Age discrimination will get a little more attention this week.
A hot topic in all kinds of companies and organizations these days is succession planning. Makes sense. Need leaders for the future. Can’t let the status quo hold us back. Infusion of new energy is good. Uh oh.
What might the infusion of new energy equal? Youth.
Think about it a minute. When succession planning is going on, who is considered? Current leaders and future leaders. How old are the current leaders? Usually well above 40. And the future leaders? Probably not well below 40 but usually well below the ages of the current leaders. In fact-and be honest-on any list of future leaders in a succession planning process, do you ever see the name of someone who’s 60, 65, 70, 75? No. Why not?
Well, they’re too old. Didn’t mean to say that. That’s not right at all. Our future leaders need to have “high energy.” And that eliminates anyone 60, 65, 70, or 75? Of course not. Then why don’t you have anyone in thse age categories on your succession planning list?
Well, I didn’t mean to say “high energy.” We don’t put people on our succession planning list of future leaders when their careers have “stalled.” Hmmm. Now who could that be? It could be anyone. The mere fact that there are no early boomers on our list is purely coincidental.
Are you saying that with a straight face?
The simple fact is that succession planning is designed perfectly for lawyers looking for good age discrimination cases. You’ve created a list of relatively young people as your future leaders. The lawyers will create their list of these excluded from your list, almost all of whom are relatively old. They have had successful careers so far (at least according to performance evaluations), may very well be interested in a top position, and are peeved that they’ve been excluded from succession planning consideration.
So, no more succession planning? Of course not. But you must realize that it’s filled with landmines, or at least potholes. It just is.
One thing that you should stop doing in connection with succession planning is using buzz words which will be argued to be nothing more than code for age discrimination. Stalled. Blocker. No more stretch. Static. Spent. Talent drained. Mature. Old school. Old guard. Old-line. You might as well say, “Old fart.”
It’s probably worth remembering that some of the greatest leaders became or remained leaders at a relatively old age. Buffett. FDR. Reagan. Churchill. Mandela. Ghandi. Franklin. Would they have made your succession planning list of future leaders?
So when you’re doing succession planning, it might be a good idea to seriously consider some of your older people as part of the succession planning pool-jot just to protect you from an age discrimination lawsuit but because if you don’t, you’ll probably be overlooking some good talent.
For a recent case where an employer’s “succession planning file” helped an older employee convince an appellate court that she deserved a jury trial in her age discrimination case, check out an article in the Kansas employment law Letter. And don’t let anyone in one of your succession planning meetings sing that great country hit by Bill Carlisle: “Too Old To Cut The Mustard.”
Kansas Employment Law Letter, Vol. 13, Issue 11, February 2007
