Comrade A.B. Bardhan of the Communist Party of India wants to hang up his boots. But he says his people won’t let him go. Bardhan is 81 years old. The fact that his party is unwilling to let him retire brings to the fore a few interesting things. Firstly, it could be an absence of alternative leadership, for which the blame must fall on Bardhan for not having groomed a potential successor. Of course, it could be that being a comrade is no longer glamorous and hence the party has failed to attract talent. But that too should be considered a fault of the current leadership.

Second could be the possibility of too many aspirants. If most aspirants see themselves as not particularly ahead in the race for the post, it is better to opt for the status quo.

Thirdly, it could be a trivial solution: that the job is not worth having. To most of us it may not be; but comrades have their own calling.

Fourth, and which is what the Bardhans of the world would like to believe, he is indispensable. His contribution is so great that no one else can do his job. This is seldom true. The only role that geriatrics play is to serve as role models. They can do that equally well outside the organisation as they can as part of it.

The issue of retirement is of far more relevance in the corporate world. In politics, the worst you can do is mess up things a bit. In corporate India, in the absence of shareholder democracy, the dangers of gerontocracy run deeper.

This is not limited to the top levels. If an organisation regards a shift in charge as an asset who should be kept on after the retirement age, it stifles mobility down the line. “The only way to do this is to formally retire the person and give him a one-or-two-year extension as a consultant,” says Mumbai-based HR consultant D. Singh.

Singh adds that the succession planning depends on the nature of the organisations. In family-owned-and-run companies, the CEO can carry on indefinitely. If professional executives don’t like it, they can lump it.

In organisations that are listed and have a dispersed shareholding, there is a succession mechanism in place. There are instances of CEOs carrying on way past retirement age. But if they don’t deliver, shareholders don’t sit back silently. Even when, as in the Indian context, they are powerless to do much, the market does the job for them. The shares of companies with moribund managements are beaten down, until other shareholders with more clout are provoked into action to protect their investments. Even here, lay shareholders can vote with their feet; they can sell their holding.

The third case is that of family-run organisations which are also listed entities. This is where the Birlas and the Goenkas belong. Once again, there is a retirement age. But the old man tends to carry on forever. This has caused father-son battles for control, Ranbaxy being an example. This is a category in which trouble erupts sooner or later.

But there is another side to the picture. In today’s world, people stay fit even when they reach 70 or more. Should one lose this talent because of an arbitrary retirement age fixed when executives were not so health conscious and life expectancy levels were much lower? There are no easy answers. Says Singh: “The retirement age is something you can keep talking about until you retire.”

Different views

Perceptions and proposals on retirement age

In the UK, the retirement age is set to increase from 65 to 68 by 2044. This is part of the Lord Turner Pensions Commission report. The increase is because the state will be unable to handle the burden of pension payments.

There is no retirement age in Australia. A recent Australian Bureau of Statistics survey found that 76 per cent of men had retired before 63 and 76 per cent of women had retired before 60.

In the US, a debate is on to raise the retirement age to 69. (When social security was founded, 65 was established as the retirement age. The average life expectancy was 61.7 years then. Today, the average 65-year-old man will live 19.2 more years, and the 65-year-old woman will live 21.8 more years, as per the American Academy of Actuaries.)

Germany has increased the retirement age for all workers born after January 1, 1964 to 67. The government is planning to raise the retirement age for federal employees to 67 from 65, beginning in 2029.

The Democratic Youth Federation of India has criticised the Kerala High Court decision to raise the retirement age of its staff from 55 to 58 years. They believe this would have serious consequences in the state where unemployment among educated youth was acute. — The Hindu