The Maturing Workforce

Is "modular" work the way?

(Here's one account from a "blogs eye-view witness" (a.k.a an attendee) at the recent IBM summit on the maturing workforce...Would "modular" work for you? What do you think?) 

Is “modular” work the way?

So says Harvard Business School professor at IBM summit on maturing workforce

To help spur action on the multi-generational economy, IBM held a major “influencer” summit in New York City on November 14. Comprising 65 guests and two participatory panels, the summit also featured two acclaimed speakers: former U.S. Secretary of Labor Robert Reich and Harvard Business School professor Rosabeth Moss Kanter.

Speaking without slides or notes, Secretary Reich declared that “Demographics is destiny.” U.S. baby boomers have high expectations for retirement, but with low savings rates and house resale values that are likely to disappoint (given the shrinking population in the post-boomer years), they generally won’t be able to afford it. This will force many people to work past traditional retirement age. The question, however, is whether companies are prepared to accommodate them. Not yet, Reich said. He urged companies, for their own good, to try to retain what he termed “relational capital”: those older employees harboring years of experience with customers, suppliers, and partners. He mentioned possible remedies that IBM itself has proposed: phased retirement, on-the-job training, flex-time, flex-place, and more. Interestingly, he thought that while Social Security would survive, helping to ease the situation a bit, healthcare in the U.S. was in dire straits.

Professor Kanter, the luncheon speaker, echoed Reich’s observation that costs are rising as people “want it all,” and went on to discuss innovation as it applied to the maturing workforce. Saying that “Innovation is always beyond what we see today,” she broached two novel concepts. One is the idea of “modular work,” akin to discrete bursts of work much like extended project work. Retirees could work in modules — as could younger workers, who are often focused on raising families. Tailoring work to life’s needs, modules could help to discard possibly outdated notions like full-time and part-time work. Another idea, now percolating at Harvard, is a school for advanced institutional leadership. In one-year fellowships, it would train retiring business leaders and other high achievers to tackle global problems like poverty, healthcare, malnutrition, and the environment. Answering fears that the program could be seen as elitist, she asserted that “Elite programs can lead massive change.”

- Submitted by Linda Hanson, written by David Harrison (Both from IBM) 

At the recent IBM summit on the multigenerational workforce in NY, I had the pleasure of hearing Robert Reich, the former Secretary of Labor address the audience (having read his books for years I have always wanted to hear him in person). What struck me about his talk was his focus on the importance of "relational capital" - the importance of relationships in working within the knowledge economy. Having done a significant amount of research on this topic (we typically refer to it as "social capital") it is always refreshing to hear a recognized economist talk about the critical nature of this resource, particuarly as it relates to the value of mature workers.

Related to this discusssion is an article written by a former colleague of mine, Barry Spiker and Suzzane Peterson entitled, "Establishing the Positive Contributory Value of Older Workers: A Positive Psychology Perspective" (Organizational Dynamics Vol. 34, No. 2, 2005)

http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/621045/description#description

This article further reinforces the notion that mature workers bring a set of connections and relationships that are difficult to replace. I would recommend this article to those interested in the topic.