What can be done to encourage more nonprofit organizations to hire experienced workers seeking jobs that combine personal meaning, social impact and continued income?

The Tapping Encore Talent report by Civic Ventures, which was funded by the MetLife Foundation, offers some practical ideas, based on meetings and brainstorming sessions held across the country. Here are some:

• Create an online or in-person talent bank to help employers find encore workers. One example is Arizona’s Mature Workforce Initiative, which lists age-friendly jobs for experienced workers.
• Start an “encore employee agency” as an intermediary that finds, recruits and screens potential candidates, then connects them with potential employers.
• Encourage Workforce Investment Boards (WIBs) to target encore workers. These regional and local boards shape workforce development strategy, help direct public funding to programs and oversee one-stop career centers.
• Create opportunities for encore internships and fellowships to give those in the second half of life a chance to learn more about nonprofits and provide nonprofits a chance to experience how encore workers might help them.
• Encourage corporations to facilitate encore transitions through retirement planning, service learning opportunities, life coaching and outplacement assistance. One pioneer in this area is IBM, which is helping employees transition to second careers with nonprofits through a partnership with Bridgespan.
• Collaborate with other nonprofits to recruit and employ encore workers.
• Think creatively about potential new roles, restructured jobs and ways to give employees of all ages the flexibility they want and need.
• Partner with others, such as nonprofit associations or local educational institutions, to provide training to close gaps in technology skills.
• Train those who screen resumes to look carefully at nontraditional candidates and understand how to translate potentially valuable life experience.
• Create a diverse, multigenerational workforce and a workplace culture that respects, appreciates and comes to expect the benefits of a staff that includes all ages.
• Advocate for funding to strengthen human talent recruitment and retention in the nonprofit sector.

Click here to read more about the “Tapping Encore Talent” survey of nonprofit employers.