Part and parcel of the American Dream is the goal of one day having enough saved in your retirement account to retire from your day job.
For those fresh from law school laden with debt, retirement likely has not even entered the calculus. Those in the middle of their careers likely have picked a hypothetical time frame in which they would like to retire, say by the time they are 65. But for those Baby Boomers left in the workforce, of which I manage several, the countdown is on, with planning down to the exact date and time they plan to retire.
And great for them! They have toiled countless years, days, and hours in the pursuit of their retirement, and they certainly deserve the fruits of their labors. As a manager, however, I have found it can be rather difficult to not only keep an employee who has publicly stated they plan to retire in six months or a year or two engaged, but also to hold them accountable.
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During a career development conversation, one such Boomer bluntly told me they had zero interest in advancing beyond where they were professionally. They were content with their salary, saw no benefit in advancing as they “were too old for anyone else to hire them,” and were just counting down the days until retirement, which was still a distant 18 months away. At that moment, I knew she had checked out. Yes, she spent those remaining 18 months as a dependable employee, but you can bet I never saw her in the office a moment before 9 or a second after 5.
Sadly, that was actually the best-case scenario I have experienced. Earlier in the year I had another employee who gave me roughly three months retirement notice. While I initially imagined I would appreciate her approach due to the shorter duration her retirement would be looming, in a matter of days she had pretty well physically and mentally checked out. My e-mails went unreturned, assignments were often submitted late and/or incomplete, and her office hours grew unreliable, to say the least.
Sure I could have cracked the proverbial managerial whip on this employee, but was I really going to? No one else on my team seemed to mind since they knew she was in “retirement mode,” and I was quite confident I was not going to gain too many bonus points with my team if I started to discipline the self-entitled grandma of the team.
This being a legal website, I feel I need to issue the obvious disclaimer. In no way do I treat my Baby Boomers or other more senior employees any differently than I do my other employees on account of their age. If anything, I have found those in that age demographic may receive more lenient consideration from me than my younger employees. After all, as my former employee put it, no one else would hire them if they were somehow without their current job — a thought that you can bet is stuck in the back of my head every time a Boomer’s performance or attitude may have fallen short of expectations.
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For all the Boomers who are now seething at the screen, I recognize I am painting with a broad brush. There are many who responsibly plan their exit from their job and work until the end with the same gusto they brought to the job on day one. Additionally, I am genuinely happy when one of my employees finds themselves in a position to retire. I wish them no ill will even if their performance and conduct may have fallen short of the mark in their final weeks.
And while I wish you well on your next great adventure, if I agree to overlook your growing senioritis, perhaps you can forgive me if I come off as a little overburdening until your exit. Let’s be honest, it is just for show for those undisciplined Millennials anyways.
Stephen R. Williams is in-house counsel with a multi-facility hospital network in the Midwest. His column focuses on a little talked about area of the in-house life, management. You can reach Stephen at [email protected].