Life after management

What are you going to do after work? No not tonight, I mean when you move on from senior management, out of the bright lights and into le troisième âge?

They've stopped showing adverts of a happy middle-aged couple sailing off on their yacht on TV, probably because not enough people are going to be sufficiently wealthy in retirement. In fact, you might not be terribly healthy either.

The Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) reported last year that retirement results in a "drastic decline in health" in the medium and long term. That might not be entirely surprising if you really have been creating 300 billion new cells every day, but the IEA also said retirement is found to increase the chances of suffering clinical depression by 40 per cent and ill health by 60 per cent. Sounds like you'd better stay in work.

Or perhaps not: conversely, a 2010 study of more than 7,500 civil servants found that, on average, the mental health scores and physical functioning of retirees were better than those of working people of similar age. So, you could be healthier when you leave your job, or at least some kinds of management work could be worse for your health than not going to work? There must be a bit more going on behind the headlines than simply getting more age-related illnesses.

Creating an open culture

At work, individuals often don't want to raise questions about retirement. Many fear being seen as no longer fully committed - and do not want to find themselves suddenly moved next to the exit door on the bus. This is bad for succession planning of groups and clients, and helps neither the firm nor the individual. It makes open discussion more difficult about whether (and, if so, how) to retain 'grey-haired skills', such as through consultancy agreements, part-time work (a kind of quantum state where you are both here and not here at the same time), or how to help people with major transitions.

Some firms do address this, although it is common for partners invited to workshops to report initial unease over being tapped on the shoulder and asked to go to 'some discussions about life after the firm'.

There is something in this about creating an open culture, and one where management are fully trusted to act in good faith at all times. This is not always easy when people feel a degree of vulnerability over their utilisation and performance and its impact on how much they are valued or put on a watch list.

A similar theme is seen at the other end of careers, with wellness and wellbeing now being brought into the start of people's careers. One major law firm recently announced that it would pilot a stress programme for senior associates, having incorporated wellbeing into their trainee programme. We are looking at something similar at Hogan Lovells, as are other firms, but what is depressing (if you'll forgive the pun) was the negative comments some lawyers made in response to the law firm's initiative, many of which were around the perceived dangers of admitting weakness.

How much is the ability to have open conversations to be welcomed and how much is it politically foolish and career limiting? That's one for management to take the lead on. Research from Bupa suggests professional services firms could benefit from a £500m uplift in productivity if employees feel a higher level of physical and mental wellbeing.

Identity, respect and success

Retirement should not simply be retiring from; it should be retiring to. Business management specialist Charles Handy went as far as to say that the word 'retirement' should be banned. Rather than thinking about whether you have the financial strength for years of leisure, it should be about moving onto two decades of another kind of work, he said. This brings you to those very core questions about life: what do you want and what do you need?

In part, these questions are about identity. If you ask someone what they do, they may say "I am a lawyer". Yes, but who are you when you stop being a lawyer? If you are a managing partner, what are you at home or with friends when you no longer have the status that the role provides?

Having reached the top of a career ladder, finding the ladder whisked away can feel like chucking away a large part of your identity and success. Identity and the respect in which you are held are often strongly linked to your career and earnings (which might perhaps have something to do with why you can see US partners wanting to continue in their current firm for a decade longer than their UK counterparts, although fear of medical costs might also have something to do with it).

In simple terms, what you look for in work - intellectual stimulation, the ability to make a difference, camaraderie, being a valued part of a tribe - are things that psychologically you will also need as you plan ahead for the next phase of your life.

Other important aspects include how to keep some structure and direction in your days, how to deal with a spouse who will have created their own life without you being around, how to design-in more of the good things and remove things that were tiresome, and how to ensure you obtain the necessary level of autonomy and influence on your environment.

As management expert David Maister put it, "are you having fun yet?" Well surely now you can have (and design-in) more fun?

Designing in more fun

I recently caught up with a school friend who sold his business and decided to spend a year or two kite surfing with his young kids in the West Indies: he is having fun. Had I been an envious sort of person I might have been, but he recognises it is a break before he moves back into doing something else.

As to what to do next… well, that's up to you. It's your life, not mine. Typically, people think about the non-executive director or general counsel path, or advise smaller businesses, charities or educational bodies, in effect moving to a Handy-esque portfolio career in which you have a new chance to re-balance professional work and leisure. Others decide to concentrate on a hobby they love.

Life after management may be a land of opportunity, but it requires planning, typically two to five years ahead of when you make the move. Leaders in PSFs are often poor at planning for this, which is why it can be good to bring in some more institutional programmes - you could even say you owe it to your partners? As the Cheshire cat said, which way you should go depends on where you want to get to. And, if you are not clear about where, you will certainly end up somewhere, but it may not be where you would prefer to be.

When we tell staff they must take responsibility for their careers, we also tell them we can help by developing and training them. Perhaps a little more thought and help with this in the latter stages of management careers would also be a good idea.