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Talent
Scared of retirement? You don’t have to be
Research-backed insights reveal the hidden challenges leaders face when transitioning from career to retirement, and what organizations must do to support this critical life change.
A 10-year research project led by Teresa Amabile of Harvard Business School is challenging conventional wisdom about the segue from work to retirement.
The study, culminating in her co-authored book Retiring: Creating a Life That Works for You, reveals that retirement involves far more psychological complexity than most leaders anticipate – and that organizations have enormous untapped potential to influence outcomes.
The hidden fear of the unknown
Amabile’s research cohort, comprising 120 financially secure and healthy professionals across multiple industries, revealed a surprising level of anxiety about retirement. “We had one person who described facing retirement as standing at the edge of a cliff, staring into a void,” she explains. “They were not alone in that sentiment; a very hefty minority used terms like ‘leaping into the abyss.’”
As part of their interview process, the researcher team conducted word association tests with pre-retirement professionals. When participants were asked to respond to the word ‘retirement’, their answers revealed deep-seated fears. The resulting word cloud showed the most prominent associations were ‘scary,’ ‘never,’ ‘far away,’ and ‘unknown.’
“That was very surprising and disturbing to my colleagues and me,” Amabile reflects. “It turns out that many people who have been deeply engaged in a career for most of their adult life have a very hard time envisioning themselves in a different life.” This fear can be particularly acute for leaders whose professional identity has dominated their sense of self for decades.
Irene – when desire meets procrastination
Background: A successful corporate professional with rich interests outside work – family, friends, cooking, travel – yet she delayed retirement for four years despite compelling reasons to leave.
The paradox: Irene’s life map showed her company occupying the largest space, with numerous areas marked ‘less’ – indicating insufficient time for friends, art, travel, and fitness. Still, she repeatedly postponed retirement dates.
The identity struggle: Though claiming work was “what I do, not who I am,” her behavior revealed a deeper attachment: “People do respect you while you’re still working, and after… maybe not so much.”
The breakthrough: Organizational changes increased stress beyond her tolerance. She made two major changes: retiring and relocating with her husband to their Cape Cod vacation home.
The outcome: Within a year, Irene consolidated a satisfying retirement life through new friendships, deeper family relationships, and ocean conservation work. She began calling herself “an ocean person” – a new identity emerging from her restructured life.
Key insight: Fear of retirement can persist despite logical reasons to leave, requiring examination of identity attachments beyond work itself.
The four essential tasks of retirement
Those nearing retirement owe it to themselves, their colleagues, and their families to take a proactive attitude to developing a successful transition strategy from work to retirement. Amabile’s approach is based on what she calls the four essential tasks of retirement:
Deciding to retire – involves more than setting a date; it requires wrestling with identity questions and overcoming the fear of the unknown that many professionals experience.
- Detaching from work – means psychologically separating from the role, identity, responsibilities, and workplace relationships that have defined much of adult life. This can take considerable time, even after physical departure.
- Building a new retirement life – requires active exploration and experimentation with new activities, relationships, and sources of meaning. This isn’t about filling time but creating structure that aligns with an evolving identity and values.
- Consolidating that new phase – involves settling into sustainable patterns and developing a coherent sense of self in retirement. It’s about moving from provisional arrangements to a relatively stable new life structure.
- Crucially, these tasks don’t always happen sequentially – they can overlap and sometimes require revisiting, especially if life throws you a curve ball.
Jay – The leader’s transition – and re-transition
Background: A consulting firm partner leading one of its three main offices, Jay spent five years preparing his successor by mentoring a high-level hire from another firm.
His approach: Jay negotiated a six-month phase-down period working half-time before full retirement. During this transition, he rekindled his passion for hot rodding – abandoned decades earlier when his wife said, “Hey, honey, we’ve got kids now” – viewing retirement as an “exciting identity quest to discover who I am without work.”
Unexpected benefits: The hot rod club provided new friendships and community. Separately, he used his leadership and financial skills to lead a meaningful volunteer project in his community, honoring a deceased mentor from his youth.
Life’s unexpected turn: Five years into retirement, Jay’s wife died unexpectedly during routine surgery. Months later, still grieving, he told researchers his retirement felt “all up in the air again,” requiring him to rebuild his life after nearly 40 years with her.
Key insight: Even well-planned retirements require adaptability when circumstances change, demonstrating that retirement ‘tasks’ are evolving rather than completed once and for all.
Jay’s experience offers three key lessons for retiring leaders: establish clear succession plans well in advance, negotiate transition periods that allow gradual adjustment, and actively explore new sources of meaning and identity before full retirement.
The organizational imperative
While individual preparation matters, Amabile’s research reveals that organizations can have “an outsize impact on the experience of retiring.” Many companies focus on talent acquisition and onboarding but show little thought for departing employees. As a result, companies fail to capitalize on significant opportunities to support their departing talent while benefiting from their wisdom.
The research identified several critical areas where organizations can make a difference.
First, companies should offer creative assignments to employees in their final years rather than sidelining them. “We found that, to the extent people have assignments that call for creativity in the final years of their career, they’re more likely to be satisfied in retirement life,” Amabile explains. These projects might involve leading new market exploration, mentoring initiatives, or strategic planning projects.
Second, organizations need programs to address the psychological, social, and life restructuring challenges of retirement, not just financial planning. Some interviewees explicitly requested “road maps” for understanding what retirement could look like beyond the financial aspects.
Knowledge transfer mechanisms represent another critical opportunity.
Building retirement-friendly cultures
Progressive companies are implementing transition-to-retirement programs that benefit both parties. One organization in Amabile’s study offered professionals the option to work three days per week for 18 months after setting a firm retirement date, while receiving four days’ pay and full benefits. This arrangement improved staffing and succession planning for the company while easing the psychological transition for employees.
Knowledge transfer mechanisms represent another critical opportunity. These might include mentoring programs, wisdom-sharing videos, or structured handover processes that capture decades of institutional knowledge. Not only does the company benefit from such mechanisms, but retiring people feel valued up to their last day.
Most organizations have some sort of ritual when people retire, a practice that can make an enormous difference in helping people leave with a deep sense of satisfaction about their career. “You’d also be surprised how many retired people mentioned their retirement party or the wonderful letter they got from the CEO,” Amabile observes, emphasizing the lasting impact of thoughtful recognition that makes departing employees feel valued.
Post-retirement engagement
Forward-thinking organizations maintain connections with retirees through alumni networks, newsletters, social events, and even part-time consulting opportunities. One company employed a retired scientist one day per week to share expertise with current staff. “He said: ‘This is the best. I don’t have to go to any meetings. I don’t have to fill out any forms. I just get to do pure work,’” Amabile recounts.
Such programs generate significant goodwill in the community and among employees while maintaining access to valuable expertise. Simply changing company terminology from retirees to alumni can shift perceptions and reduce negative stereotypes.
For leaders, this framework offers both personal guidance and a template for supporting others.
The four A’s framework
Amabile’s research identified four capabilities that support successful retirement transitions: alignment between self (personal needs, identities, values, etc.) and life structure, awareness of both self and life structure, agency to make necessary changes, and adaptability to circumstances that cannot be controlled.
For leaders, this framework offers both personal guidance and a template for supporting others. Organizations can facilitate alignment by providing flexible transition options, awareness through retirement planning programs that go beyond finances, agency through choice in assignments and retirement timing, and adaptability through nurturing alumni support networks.
Don’t feel inadequate if you’re finding your meaning and purpose in a hot rod club or an ocean conservation group.
A new vision of purpose
Perhaps most importantly, Amabile challenges the notion that retirement must involve grand, large-scale purposes when relinquishing high-powered and demanding corporate roles. While some retirees start nonprofits or write novels, others find deep satisfaction in more modest pursuits – learning new skills, community volunteering, or deepening family relationships.
“Don’t feel inadequate if you’re finding your meaning and purpose in a hot rod club or an ocean conservation group,” she emphasizes. The key is getting involved in activities and groups that align with personal values and interests, not external measures of significance.
Most importantly, reframe retirement as discovery rather than loss.
Leading through retirement transitions
For leaders approaching retirement
The key lies in years-ahead preparation: identify successors, negotiate phased arrangements, and explore new sources of meaning before leaving work. Most importantly, reframe retirement as discovery rather than loss. Leaders who approach retirement with exploration and growth mindsets are more likely to create fulfilling post-career lives.
For leaders managing organizational retirement transitions
Amabile advocates starting with leadership teams themselves: “How about having a book club where top leaders read and discuss this book, then invite people in their units to do the same?” When senior leaders engage openly with retirement as a developmental opportunity rather than a taboo topic, it can start to transform organizational culture.
For all leaders
Amabile’s message is clear to leaders approaching retirement: view this transition as a strategic transformation to a new phase of contribution, growth, and life satisfaction. For leaders managing retiring employees, proactive engagement with retirement as a talent management issue delivers competitive advantages in knowledge preservation, talent retention, and community relationships.
In both cases, retirement becomes not an ending, but an opportunity for continued value creation.
In addition to her contribution on the topic of retirement during the Peter Drucker Forum, Teresa Amabile will also share insights from her previous book, The Progress Principle, during a masterclass on 5 November – the day before the start of this year’s Global Peter Drucker Forum, which is held on 6–7 November in Vienna.
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