Jobs

My boss’s retirement plans are in flux and creating a lot of uncertainty for my own career plans

Elaine Varelas provides proactive steps to manage your career progression, even if it means exploring opportunities outside of your current organization.

Ask the Job Doc. Boston.com

November 13, 2024

2 minutes to read

Q. My boss has been talking about retiring for YEARS. By years, I mean pre-Covid. So, when the Pandemic happened, she said, “well there is nothing else to do but work!” Fast forward to 2024 and she still talks about retiring like it’s going to happen someday soon. I’m supposed to replace her, but when? I really don’t know what to think anymore.

A. I’m so sorry to hear that your career progression is being blocked by someone who has at times stayed in a job because there is “nothing else to do.” Your boss’s retirement plans seem to be in constant flux, which leaves you in a difficult position. Many organizations are evaluating their senior staff and realizing that to retain and nurture emerging talent, they must create space by transitioning the responsibilities of senior employees, or expanding the responsibilities of people they want to grow not more senior roles. This allows them to retain talent and maximize both peoples’ contributions.

Would you be open to discussing with Human Resources the potential obstacles in your career path? Try to find out if your boss’s boss considers you ready for this next promotion, or if there are leadership or development skills that you need to work on to ensure that you’re ready for that role. It’s unfortunate, and many others have been in your situation for over five years, hoping for someone to retire. Next time she says she’s going to retire, “Promise?” seems the right come back. No one is advocating age discrimination, and organizations need to pay attention to succession planning.

What you may have to do is start looking for another role in another organization to get the next level job that you’re interested in. The fact that your boss has talked about retiring says that it’s an open conversation. And so having a very candid conversation with her to say, “I would like to have your role when you retire. What are the responsibilities or projects that you can turn over to me that will help me prepare for that job?”

There may be things that she would love to get rid of that would give you that development opportunity. You could propose a phased transition to her and to senior leadership where you gradually take on some of your boss’s responsibilities and duties. You may decide that you might encourage her or HR to have a conversation about a number of year transition, moving her down to a three or four-day work week, if this is something that she’s interested in as well. Often, people don’t retire because they either don’t have an external life or they’re financially insecure.

Be proactive and research any external opportunities and assess your marketability. With her retirement plans on hold, this doesn’t allow you to plan for the future and could have you missing out on other opportunities. If you decide to pursue external opportunities, your departure would likely be a significant loss for your current employer.