Phased Retirement
On one hand OPM Director Archuleta talks about pumping new blood into the Federal Government and then there is the potential roll-out of phased retirement. Phased retirement will keep older workers in the workforce to train younger workers to take over their positions. A strategy as I previously stated that should be an ongoing part of the Government’s strategic operations. It is not forward preparation to allow one or two employees to own all of the information and know-how to perform a task exclusively. That kind of information and how-to strategy must be shared across the division or section.
Team building really does mean that information is shared, analyzed, adjusted and supported by all the stakeholders. When one individual leaves the team, the leaving should have absolutely nothing to do with continuity of services. Life does not work that way and neither does work, but is intended to keep going. The idea of the golden boy or girl is a recipe for failure. There is nothing wrong with celebrating the acumen of individuals at whatever level they happen to be at. But to simply have only one person you can call on to perform a task is ridiculous. You may call on one person to teach so that others can learn and know how to perform the tasks, but it must never be only one person who knows how to do anything. Mercy on us if that person suddenly becomes unavailable and we can only respond by saying – We cannot do it because ABC is no longer available to us.
I see some merit in phased-retirement in terms of keeping people who desire to work working. The part about needing to stay or come back to Federal service to train others to do your job is completely beyond my realm of comprehension. That part of the job should have already been fulfilled. I am now going to pay you to do something I should have had you do as part of the normal course of business. The primary duty and responsibility of a supervisor is to train. We see that duty being abrogated virtually over the entire Government because the culture has been and remains, I am not going to teach anybody anything.
Now I am not going to simply pass that sentiment off as irrational. The workforce did use a strategy for many years that called for more seasoned personnel to train new hired personnel and after the training was done, the new hire was made the supervisor over the more experienced worker. That should not have happened and is perhaps why so many workers are reluctant to pass on information. Even though things might not have been handled correctly in prior years, training and passing on information really is what needs to happen to promote the continuity of work and elevate excellence.
While phased-retirement may not be a costly venture for the government and we won’t know that until the program starts and sufficient data is collected to draw a conclusion. What we do know is that if the appropriate protocol of sharing information and truly creating effective teams were used, the cost would have only been the salaries already there and the benefit would have far outweighed the cost by leaps and bounds. It is never too late to start something that will benefit the nation ad infinitum.
P. S. Always Remember to Share What You Know.
OTHER PHASED RETIREMENT RELATED ARTICLES
Explanation of Phased Retirement
Phased Retirement – Closing the Knowledge Gap
Phased Retirement – Participation
