? For the last decade this has been a hot topic in the nonprofit sector as studies showed the alarming trend of baby boomers due to retire by 2015 leaving new directors of many nonprofit agencies in the seats of founders and organizations that were identified with their predecessor. Up popped a series of course offerings and consultant specialties on transition planning. Nobody at the time anticipated a glitch that challenges this trend: the current state of the economy.

At a recent meeting with nonprofit leaders there was a discussion of the new concerns confronting baby boomers who cannot afford to retire in the near future due to the economy. Retirement funds are less than they expected and the financial outlook is uncertain, postponing any retirement plans they made even a year ago. Now they have other concerns to attend to as they continue on in the workplace. For instance,

• What happens to the staff a level below who were counting on moving up in the organization and have now hit a temporary ceiling?
• How does a baby boomer Executive Director become more informed about, and make the transition into, the social media age?
• What are the best ways of taking advantage of the young staff members and their technological savvy?

This may be a good time to do some reflection and see if you are in this situation. Some possible solutions if you recognize yourself in the description above:

• Perhaps it’s time for re-examining your organizational structure using some organizational development strategies
• Maybe coaching is something to consider
• This may be a good time to enroll in workshops and educational training on social media
• How about a facilitated retreat to consider the generational knowledge of employees and how to get the best out of everyone’s individual skills and expertise?