Change of industry or supervisory board after termination

Daimler is currently heavily reducing its middle management. Around half of the workforce at Deutsche Bahn will be leaving the company for reasons of age in the next few years. For those who have been used for decades that their careers only knew one direction – namely, a steep upward trend – the idea of ​​not being needed in their company when they are less than 60 years old is often frightening.

There are labor market statistics that should give the elderly hope. It used to be difficult to find people over 55 years of age, but the situation is now very different. In the most recent survey in 2018, 76 percent of men and 67 percent of women between the ages of 55 and 64 were employed. Ten years earlier it was only 62 percent of men and 46 percent of women. The trend has been increasing since then.

With a view to highly qualified executives in particular, Eckart Eller, head of the outplacement consultancy El-Net Group, says: “A manager who loses his job between 50 and 60 does not have bad prospects to succeed. And even pretty quickly. ”

Just recently, a manager he mentored in his mid-50s at a Baden-Württemberg auto supplier in the 500,000 plus salary class found a new job as chief financial officer after just seven months – with no loss of income.

From car manufacturer to kitchen manufacturer

And those who do not find a job in their own industry but have been operational and know, for example, how credit lines or production can be optimized, are also welcomed elsewhere. Kienbaum’s personnel consultants, for example, report on ex-bankers who became CFOs in medium-sized businesses or the plant manager from the automotive industry who switched to a kitchen manufacturer.

In fact, medium-sized businesses are an important career option for many established corporate managers in their mid-50s. “I regularly have customers who want ‘end-career people’ who want to really get started again,” says Anne von Fallois. She is a member of the management team at the Kienbaum personnel consultancy. The times in which older people can no longer be placed are over, reports the headhunter – assuming personal flexibility and mobility when looking for a job.

Von Fallois: “Especially in disruptive times, you need tried, relaxed and communicative managers who can mediate between the old and new working world, between the factions of the established and innovative business model. And who can coach increasingly mixed teams and lead transformational. ”

Those who are available for challenging, temporary projects for three or four years before retirement can be attractive to employers – and have a chance of making a comeback. In particular, there is a search for executives with a “steady hand” who have experienced change and who have managed to steer an organization back to day-to-day business through change. In such cases, life and work experience count in addition to proven expertise.

Picard also decided to join the management of a large medium-sized company in order to support it in its digital transformation. “A job made for me.” As the IT chief architect for the new business unit, Picard is now responsible for technology and transformation. After twelve months “on the sidelines” he is “now back on the field”.

But apart from a renewed permanent position, there are enough career options in their mid-50s. Outplacement professionals Eckart Eller and Bernhard Mittasch as well as supervisory board specialist Frederik Gottschalck von Kienbaum explain what the chances are and what interested parties should bring with them for a successful transition.

Career path 1: start your own business

From IT consulting, in which a former IT boss can contribute his knowledge, to your own communications agency, which the former head of the corporate press office may rely on, to setting up a company on the basis of a patent: The start of self-employment is included In the mid-50s no less diverse than in the mid-30s. Just that the wealth of experience is significantly greater.

Most management specialists use their know-how in a targeted manner to advance a company through good management. “Company investments or takeovers are currently more widespread than start-ups,” states Mittasch. In turn, there are many of them in the technological field, but also in finance, around renewable energies and in the consumer sector.

Career path 2: become a temporary boss

So-called interim management is a special form of self-employment. Mittasch is observing an increasing demand across all sectors. The idea behind it: Managers get involved on a project basis for a certain period of time. The prospects are good: According to their parent company, the temporary bosses in Germany were able to break the two billion euro mark in annual sales for the first time in 2019. For 2022, the Federal Statistical Office expects fees to reach a new record of three billion euros.

The 55 plus generation benefits here from the fact that companies have thinned out their staff and are now looking for recruitment for temporary projects. “Whether it is about standardizing human resources after a company takeover or customer service has to be reorganized: Interim mandates usually require many years of management and project management experience, a wide range of industry and functional know-how, a high degree of flexibility with regard to the framework conditions and the Management style and, last but not least, resistance to stress ”, says Mittasch.

But there are also disadvantages: First, interim managers are extremely cyclical. Second, self-marketing can be a problem, as Mittasch points out. This must be operated alongside the project in order to receive follow-up orders. Certain service providers such as Atreus or EIM can help here, but require a commission from the negotiated daily rate – usually around 30 percent.

Career path 3: join the supervisory board

The demand for experienced top managers for supervisory board mandates remains high. In addition to the control function, it is expected that candidates with good communication skills provide impetus for important trends and thus contribute more strategically.

Kienbaum expert Gottschalck observes that there is still growing pressure that supervisory boards of the DAX companies will have to be more diverse than before in terms of age, gender and skills. Looking at prominent appointments such as at the automotive supplier Schaeffler, where SAP board member Sabine Bendiek brings HR and IT expertise to the table, he states: “That makes it more difficult for the typically male board member between 55 and 65 to gain a foothold here . “

The alternative is medium-sized companies: there is often no statutory quota for advisory boards, so the “diversity pressure” is only slowly gaining ground, according to Gottschalck. However, former corporate board members in particular who cannot find an adequate position on the supervisory board should select advisory board mandates very carefully. Because the cultures and processes in medium-sized companies are often very unusual – and challenging.

In the group, says headhunter Norbert Graschi, “the path to the decision is often the goal”. On the other hand, many owners of medium-sized companies expect a personal meeting of the management team in order to weigh the pros and cons together in order to come to their own judgment. This irritates many a large company.

Career path 4: become a partner

Here, too, there are several ways to succeed. To do this, a few basic questions must first be clarified:

• How much responsibility should it be?
• Do you see yourself as a pure donor?
• As a mentor with a full address book?
• Or even in an operational role?

Outplacement consultant Eckart Eller says: “Buying into a company can also work well if someone is striving to succeed a company founder or owner and, due to his general management expertise, first takes on as managing director.” In such cases, the highest level Entrepreneurial know-how and doer mentality are basic requirements.

Those interested in the shareholder status should also have resilience and stamina in the face of resistance. Because it shows time and again how confused markets and apparent certainties are shaky.

But new trends also offer great opportunities for profit. We are looking for products and services for CO2 neutrality, i.e. new ideas on the subject of mobility, for more energy efficiency or sustainable consumption.

Anyone who has acquired specialist knowledge here in the course of their career may be toying with joining a management consultancy as a partner. Eller points out that such a position is usually associated with high sales expectations. Eller: “This is hardly feasible without strong sales experience.”

More: Top headhunters: Group managers despair of this when switching to medium-sized companies