Interview with Ken Dychtwald on Midlife Crisis
February 2009 - By Dr. Nagendra V Chowdary

Ken Dychtwald
Ken Dychtwald, founding president and CEO of Age Wave

development time comes at the sacrifice of other responsibilities, both on the job and off. And some people, especially those who have reached positions of authority, stop seeking development opportunities because they hesitate to take risks or don’t want to admit that they have things to learn. Meanwhile, too many organizations foster a silent conspiracy against education: They cut the training and development budget first in lean times. They stand silent when managers discourage employees from seeking training on the grounds that it will interfere with getting the work done.And they fail to require managers to set career development plans for all their employees. As a result, many midcareer workers are overdue for a serious infusion of training – which can include refresher courses, indepth education to develop new skills, and brief introductions to new ideas or areas of business that expand their perspectives and trigger their interest in learning more. Fresh training is, of course, often integral to career changes as well as to employee retention. Lincoln Electric’s Leopard Program, for instance, was designed explicitly to enable employees to “change their spots” When patterns of demand for steel fabrication products changed, the company trained dozens of factory and clerical staff volunteers to become assistant salespeople. In some Japanese manufacturers’ assembly-line workers regularly train to become product service technicians. After years on the line, such employees literally know the products inside and out, and probably want a change of work. And the UKs National Health Service is responding to chronic nursing shortages by training aides to become nurses – a shift to a very different career path.

• Sabbaticals.
  One of the best ways to rejuvenate, personally and professionally, is simply to get away fromthe routine of the job for a significant amount of time. A common feature of academic employment relationships, sabbaticals remain rare and underused in the business world. In 2001, Hewitt Associates surveyed more than 500 organizations in the US and found that just 5 offered sabbaticals, either paid or unpaid. Yet a survey the same year by Principal Financial Group found that more than 50%of employees say they long for a sabbatical but feel they can’t take one because of financial concerns or employer discouragement. Employers’ reluctance centers on cost and, for key employees, potential disruption to business operations. Employees’ reluctance comes from fear that taking a leave will somehow mark them as less committed than those who don’t interrupt their work. This perception is unfortunate because people tend to return from sabbaticals more committed than ever. They’ve had a chance to recharge, to do something different, and they’re appreciative of their companies for giving them the opportunity. There are organizations that get it – that know that the cost of replacing a middlescent worker in need of a breakmay far outweigh the cost of the paid time off. Intel employees are eligible for an eight-week sabbatical, with full pay, after every seven years of full-time service. Silicon Graphics’ regular full-time employees in the US and Canada can take six weeks paid time off after four years. Adobe Systems offers three paid weeks off after every five years of service. Arrow Electronics offers up to ten weeks after seven years, Hallmark Cards uses sabbaticals not only to get people out of the routine of work but also to place them into enlightening settings with the goal of recharging their artistic talent. They might spend time at the company’s innovation center; go on “creative research travel” to museums, conferences, inspiring locales, or places where they can study customers and social trends; or simply spend time at the company’s 172-acre farm. Wells Fargo’s Volunteer Leave program,more than 20 years in operation, offers employees with at least five years’ service and a qualifying performance rating the opportunity to work in a community service setting of their choosing for up to four months in a calendar year while receiving full pay and benefits. For its part, the company reaps benefits on several fronts, including good publicity both within the corporation and out in the communities where participants are serving. The most important benefit of course, is a returning employee who is highly energized and recommitted to the organization.

• Expanding leadership development.
  Many of the executives we spoke within our research cited shortages in their leadership succession pipelines. On the face of it, this is surprising because, in terms of raw numbers, there are plenty of midcareer workers eager to move up the ladder and fill senior management slots. But corporate restructuring and flattening organizations have eroded the old career paths and people can’t accumulate the needed set of leadership skills on the job. The situation is sadly ironic – midcareer managers are frustrated by the lack of promotion opportunities and corporate executives are concerned with a lack of candidates with the right experience. The solution is to widen access to leadership development programs to both rejuvenate midcareer managers and refill the leadership pipeline. Participation in leadership development programs is a formof recognition of an employee’s value and potential, and workers graduate from them with a renewed commitment to the organization’s goals. But inmany companies, it’s difficult for people not already recognized as high potentials to get in line for these opportunities. We strongly recommended admitting late bloomers, making it easier for midcareer employees to take advantage of these programs. Independence Blue Cross has put one-third of its top 600 people, most of them midcareer employees, through a leadership program focused on individual development and learning by doing. It includes a weeklong session at the Wharton School, individual coaching and career development planning, and work on an important business project. The insurer is now thinking about creating a graduate course for people who have already been through the program. The company is also trying to maintain career momentum after the program through a broader approach to succession planning and by finding its graduates assignments that enable them to move around the business more.

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