The Retirement Party — Another Victim Of Our Changing Times (And COVID)
Question — Even before the pandemic, when was the last time you attended a retirement party for someone at work? And if you are under 30 have you EVER attended a retirement party or a farewell gathering for someone who left the organization to go elsewhere?
My hunch is that’s it’s been quite a while for many of you. And the pandemic accelerated the demise of what was once a positive element in the workplace culture — the retirement or farewell gathering.
It was a usual practice back in the second half of the last century (when the supply cabinet held carbon paper instead of copy paper) to have fun events called retirement parties that were held in restaurants or bars when — you guessed it — someone retired. We would gather to eat, drink and make merry, and wish someone or a group of someones all the best as they celebrated their transition to the “golden years.”
Often there were humorous roasts and gag gifts, but there were also heartfelt and sentimental gifts. There were usually lots of laughs but occasionally there were some tears as well. It was an opportunity to celebrate, it was an opportunity to reminisce. The spouse of the person(s) being honored (some were group retirements) was almost always there.
Those occasions were rituals that brought people together. They built and reinforced a sense of camaraderie. Of being connected to others in the workplace.
Back in those days, it was not unusual to spend an entire career at one company, meaning 30 or 40 years. Yes, that sounds quaint — even bizarre — here in the 21st century. Hence, retirement gatherings were an homage to a major passage in those employees’ lives. Interestingly, I attended many of those parties over the years but I must say that I never saw a presentation of the much exalted but also apparently mythical gold watch.
The gatherings were opportunities outside of holiday parties (remember those?) for the workgroup — often including several levels of management — to get together to honor someone’s contributions to the company, to the team and to colleagues. In most cases, those gatherings were only partially subsidized — if at all — by the company. You paid from your own pocket, at least the ones I remember.
If you were a manager you were expected to attend many of those parties but if you were a rank-and-file white-collar employee you attended because you wanted to be there. So it was on your own time and on your own dime.
Some employees who attended would surely be thinking about their own “someday” retirement as they listened to the speeches. Even if their own retirement were to be years down the road they would likely be wondering if someone would be organizing a retirement gathering for them and how many people would attend. “Will colleagues and managers like me enough or respect me enough to invest a weekday evening of their own time to commemorate my departure from the company?”
The ”Farewell” Party
And the custom went beyond just retirements. In those days there were also gatherings for colleagues or bosses who were leaving for opportunities elsewhere, assuming they were reasonably well “liked.” [Note to readers — Prior to social media, the word “like” had a more concrete meaning…]. You usually weren’t seen as a traitor or persona non grata, you were just seen as someone who was moving on to usually bigger or better things.
I attended many of those farewell celebrations as late as the final days of the 1990s and I also had farewell parties thrown for me at each of my first professional stops in my career when I was the one moving on to bigger and better things: City of Detroit to Chrysler in 1978; Chrysler to Inland Steel in 1981; Inland Steel to opening my own business in 1992. I guess, as Sally Fields once effused, some people liked me…
The Pandemic — A Factor But Not The Only Factor
But it’s 2022 and along with so many other workplace routines and customs, the pandemic largely put to an end to in-person retirement gatherings. Or it made them virtual which sounds about as much fun as attending a Zoom-based wedding.
But other dynamics which predated the virus have been slowly chipping away at ceremonial retirement gatherings. Job and career churn, often to build the resume; the so-called “Great Resignation” and the related “Take this job and shove it!” mantra; regular downsizings by organizations which often included early out packages; the elimination of most defined-benefit pension programs which made retirement much more financially “iffy;”; the decline of loyalty by both employer and employee that I described in a recent article. The social contract at work has changed.
That’s not to say that retirement parties have completely gone the way of the dinosaurs. Some organizations still hold annual group-based retirement gatherings because those organizations have predictable numbers of retirement-eligible employees who are going to retire when they reach that magic date. Those are organizations like school systems, police and fire departments, equity partnership-based firms, unionized shops, parts of the military, etc.
With so many employees working remotely now, even the casual cake/coffee and balloons goodbye gatherings in conference rooms have largely gone away. There’s no one there to eat the cake.
I think there’s a very good chance that almost none of the twenty-somethings in today’s workforce may ever experience a traditional retirement party either as an attendee or as an honoree. And I think that’s unfortunate, but it reflects the changes in the world of work and in the world overall.
And those young-uns will never see a presentation of the gold watch.
About the author: Mike Hoban is a business topics writer and leadership coach/ advisor. He is actively working at becoming a world-class grandpa to his five young granddaughters. In addition to his 35+ years experience as a leader, consultant, and business owner he has also published extensively in Fast Company and wrote many thought leadership pieces for DDI when he was there. He was also a business column for 12 years. His recent commentaries — including many about leading during the COVID crisis — can be found on his LinkedIn page: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mike-hoban-b5756b6/ He can also be reached at mjhoban99@gmail.com.
