Overdue Retirement?
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19 Posts
My company is a 59-person Architecture, Interior Design and Land Planning firm. One of our senior staff, an Associate in the firm, is 74 years old and has been with the company for 21 years. In his tenure, he's been a valuable employee, although lately his performance has declined, and his actions have been contrary to clear direction from his superiors and at times have put the company at risk, both from financial and liability viewpoints. He has been told of the problems on numerous occasions, but has continued to exercise lapses in judgment and protocol, in some instances participates in open insubordination. He has lately been assigned responsibilities that lessen the potential for him to be in situations that put the company at risk, but to do so indefinitely could become a financial burden for the company, as well as the continued concerns regarding his performance. He does not plan on retiring and has repeatedly said so.
Our quandary is that while he could probably be terminated for cause, to do so would likely be devastating for him, as he lives for work. The company wants to recognize the years of good service he has given them, and would like to find a palatable way to raise the subject of his retiring without being discriminatory.
Any thoughts and counsel would be greatly appreciated.
Comments
If the employee's behavior is unusual considering the way he has handled himself on the job over the last 21 years and has only recently become an issue, it could be the sign of a medical problem, stress from the medical problems of loved ones, concerns over a new boss or regime, etc. Has anyone just tried talking to him about the issues and asking what's up? I would give him a chance to explain his "lapses in judgment and protocol" or "insubordination" (without suggesting the reasons to him). There might be something that can be done to correct the problem and the company will be able to retain someone who has been a valuable employee for 21 years. Assuming he is just too old to do the job sounds like age discrimination to me!
You need to have a member of upper management (that this gentleman respects) sit down with him. Have your "evidence" for termination and discuss his issues. Tell him that any other member of the company would be terminated, but that you want to recognize the years of good service that he has given. The conversation needs to end with "I really wish you would consider retirement, because the company cannot let this continue. Unfortunately, if it does continue you will give us no choice but to terminate."
Give him a couple of days, but then you need to be willing to terminate if he doesn't announce his retirement and there is another incident.
If you don't, what will you say to yourself and the other employees if you do end up shutting the doors because of his poor judgement? (Note: I sympathize because I was in your situation except that my 74 year old employee was the CEO and majority stockholder. I came within 2 days of shutting the doors. Thankfully, another company stepped in and bought us out.)
You need to have a member of upper management (that this gentleman respects) sit down with him. Have your "evidence" for termination and discuss his issues. Tell him that any other member of the company would be terminated, but that you want to recognize the years of good service that he has given. The conversation needs to end with "I really wish you would consider retirement, because the company cannot let this continue. Unfortunately, if it does continue you will give us no choice but to terminate."
Give him a couple of days, but then you need to be willing to terminate if he doesn't announce his retirement and there is another incident.
If you don't, what will you say to yourself and the other employees if you do end up shutting the doors because of his poor judgement? (Note: I sympathize because I was in your situation except that my 74 year old employee was the CEO and majority stockholder. I came within 2 days of shutting the doors. Thankfully, another company stepped in and bought us out.)
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I agree with what LadyAnn has said with the following additional input: make sure that you are documented to your eyeballs prior to that meeting because you will be making a termination threat. By documentation, I mean going beyond reports of behavior and incidents that you have collected into one place. The old addage "if it's not written, it didn't happen" is likely to apply in situations like this and there are things that need to be written other than listing bad behavior. I suggest that the documentation include formal written warnings that allow him to agree or disagree with the company's statement and provide room for him to make his own statement in addition to having him sign acknowledgement of the warning. At the very least, a performance improvement plan is called for.
Not only could his behavior be the result of a medical condition, but he could be burned out and bored with his job. Since this employee has stated that he does not want to retire, could it be that he is just being challanged enough? Are you able to approach him and ask him to mentor some of your newer/youger employees or some up with some other challenging project? Having a conversation with him about his career goals may also be helpful to understand what is going on with this employee.