Time to let go: The inevitability of retirement

It is common knowledge that when people start their working careers they have dreams about what they want to be. In many cases the dream envisages that you will be at the helm of a Department or organization providing leadership for the entity. A fundamental assumption which is often made is that the Boss will either leave, die or retire soon rather than later so that you can take over at an appropriate time.

I have been motivated to write this article because of the culture which seems to be prevalent in both the Public and Private sectors in Zimbabwe which has the effect of frustrating the normal expectations of employees that they will succeed their boss (Manager or Supervisor) upon the retirement age.

If it is true that there is one certainty in life: no one will always be around forever then surely this fact of life makes it imperative for leaders to consciously develop people around them who will carry their dreams to the next generations.

If one scans the Public and Private sector leadership arena in Zimbabwe today one is overwhelmed by the array of leaders who are now as good as permanent fixtures in their organizations. In many cases such leaders have exceeded the normal retirement ages but they always find and excuses to remain in the organization. One often comes across the following justifications for not passing on the baton to someone else who is younger:

  • There is no one with the required knowledge and skills to take over from me.
  • The organization will lose the reservoir of institutional memory if I go now. I still have some unfinished business/ project to complete
  • I will go next year (which never comes!)
  • I have done so much for this organization. I can’t just be pushed out.

One can ask the question; why do people refuse to accept that they have to retire or leave the organization and that someone else will come and probably do a better job?

Some experts (Peter Laslet, Cambridge Historian) have come up with a characterization of life into 3 distinct phases namely, the first age which covers the period when we are growing up and the second age which covers the period when we are either in full time employment or running our business full time. The third age refers to the period when we have to leave our formal occupations and retire which often comes as a shock to the individual.

The reasons why people are disinclined to want to retire and start the third age are numerous but can be summarized in the following paragraphs.

Firstly, it’s to do with a mismatch between current employment benefits and retirement benefits. One of the devastating effects of the hyper- inflationary era prior to dollarization in Zimbabwe was to wipe out the retirement benefits which pensioners traditionally enjoyed. In many organizations leaders often have an oversupply of benefits associated with the job. These include an assortment of allowances, a Driver, security at home etc. The prospect of losing these benefits on retirement is devastating.

Secondly, it is the emotion associated with the loss of power and influence. Most leaders occupy influential positions which extend to the wider community. There is a fear that the loss of a job reduces the job holder to a social status of nonentity in the community. Leaders become afraid of a life where they are often reminded that “the mighty have now fallen” because on retirement they have to adjust their life styles to a more ordinary level. This dilemma is aptly depicted by a former US President, Henry Truman who is quoted thus: “Two hours ago I could have said five words and been quoted in every capital of the world. Now, I could talk for two hours and nobody would give a damn”.

It has also been observed that one of the key reasons for people hanging onto the job is due to a lack of a clear succession plan in the first place. Indeed, it is often argued that so and so cannot retire because there is no successor who can take over their position and therefore the individual develops a sense that they are indispensable. I have seen instances where such leaders often undermine and sabotage their potential successors so as to strengthen the notion of indispensability.

Yet another reason for not being keen to go on retirement can simply be categorized as fear of the unknown. Unless if one has adequately planned for retirement there is always a genuine fear of how the individual will be able to cope with the social, physiological, physical and emotional aspects of retirement. This generates so much anxiety and even fear.

The cumulative effects of the factors mentioned above is that Zimbabwe is currently experiencing “a retirement crisis” in that more and more of the younger generation of Managers or leaders are frustrated because the boss is going nowhere. We have observed many instances where it is the younger and more energetic employees who are leaving organizations in pursuit of greener pastures whilst the older employees hang on in there. This cannot be a good omen for organisational renewal going forward.

Emmanuel Jinda is the Managing Consultant of PROSERVE Consulting Group, a leading supplier of Professional Human Resources and Management services locally, regionally and internationally. He can be contacted at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. tel: 263 773004143 or 263 4 772778