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 Tailoring work to life’s needs, modules could help to discard possibly outdated notions like full-time and part-time work.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) 

Comments

[Sam Reich]

You may be interested in Robert Reich's new personal blog: www.robertreich.blogspot.com.

[Phyllis Deegan]

Hi,

I was very glad to find this IBM website. I'm with IBM 29 years and do not see retirement in the very near future for myself. I have two teenage children and am looking at the college expenses coming my way. Fortunately our parents are in good health but are both in their 80's. I have seen and been through many changes in IBM, the best so far has been the flexibility in our work schedule and work locations in order to balance work and family. That has greatly reduced stress and greatly increased morale. The mature worker looks at this as an honor and privilege. We know what we need to do and we do it. We have high values and high expectations of ourselves still.

I am more curious then concerned about my career with IBM. I'm hoping that they will make work from home a choice. Do you want to? Yes or no. Currently it's monitored to a certain extent. I am not ready for full retirement, nor do I want it. But what would "phased retirement" look like? Can I work a reduced numbers of hours/days and possibly collect partial retirement?

Well, thanks for letting me add my two cents. Glad to see IBM is focused on this topic. How do I know when a local forum on this subject will be near me. I'd like to learn more from the expert thinkers.

Best regards,

Phyllis Deegan