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Making the Most of ‘‘Late-Career’’ for Employers and Workers Themselves:

Becoming Elders not Relics MARTIN M. GRELLER LINDA K. STROH

I N T R O D U C T I O N

We are on the verge of creating a new ‘‘lost generation.’’ The original lost generation were the young men returning from World War I who were unable to productively reen- gage with work and society. The generation we are about to lose are those in their 50s and late 40s. Through their own actions and inac- tion, through the unintended consequences of employers’ decisions, and through popu- lar attitudes and policies, we are about to experience the loss of this generation’s poten- tial and human capital. In the United States, we do a better job of managing industrial scrap than we do of managing the careers of older workers. At least companies recognize the value to be derived from industrial scrap. There is not a similar acknowledgment of the value gained from the appropriate use and development of members of the work- force over age 50.

The irony is that the way we currently manage older workers’ careers does not meet the needs of any of the relevant parties: older workers, their employers, or the broader society. Such self-defeating behavior reflects a failure to incorporate new thinking about careers and aging into the way employers deal with older workers or the way older workers deal with their own careers. While this is certainly a policy issue, it is one with a human face, both in terms of the questions

that confront individuals and the conse- quences of the answers to those questions.

Envision yourself as a 54-year-old manager. You have held your responsible position for five years. You are successful in that job and under- stand the range of problems your unit might face. Your employer is pleased with your performance. While your position is demanding, there is little that is new in the challenges you face. The com- pany would be happy for you to do this job forever, but you can see how it might soon become boring. You are not invited to participate in training on new technologies, nor are you assigned to projects that would prepare you for new opportunities. You have suggested several new initiatives that were well received by the company, but younger managers were assigned to implement the ideas. Some people say you are slowing down. It hardly seems worth the effort to stay on the cutting edge of your field, if you aren’t given the opportunities to use that knowledge. Your efforts to talk about these concerns with your manager are deflected with statements about how valuable you are in your current role.

This is the situation many older workers face. What one does in the situation depends on one’s own and one’s employer’s needs.

W h a t D o O l d e r W o r k e r s W a n t / N e e d ?

So, what do older workers want or need? For increasing numbers of older workers,

Organizational Dynamics, Vol. 33, No. 2, pp. 202–214, 2004 ISSN 0090-2616/$ – see frontmatter � 2004 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.orgdyn.2004.01.007 www.organizational-dynamics.com

Acknowledgments: The authors appreciate the comments of Erica Fox, Grant Lindstrom, and Brent Hathaway on an earlier version of this manuscript.

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retiring and living a life of leisure is neither financially possible nor personally appeal- ing, but their behavior and attitudes are clearly not in synch. Workers consistently retire well before the traditional age of retire- ment. In a survey reported by Weckerle and Schultz, only 11 percent of workers over 50 were thinking in terms of continued full- time, regular employment. Yet these same surveys show that the frequency of part-time employment among those over 50 is increas- ing. Older self-employed people retire later, although they may gradually reduce work commitments prior to actually retiring. According to a U.S. Department of Labor report, even among people who are nomin- ally retired, 25 percent work, and 67 percent of current workers expect to work in their retirement. Whatever their reasons, older workers expect that they will be working longer, and ‘‘retirement’’ no longer means cessation of work.

While people expect to work ‘‘after retir- ing,’’ the realities of that work may not quite be what they expected. The work is often less remunerative and satisfying than it could have been. Many older workers feel tossed out by their former employers, and still others end up accepting employment that under-utilizes their abilities and compen- sates them at a correspondingly lower level. A common refrain among older workers we talk to is that they were unaware they had options. They never had to manage their careers before, and they were not pre- pared to do so at this point in their lives. What encouragement they received was to retire, not to explore career options and opportunities.

Mary headed the research library at a phar- maceutical firm; she had entered the field when libraries were rooms filled with card catalogues and vertical files. However, along with the field, she had advanced into computerized databases, regularly used the Internet in her work, and had created internal learning systems on the company Intranet. Yet, although she was only 58—years younger than her company’s retirement age—she believed she had no choice but to give up her career and retire. Her boss was unsupportive, and her

subordinates were going around her, with her superiors’ tacit acceptance. As Piglet would say, Mary sensed, in an ‘‘underneath sort of way,’’ that everyone she worked with was sending her subtle messages that it was time to leave. Yes, her work situation was unsatisfying. But she was not even considering ways to fix the situation or to find a new job. According to Mary, her career was spiraling downward, and she believed her situation simply had to be endured.

W h a t D o E m p l o y e r s W a n t / N e e d ?

This loss of potential might make sense if it served the needs of someone other than the older worker. But employers are not well served by the situation either. Employers need a dependable workforce, regardless of whether that workforce is older or younger. Unfortunately, older workers are often viewed as having less value. Even if this does not rise to the level of age discrimination, there is certainly evidence that it results in no active policy to hire, advance, or develop older workers. However, simple inattention to the careers of older workers can have consequences.

Raymond was the chief service technician in an industrial products company. He was respon- sible for keeping the service function at the cutting edge, identifying the best solution to product pro- blems, and insuring the adequacy of service man- uals and training. He also handled the toughest service problems. Despite the fact that more and more of the company’s products were electronic, Raymond’s responsibilities focused exclusively on electrical devices. The company saw him as too valuable (and too well paid) to be shifted into an ‘‘experimental’’ product line. Meanwhile, other people developed expertise in repairing electronic devices. That wasn’t a problem. The old electrical units still needed frequent and varied repairs. The company’s reputation depended on the continued performance of the older systems; so, Raymond’s expertise was valued more highly than ever. His pay continued to increase as well—that is, until there were no more electrical systems to repair.

Just as individual companies require a talented workforce, the economy depends on skilled labor to grow. Demographics (i.e., a

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greater percentage of older workers in the labor force and a lower birth rate) are altering the number of workers available in the U.S. economy. In some ways, however, the U.S. is a bad example. In the past, the American solution to labor shortages has been immi- gration, limiting the need to retain older workers. Immigration has served the U.S. well and has been politically accepted (e.g., there was no political backlash against leg- islators who made it possible for Silicon Valley firms to import workers rather than hire experienced, older programmers during the 1990s).

It is naive to believe that in this global economy the U.S. will always have unfet- tered access to the world’s labor pool. There is competition. For example, Germany is importing approximately 1 million workers per year. These are not the gastarbeiter of years past. Mostly, they are skilled workers from Eastern Europe, receiving the equiva- lent of green cards, who have an expectation of becoming citizens. While the U.S. was once the employer of choice for Irish college grad- uates and skilled workers, improvements in Ireland’s domestic economy have led to a reverse flow; people are now returning to Ireland for employment opportunities. Sec- ond, one should expect less developed economies to erect cultural and legal barriers to the expropriation of their skilled workers. Legal barriers may not be necessary. Subcon- tractors in India and the Philippines are offering engineering, software development, customer support, and financial services which once might have been performed by American workers (or workers imported into the U.S. for the purpose). This does not mean that the U.S. won’t still import skilled work- ers, but there will be more competition for that workforce. Older workers who are eager to continue working are a source of experi- enced labor that can fill this gap. To ensure that these workers are employed to their full capacity and not forced to retire prematurely, the myths about aging—and older workers in particular—have to be dispelled.

The funding concerns facing social secur- ity are a second economic issue. Eventually

the number of people drawing upon social security will require more funding than the amounts coming in will cover. This is not simply a function of the number of people aged 65 (or soon, 67). It is a matter of what they do. If large numbers of people retire at or before the age of eligibility for full benefits, that increases the draw on the resources. Social security would be more secure if more people deferred retirement. But that is not the whole story. If the earnings of late-career workers are reduced, so too are their contri- butions to social security. To put this in per- spective, if under-employment causes as few as 10 percent of the 14.6 million workers in late-career to receive only $50 less per week than they might have over a three-year per- iod, social security payments would be reduced by $11

2 billion.

Given that many older workers wish to continue their careers, and that both employ- ers and the economy stand to benefit if they do, what is getting in the way?

W h a t i s G e t t i n g i n t h e W a y ?

One of the reasons older workers leave employment—or others push them out—is the perception that these workers are less skilled. While there has been considerable research demonstrating that most 50- to 70- year-olds have the ability to perform, ability in the absence of current skills isn’t of much use. What interferes with older workers maintaining their skills is a self fulfilling prophecy (what Peter Senge describes as a ‘‘loop’’). Employers and coworkers discou- rage older workers who want to continue their careers. If older workers were to invest in professional development, there is reason to fear that it would not pay off in preferred assignments, advancement, or pay. So, they cut back on their professional development. When that happens, their future employment opportunities actually do decline, validating the stereotypes that led managers and cow- orkers to discourage the older workers’ efforts towards development.

Research shows that the benefits of mana- ging one’s career are as great for late-career

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workers as they are for younger workers. Older workers who have experienced careers filled with learning and are accustomed to assessing their options are more likely to know when—or whether—to retire. Those who want to continue working are likely to be able to identify new opportunities and, if necessary, the skills they need to acquire. Still other individuals may pursue consult- ing, capitalizing on familiarity with their former employer’s products and culture. And finally, some workers may continue in their current positions, confident they have explored all of their choices.

The problem arises when one is less driven, certain, or confident. And who is not uncertain or doubtful at times? At such moments we look to others, seeking support for our choices and understanding of the environment—what Karl Weick describes as ‘‘sense making.’’ At such moments we are particularly subject to influence by others. Those influences are driven by what managers, family members, coworkers and late-career workers themselves believe, which can be discouraging.

Monica is a nurse with more than 30 years experience. She has held positions in public health and obstetrics, and, most recently, she has been head nurse on a surgical recovery unit. Although she has found the work satisfying, the pressures of overseeing a unit have been wearing on her.

After all these years, she has a wide circle of acquaintances in the nursing field. When she and her friends get together, they talk about their shared miseries at the hands of managed care, their friends who have left nursing, as well as their personal lives. After these conversations Monica feels even more hopeless about her career options.

M E N T A L M O D E L S U N D E R L Y I N G T H E P R O B L E M

Much of the problem is rooted in the way employers and even older workers them- selves view careers. The good news is that the way careers are being understood is changing. While this change is explicit in academic career theory, the implications

are yet to be echoed in the thinking of man- agers and workers.

E m p l o y e r s ’ a n d E m p l o y e e s ’ F l a w e d P e r c e p t i o n s

For the most part, assumptions about the capabilities and desires of older workers, even by human resource professionals, are based on an outdated model. In that approach, old age—defined as 50 and older—is characterized by steady social and psychological withdrawal from both work activities and society. This thinking stems from the largely discredited notion that losses in mental and physical ability during late-career make people unfit for work. It is an extension of the idea that people use ‘‘old age’’ to reminisce while preparing for death. Hardly an up beat approach to aging, and one that suggested people in late-career should disengage from work as a first step in the psychologically important business of preparing to disen- gage from life. While this is no longer the dominant approach to aging, the logic seems to linger in the way workers are viewed in late-career and the beliefs people have about the appropriate career choices for older workers. We can see this reflected in Paul’s experience.

When Paul accepted the position of executive director of his foundation, it was for reasons both admirable and embarrassing. It provided visibi- lity, income, and the opportunity to have broader impact. It was also a way to impress his wife, Carlie, whose own career seemed to be advancing faster than his since the kids left home. Certainly, he had the credentials for the job, having been the agency’s project director for the past eight years and previously having been principal of a large regional high school. But, he also felt compelled to take the position. Increasingly, he found the tech- nical skills and statistical expertise required as project director exceeded his abilities.

After holding the executive director job for two years, Paul began to feel he had made a mistake. For one, he had not realized that a major component of the job was to monitor the per- formance of the foundation’s portfolio. This was

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an area wholly outside Paul’s experience. For another, the job required a surprising amount of socializing. This made Carlie balk. She couldn’t go with Paul to very many meetings or to events he was required to attend.

Paul found his situation increasingly stress- ful. And he could see few ways out. After a nearly 10-year absence, he could not go back to school administration. While there might be one or two other positions as executive director of a founda- tion in the city where they lived, he would probably encounter the same problems in a new job as he did in his current one. He knew that some people make the jump from foundation executive to a position in federal or state government, but most of these positions require either the research strengths Paul lacked or extensive socializing and time away from home. As Paul contemplated his situation, the foundation underwent some changes. It received a major donation, in part through Paul’s efforts. This meant Paul’s responsibility for financial over- sight increased. Also, several new board members began pushing for a stronger research and pub- lication agenda, an area in which Paul was weak. To Paul, it seemed that with every passing day he and the demands of his position were becoming more and more out of synch.

When Paul was 58, the foundation’s board asked him to take an early retirement. The mem- bers expressed their gratitude and asked that he stay on as a board member.

It is easy enough to see the world through Paul’s eyes, but there are things Paul is not seeing. He is the only part of his world that is not changing. Statistics, finance, even communications skills within a marriage can be learned. While Paul may think he is using his strengths, to an equal degree he is hiding from his weaknesses. Hiding from weak- nesses is often based on beliefs about one’s capacity to change.

What beliefs precipitate problems in late career? They include the notions that once people have made decisions about their careers during mid-life, those decisions should guide them until they retire. Implicit in this is that whatever value the older worker has, it is rooted in expertise and knowledge about a specific function, activity or unit, and this is not readily transferred.

Following this logic, money spent develop- ing older workers, particularly in areas of new technology or new businesses, would be poorly invested even if these ‘‘old dogs’’ could learn new tricks (a matter on which those who hold these beliefs have strong doubts).

The assumption is that people make incremental changes over the course of their careers, and that any marked changes occur at more or less predictable ages. Of course, this assumption makes sense only if the workplace is assumed to be relatively static, requiring people to make only minor adjust- ments in the way they do their work and in the skills they are expected to acquire. Surely, these are assumptions that don’t match the workplace of today. Simply to remain in an industry or to continue to perform effectively in the same job requires advancing one’s skills. Failing to do so means the individual ceases to be an effective contributor regard- less of whether he or she is over 50 or 40 or 30.

The mindset against investing in human capital is a trap for workers over 50. The trap is equally devastating whether the mindset is their own, or that of their managers. It is particularly insidious when older workers themselves embrace such thinking, as they may not recognize that they are giving up their future opportunities. There is an alter- native. The protean model is particularly helpful for understanding what happens to people during late-career.

C h a r a c t e r i s t i c s o f t h e P r o t e a n M o d e l

As Douglas Hall and Jonathan Moss explained in the 1998 winter issue of Orga- nizational Dynamics, ‘‘The protean career is a process which the person, not the organiza- tion, is managing’’ (p. 25). This ‘‘protean’’ model demands that employees have a great deal of self-awareness and take primary responsibility for managing their careers. It requires that people develop skills or ‘‘meta competencies’’ in learning how to learn.

Another feature of the protean career is the sequential process of change, adjustment,

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success, and disaffection. This cycle recurs regardless of age. It is not just a variation on the seven-year itch. In addition to indivi- duals achieving mastery and then seeking new challenges, jobs themselves change. So, a position in which one has been success- ful and satisfied may itself change, driving the protean cycle forward. Learning and openness to change are not simply admirable qualities. They are essential for anyone who wants to continue to be viable in the work- place. There is no age at which one can assume that past directions, skills, relation- ships, and knowledge will carry one until retirement—not unless retirement is very, very close.

Workers, old or young, who see their careers as a series of growth and learning experiences—in other words, those who take a protean approach to career management— are apt to see careers as a combination of opportunity and the need to prepare for opportunity. Workers following the protean model can be expected to perceive late- careers as simply another in the series of opportunities. The requirements for growth and learning remain. Nor are they as man- agers likely to view older workers as incap- able of learning and contributing professionally. The skills and interests of all their workers are understood to be con- stantly transforming. Why would older workers be any different in this regard? Those who retire are likely to do so with full understanding of their choices, prepared for the change. Those who continue to work, whether in their current position or another one, are likely to do so with greater commit- ment, having examined other options. Con- sider the experience of one professional as he and his employer go through two protean cycles.

Joe had been the senior science writer for a metropolitan newspaper for several years. This position used his education in the sciences with his professional experience as a journalist. Joe was successful in his job; however, he was becoming frustrated. Less space in the paper was being devoted to science stories and more to pieces on technology and computer sciences, which other

reporters covered. Like most reporters, Joe mea- sured his success in column inches. Disaffection was setting in.

The senior editors recognized they weren’t making full use of Joe’s talents. Their solution was to propose a new role for Joe. They asked if he would work with an outside firm to develop surveys on current issues that would be used in news stories and analysis. They felt confident that, with Joe’s science background, he could both ensure that the surveys were appropriately designed and do a good job interpreting the data. To Joe this sounded like an interesting challenge. He would clearly be doing something valuable for the paper and also have a chance to write very visible articles. Only Joe had no expertise in survey design or social science measurement. He mentioned this to the senior editors, who said they were confident he would do fine; after all, he had solid journalistic expertise and would have the outside firm’s help. The editors also said they would help him find ways to increase his knowl- edge of survey design.

Joe found the first 18 months (the adjustment or learning phase) to be a terrifying but rich experience. As he expected, people at the survey firm helped him understand survey research. They also suggested that he attend a seminar at the University of Michigan, and this added consider- ably to his understanding. After a year and a half, he felt like a contributing member of the partnership. Newspaper-sponsored surveys had become a regular and popular part of the publica- tion’s offerings. The learning phase was behind him, and Joe was in the performance phase. Over the next four years, the newspaper expanded the breadth of its surveys. It entered into joint agree- ments to do surveys with broadcast and Internet organizations, and their quarterly survey became a tool used to monitor regional economic health.

As Joe started his sixth year working with surveys, he began to realize that the parts of the job that most interested him were changing. Mana- ging people and projects was more satisfying than the writing or survey work itself (the next dishar- mony phase). Joe voiced his concerns to the paper’s senior editors. Their first response was to praise the job he was doing and offer him more money to keep doing it. However, after Joe continued to voice concerns, they agreed to let him manage a broader

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range of news projects, if he would train someone to do the survey work. He did this.

Given the range of projects Joe was over- seeing, the paper promoted him to deputy assis- tant managing editor of special projects, a new position. Once again, Joe was beginning a new phase in his career—one in which inevitably he would have to go through learning, performance, and, ultimately, disharmony phases.

Discussions of protean careers often emphasize the succession of career episodes, but one must also appreciate what occurs within each career episode: a learning phase, a performance phase, and a period of dishar- mony. During the first phase, a high level of learning occurs. New skills and technologies are mastered. Contacts are established with people. Roles are carved out in which one makes contributions, learns additional skills, and assesses the terrain for future opportu- nities. Such learning is not experienced in isolation. New and transformed relationships are a critical part of the experience.

During the performance phase one applies one’s skills. This is when major achievements occur in a job. One achieves mastery of the tasks and, in the process, has experiences that increase the breadth and depth of one’s areas of expertise.

The final phase is characterized by increasing disharmony. This can stem from changes in demands on the employee, brought about by changes in the organiza- tion, the larger business environment, or other external conditions. Joe’s experience as a science writer is an example of changing external conditions. In Joe’s next phase, dis- harmony was a function of personal growth and increasing self-awareness that he wanted a more managerial role. The value of dishar- mony is that it helps the individual identify emerging interests and disinclinations. It prompts action: exploring and preparation for the next phase.

T h e R i s k o f I n a c t i o n

From what we have seen, many people who retire prematurely do so as a result of inaction. They reach the disharmony phase

and see no opportunities other than retire- ment, even though they might well have been more satisfied if they pursued a new career or position with their current employer, as a consultant, or even possibly with another organization. Not thinking in terms of learning and growth, these older workers do not aggressively pursue oppor- tunities. If older workers themselves are not pursuing those opportunities, their employ- ers are not in a position to be discriminatory. (Older workers having a more protean orien- tation would be more apt to push their employers for learning opportunities, pla- cing the question of discrimination more squarely on the table. But, those with a pro- tean orientation are not apt to depend on employers as their only resources for learn- ing.) However, employer action is unlikely in the face of misconceptions about late-career.

Once the topics of growth and develop- ment are on the table, we must confront the most common negative stereotype about older workers—that they just cannot keep pace with the times or, more specifically, that they cannot learn new workplace technolo- gies, changes in procedures, and so forth. While there certainly are such people, they are not necessarily chronologically old. (William James once noted that old fogy-ism could set in as early as the mid-1920s.) We get into trouble by assuming that the reason employees appear unable to learn is because they are ‘‘old.’’ Most people are perfectly capable of learning; what they may lack is a reason for doing so. Young or old, workers who do not feel valued or motivated to grow, and who are not used to growing, are not going to put in the effort required to ‘‘keep up with the times.’’ Stereotypes feed into this problem, by communicating to older workers that they are not expected to learn or grow. Older workers who feel respected and valued and who envision a professional future for themselves are likely to do what is necessary to fulfill their job responsibilities, including learning new procedures or technologies.

Another part of the stereotype is that older workers experience problems in their

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interpersonal relationships. If so, this could impede their taking on new roles and learn- ing in new environments. Support for such an assertion it is usually found in how older workers are perceived by coworkers. For example, older workers report having diffi- culty communicating with colleagues, that their supervisors are unsupportive, and that they have little influence over the way their work is organized. A younger worker con- fronted with these conditions would change jobs (not taking the risk of inaction). Older workers who do not believe they have options endure the situation as long as they can, and then retire, rather than pursue career alternatives. The reasons for retiring prematurely and quitting may be similar, but for older workers inaction can end one’s career.

I M P L I C A T I O N S F O R A C T I O N

We have a situation in which older workers, their employers, and society at large are all paying a price for the premature retirement of older workers. The problem is produced by outdated mental models that leads older workers and their employers to act as though there is no reason to continue investing in older workers. Indeed, such effort is expected to be unfruitful. Misconceptions, but ones that are the basis for a self-fulfilling prophecy. Without the training and expecta- tion of success, little development occurs. And without development, career opportu- nities are predictably limited.

The protean model has the potential to change this. All employees confront the pro- spect of their skills becoming obsolete. If they do not take action, they should expect that they might cease to be qualified, even for the positions they currently hold. This also means that employees of all ages should think in terms of whom they wish to become. Efforts to develop new skills, abilities and relationships open the door to new roles and identities. This is where the notion of ‘‘rein- vention,’’ implicit in protean careers, comes in. With all the directions and ways in which

a person might elect to change, adding retire- ment to the banquet does not really alter the basic process.

S t e p s a n O r g a n i z a t i o n C a n T a k e

Organizations trying to manage their human resources and thereby their strategic compe- tencies need to be involved in their employ- ees’ efforts at reinvention. Employees need to be encouraged to recognize the need and be given opportunities for lifelong growth. As Hall and Moss said, employers should use everyday job challenges and work relation- ships to help employees grow. The company must engage employees in dialogue and sup- port them in their efforts to develop.

There are three ways an employer may shape late-career workers’ approaches to professional development: opening dialo- gue, making full use of the employment options available, and evaluating the results. None of these will determine the outcomes, but they will put employers in a position to influence the process. Taking these steps increases the likelihood that older workers will be in positions that fit their own and the employer’s needs, and be more committed to the career directions they establish, similar to what Senge calls ‘‘personal mastery.’’

Fostering dialogue. To a disturbing degree, late-career is an organizational unmention- able. People do not candidly articulate their beliefs, fears, and expectations. As a conse- quence, they operate largely on assumptions. Perhaps there is even some guilt. This isn’t the way we would try to make good deci- sions at any other point in a person’s career; why expect it to work here? The good news is that we have a mechanism that can be used for this purpose. Dialogue may be stimulated in at least three ways: providing counseling and assistance services, mentoring, and reducing the intrusion of stereotypes.

1. Counseling and assistance services are one model by which organizations can educate workers about their options in late-career. Companies with employee assis- tance programs (EAPs) may institute work- shops on options to retirement. Employees

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in their 40s and even 30s should be encouraged to attend. Companies that do not have EAPs should consider bringing in consultants to speak to groups of employees about their late-career choices. Some com- panies currently do this in pre-retirement programs. The only problem is that these programs usually focus on retirement, which is only one alternative. To broaden the options, such programs can be run in conjunction with human resource depart- ments to identify the sorts of positions and skills that will be valued by the company in the future. The idea is to assist employees with a decision. A company already com- mitted to a protean career model should be doing something along these lines for all employees. Of course, the difference for older (or soon to be older) workers is that they have an option not available to others: retirement.

Older workers who have successfully transitioned into other careers in or outside the company can also be invited to speak with employees about their experiences and perhaps to counsel them. Finally, older workers should be encouraged to form support groups, ideally facilitated by a trained leader, where they can give voice to their personal and professional concerns about aging. These sessions can provide excellent opportunities for workers to brain- storm ideas, clarify questions about the myths versus the realities of growing older, and receive support as they deal with feelings of uncertainty about the future.

2. Mentoring and coaching programs. We usually think of this as something we do with younger, new employees. Why do we think that? Probably because we expect the mentor (someone who knows the situation into which the person is about to enter) to act as a guide. In contrast we think of the older employee as ‘‘knowing the ropes.’’ While older employees do know a lot of the ropes, the late-career period provides un- familiar challenges, opportunities, and situa- tions with new ‘‘ropes’’ to learn. A mentor could be beneficial. Ideally, an employee toward the end of mid-career could be

paired with a successful older worker who can share strategies that he or she is finding effective in coping during late-career. These ideas might include ways to avoid becoming marginalized, to stay current, and so on. An important question for the company is whether this is something done to assist employees with their decisions as they become older, or whether the company wants to exert active influence on the sorts of options that workers consider as they age. The clearer the company’s vision for the role of older workers, the easier it is to train or guide the mentors to make sure issues of interest to the company are addressed.

3. Addressing stereotypes and ageism. While bias and discrimination have not figured much in our treatment of the issue, employment opportunities are certainly af- fected by age bias. Given the prevalence of unrealistic beliefs about late-career, particu- larly beliefs that may become the basis for adverse employment decisions, this is an area that needs to be addressed. It is not just the beliefs of young workers that are at issue. Older workers may be influenced by age stereotypes resulting in self-limiting behaviors.

U s e t h e O p t i o n s t h a t E x i s t

It is not just a matter of how an individual thinks, or what he or she chooses to do, that are important. The set of available opportu- nities also influences what older workers can and will do. Consider what companies do in three areas—training, bridge employment, and human resource planning—to make opportunities accessible.

1. Training can be advantageous to old- er workers. They do learn and benefit. If the company does not provide training, there is evidence some older workers will seek it out on their own. Unfortunately, there is no guarantee that the training older workers select will have the intended effect of increasing career viability.

One of the first questions that need to be addressed is whether the employer really wants to retain a substantial number of its

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older workers. If so, training aimed at older workers can accomplish two objectives. First, it provides concrete ideas for late- career workers who are interested in pursu- ing alternatives to retirement. It may open doors for them and help them develop a clearer vision of whom they wish to become at work. Second, given a clear idea of where workers would like their careers to go (which is helped by dialogue), training provides skills that enable them to pursue positions within their organization or else- where. For optimal effectiveness, someone experienced in training older people should conduct such training. It is not that older workers have some exotic process for learn- ing. Managing the pace and encourage questions that help them integrate what they are learning with what they already know are the distinctions.

Older workers should be encouraged to take training outside their immediate fields. There is a risk that they (as other workers) may be too conservative in their thinking about future career options. They can benefit, just as do other workers, from cross training. For example, a programmer might learn applications other than those in which he or she usually works. Similarly, by encouraging networking with internal associates, a sales- man might ultimately expand his list of external clients. Even someone with a Ph.D. can—and should—make an effort to stay current and expand skills and abilities, whether by attending conferences, working in new areas of research, exploring new technologies, or taking courses outside his or her main area of expertise.

For those who see their next career step as outside their current employer or indus- try, training may still be a benefit. It can help people who want to retire to better under- stand the planning necessary, decide when it is best to make the transition, and evaluate choices (locations, lifestyles, etc.). It can help those who are looking for a different work experience to develop the skills that allow them to take on the new roles. It may also help develop realistic expectations of what that work experience would be like.

Such training benefits employees by making them feel capable, on top of changes, and generally more positive about the job. It benefits the employer by ensuring that more employees will be equipped to handle new tasks as change arises. It also helps an employer judge how many of its older workers are inclined and able to fill roles in the future.

Lynn had always wanted to be a general manager, heading one of the business units in her large corporation. But because she was a life- long marketer, top management just could not see her in roles outside of the marketing function. In the meantime, Lynn kept her eyes and ears open for leadership opportunities, and, sure enough, she was asked to oversee a $40 million community development project revita- lizing her city’s downtown.

Lynn’s success in managing the downtown project eventually convinced management that her abilities extended beyond marketing. When a position opened up for a general manager of a $20 million business unit, Lynn was offered the job. Having watched her manage a $40 million development effort, it would have been difficult to argue that she couldn’t manage a $20 million business unit.

2. Bridge jobs. The concept of bridge jobs came about in the mid-1980s, as people began to retire earlier, and some industries and geographic areas began to experience labor shortages. In the peculiarly irony of personnel policy, older workers were being given incentives to retire while recruiters were scrambling to find high-quality re- cruits. To make it easier for older workers to retire while providing a labor cushion for the shortages, companies such as Travelers created bridge jobs—usually for part-time or on-call workers—to fill in clerical, tech- nical support, customer service, and profes- sional specialist roles. The pay was generally good, and workers appreciated the opportunity to ease into retirement. This is still the predominant reason organi- zations turn to bridge employment. In that sense it may be more a walk off a plank than across a bridge. In its current applica- tions, the bridge-job concept does not seem

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to offer much opportunity for growth or continuity.

Still, the basic idea of creating a form of employment that is more flexible regarding time and level of commitment could be used as a tool for career extension, particularly when combined with serious discussion about the employee’s goals and preparation for the role. In some ways companies are playing catch-up here. In practice, bridge jobs that extend careers are often created by employees for themselves. Employees who do not want to work full-time or retire completely need to be aware there are things they can do to create their own options. Bridge jobs are particularly appropriate for people in demanding positions requiring high levels of expertise who would like a less stressful job, perhaps with a smaller company. In this case, people usually stay in such positions for three to seven years and then retire. (About the time it takes to complete a protean career cycle.) Bridge jobs are also an attractive alternative for people who have intense family demands, such as responsibility for the care of an ailing parent.

A bridge job may enable a person to build relationships and acquire the knowl- edge and other resources necessary to create the retirement he or she envisions. Consider Tony’s preparation for retirement.

Tony had always loved the ocean. He had grown up along the Atlantic. His fondest childhood memories were of spending time with his grandfather, who was a commercial fisher- man. After receiving his medical degree, Tony moved from position to position, until eventually he became a department head at a prestigious teaching hospital in Denver.

Recently, Tony and his wife have been talking seriously about the possibility of buying a condo along the Gulf Coast for when they retire. Although Tony doesn’t expect to retire anytime soon, the topic keeps coming up. Looking at places they’re considering living has even provided the excuse to take a few long weekend trips to the coast of Florida and Mexico. Tony always feels refreshed after these trips and looks forward to the next one. He has been acquainting

himself with the medical community, exploring opportunities to affiliate with a practice group in the area. They both have been visiting volunteer groups that they would be likely to join if they lived in the area.

One of the attractions of what Tony and his wife have done is that it provides them with time and opportunities to establish relationships and contacts in their new town, that will allow him to modify his career and increase the chances that their eventual retirement will be satisfying.

3. Human resource planning might logi- cally be the starting point for a company considering the actions it could take to manage the older people in its workforce. Clearly, this is an advantage whether one is trying to manage careers of the old, young, or anyone in between. If we seriously thought we could induce companies to do a better job of HR planning for the purpose of managing the careers of older worker we would do so in a heart beat. The more pessimistic truth is that those firms that do a poor job (or no job) of HR planning will be as limited in managing older workers as they are in managing the rest of their workforce.

A n d t h e n , A s s e s s t h e R e s u l t s

The reason for managing careers is to have an effect. The effect one desires may be to assure an adequate supply of qualified labor. It may also be to deliver a benefit: taking care of workers’ needs. Whatever the reason, an organization must ask and measure whether their goals are being achieved. The goal is not to have programs, but to have results.

C O N C L U S I O N

This paper has outlined the long-term pro- blems associated with mismanaging older workers. Without immediate attention, the current cohort of older workers may become a ‘‘lost generation.’’ The paper has shown that what employees want and need, and what employers want and need,

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are parallel. But despite a shared interest in career continuity, employee and employer often work at cross-purposes. The challenge is removing the impediments to mutual action. Part of the problem lies with employ- ers’ failure to incorporate new thinking about careers and aging into the way they deal with older workers. We’ve offered suggestions on how to rectify that problem with a three-step process. We’ve also suggested that older workers themselves need to incorporate new thinking when dealing with their careers. The most urgent concern is inaction by both the employer and the employee. For employers and society, inaction creates the risk of further erosion of human capital. For employees, inaction causes premature death to their careers, either via early retirement or a stagnant, unproductive career.

Now consider yourself in the role of a 35- year-old division head or HR executive struggling to introduce new technologies and meet an ever- expanding range of competitors in the market place. As you consider how to develop and deploy your workforce, how do you factor in the produc- tivity, experience, problem solving ability, and potential of your late-career workers? What are you doing to create an environment in which that potential is likely to be realized? Certainly, you are conscious of cost, but when you think about the costs associated with your late-career workers, how much of that thinking is based on verified fact as opposed to casual assumption (e.g., mental models)?

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SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

Questions about demographics are not new. In the 1980s, the Hudson Institute took a forward look at the potential impact on the labor force and economy. The most popular version of this is Johnston and Packer’s 1987 book, Workforce 2000: Work and Workers for the 21st Century (Indianapolis, IN: Hudson Insti- tute); however, Greller and Nee’s From Baby Boom to Baby Bust: How Business Can Meet the Demographic Challenge (Reading, MA: Addi- son Wesley, 1989) looks at the implications for employers. Greller and Simpson, ‘‘In search of late-career,’’ Human Resource Management Review, 1999, 9, 309–347, provide a review of the social science literature on the subject.

In addition to the study by Czaja and Sharit, ‘‘Ability performance relationships as a function of age and task experience for a data entry task,’’ Journal of Experimental

Psychology: Applied, 1998, 4, 332–351, a broad overview of older workers’ fitness and per- formance can be found in McEvoy and Cascio, ‘‘Cumulative evidence of the relationship between employee age and job performance,’’ Journal of Applied Psychology 1989, 74, 11–17. Weckerle and Shultz provide information on the surveys noted in the article as well as good insights on bridge employment: ‘‘Influences on the bridge employment deci- sion among older U.S.A. workers,’’ Journal of Occupational & Organizational Psychology 1999, 72, 317–329.

For more information on protean careers look at the article we have cited, Hall and Moss, ‘‘The new protean career contract: helping organizations and employees adapt,’’ Organizational Dynamics winter 1998, 26, 22–37.

Martin M. Greller (Ph.D., Yale University) is a professor and head of the Human Resource Management Program at the Milano School for Management and Urban Policy. He has served as director of the MBA Program and professor of management at the University of Wyoming. His research examines the experience of workers in late career. ([email protected])

Linda K. Stroh (Ph.D., Northwestern University) is a faculty scholar and professor of human resource management at Loyola University Chicago. In addition to the study of late career, her work examines the strategic role of international assignments and the roles and opportunities for women in the workforce.

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