The corporate structure within American organizations is shifting as technology and education each collide with the result being flatter organizations. Middle management positions are being reduced as organizations are increasingly employing a more specialized workforce in lower-level positions. These lower level positions in organizations are also being filled by a more highly educated workforce than the workforce of the past. As specialization and a higher level of education among the workforce contribute to the flatter organization it simultaneously establishes a different need for an organization at the C-Suite level. The new C-Suite level executives will have complete responsibility for very specific facets of an organization’s success.
The prior decade has introduced a new generation of C-Suite positions over last 10 years; the Chief Creative Officer, the Chief User-experience Officer and the Chief Outsource Officer. But what comes next in the executive suites and what job functions will it clutch or combine? One area where organizations will soon identify the need to implement major change, isolate the functions, establish the requirements and embrace the latent and future benefits is in the area of the Chief Retirement Officer.
There is substantial cost associated with employing a workforce beyond normal retirement age and this is exacerbated if an employee cannot afford to retire. A disgruntled employee is usually a drain on corporate resources at any age – but beyond normal retirement age the costs rise exponentially based upon health, healthcare expenses, productivity, workmen’s compensation insurance etc. The next question becomes, “Can the Healthcare of Retirees be separated from the Retirement Decision?” When polling groups of Human Resources Professionals and Finance Professionals at The Plan Sponsor University during Fiduciary Education Programs the overwhelming majority convey that the two concepts of Retirement Readiness and Healthcare Costs beyond separation of service with an employer are two inextricably connected.
