Canadian businesses recognize that the coming wave of retiring workers is a significant looming challenge, but few are addressing it as proactively as they should, according to the Human Resource Professionals Association.

At a Toronto event on Tuesday morning, the association presented the findings of a recent survey on the preparedness of Canadian firms for the boomer exodus from the workforce.

The survey, which polled 627 human resource professionals, found that just 14% of organizations feel fully prepared for the coming talent shortage. Almost a quarter of organizations admitted to being “poorly prepared.”

“There’s actually very little being done today to address this issue,” said Chris Armstrong, CEO of Life’s Next Steps — a new organization that works with firms to help their employees make a smooth transition into retirement.

This is largely because organizations are not yet experiencing the impact of the exodus of workers, said Claude Balthazard, director of human resource excellence for the Human Resource Professionals Association. Since many firms perceive the problem to be one of the future, they are less willing to tackle it today, he said.

“Many organizations are not feeling the pain quite yet,” he said. “We’re on the cusp of it.”

Still, the survey showed that firms recognize that a significant problem is looming. Of those polled, 26% expect one-fifth of their workforce to retire in the next five years, and 15% expect up to 30% to retire. “We are aware of the issue,” Balthazard said.

Despite this, firms are not generally confident that they offer a favourable working environment for older employees.

One reason many firms are failing to take action in preparation for the retirement wave is the cost involved, according to Armstrong. “Funding is an issue for all of us,” he said, adding that the current economic environment makes it even more difficult for firms to fund such activities.

But he said the economic downturn is also making baby boomers more concerned about their financial situation as they prepare to retire, which will put more pressure on companies to help ease the transition for older employees.

“Tough times require sound strategies,” Armstrong said.

A separate survey by Life’s Next Steps polled more than 900 workers aged 50 and up, revealing a lack of confidence that employers would allow the more flexible work arrangements that older employees want. Specifically, while 59.1% of respondents said they want to continue working part-time in retirement, 53.5% said their company would not allow such an arrangement.

While some companies have begun taking a more flexible approach to work arrangements, Armstrong said more comprehensive, wide-reaching strategies are necessary.

“We’re going to have to find new solutions,” he said.

Interestingly, the employer survey revealed that of the activities companies are implementing to ease the transition to retirement for aging workers, guidance in financial planning is a fairly common practice.

While aging employees agree that such guidance is useful, 81% of the boomers surveyed said they would appreciate more guidance related to lifestyle retirement planning in addition to the financial aspects of it.