Are you preparing for exciting opportunities or boredom post-retirement?

“There just isn’t time to consider my longer term career path” is a regular
wail among partners. For far too many, this becomes a cliff over which they
drop with a death-like thud.
As we approach the new year, it is a
great time to take stock, review where you are, consider what you could offer and start to plan for exciting career opportunities well into your seventies.

Retirement planning

Some businesses make efforts to prepare their staff and leaders for retirement with the focus on the word ‘retirement’. However, it is no longer
a fit-for-purpose term to describe that period of life when you are no longer
part of the firm but still have an active brain, energy and a desire to contribute.

Retirement is often thought of as:

• withdrawal from one’s position or occupation or from active working life;

• a chance to travel, play golf, fish or write that book;

• withdrawal for prayer, study and meditation; and/or

• a chance to finally have quality time with family and friends.

But, we are all living longer, with anyone less than 50 years old today likely to live to the age of 95 easily. With many partners retiring in their sixties, that is a long time to be at leisure, not to mention without an income.

Working in the same profession for 40 years could be dull, but if you can extend this to take on other complementary roles (paid and unpaid) that build skills and make you more flexible (and commercially viable), you can have a portfolio career well into your seventies.

Portfolio career management

There are six clear steps to strategically developing a portfolio career which is mutually rewarding for both law firms
and partners.

1. partners undertake an assessment by external experts (to ensure confidentiality and openness) of their knowledge, skills and attributes, benchmarked against commercial director roles, among others;

2. an action plan is produced for each partner which is shared with the firm in a mutually rewarding manner;

3. working with the management team, partners agree how to align their profile-raising activities and wider interests with the firm’s business plan;

4. the partners actively seek roles in committees, in academic institutions and as non-executive directors;

5. as the partners ‘retire’ from the equity, they become active alumni and partner emeritus to act as ambassadors for the firm; and

6. the partners work with an external facilitator to bring their marketing skills up to speed.

King Solomon’s justice

Law firms that will be most successful at transitioning partners to portfolio careers will be those who:

• have a robust partnership culture which accepts, recognises and values the individuality of each partner;

• have a remuneration system that takes account of different contributions;

• help partners to see beyond their own individual needs and allow younger lawyers to progress to partnership, thus applying King Solomon’s justice by not splitting the firm in half for personal gain.

Those ‘retirees’ who have planned their careers are busier than ever. Almost all retired partners I have met regret not having accessed these opportunities sooner. Doing so enables you to have more varied commercial and social involvement.

More than luck

There is no such thing as luck, so take action now to understand, reflect and then focus on your transferrable skills and experiences. Next, agree internally on your plans, make it clear to the marketplace that you are available and test yourself well before you leave the arms of the firm.

Remember, don’t write yourself off
too soon. It is just a matter of taking
stock and working out how to make
your retirement something to look
forward to.

Patricia Wheatley Burt FCIPD is director of Trafalgar – The People Business (www.trafalgarpeople.com)