Practice Development Counsel

Next Generation, Next Destination™

Transitioning Is the New Retirement

How many of these issues are keeping your firm from performing at its best?

Transferring responsibilities from one generation to another.
Difficulty making room for younger people to move up because the senior ones want to stay and continue to be productive.
Senior professionals and executives who won't let go and have too much of their identity tied up in their positions and their work.
People who would be willing to transition clients to younger people but would be penalized by the compensation system
How to minimize defections to other firms due to lack of opportunities based on inter-generational issues.
Clients who want to work with partners younger than the current lead client partner.

Never before have workplace transitions seemed so complex and challenging.

MORE THAN SUCCESSION PLANNING

As the Baby Boomers are positioned to move on, will they participate in a smooth transition? Will the next generation be ready? Will the significant, strong relationships survive?

The issues for the firm are:

Financial – cost of transitioning, lost revenue from loss or underuse of talent.
Personnel – making the most of talent, maintaining morale, resolving generational differences and objectives, being "fair" to both older and younger partners
Governance-related – workable policies, best practices

The issues for individuals are:

Psychological – identity, self-esteem, denial, etc
Career – a fulfilling next phase
Economic – lifestyle, security
Health/fitness – maintaining it
Legacy – contributions: both financial and through involvement

How will your firm address these vital issues? Practice Development Counsel's *Next Generation, Next Destination*™ program provides the guidance and tools to help you plan and succeed.

CONNECTING THE DOTS: HOW YOU BENEFIT

Firms

Create room for promotion of younger partners to greater responsibilities and authority
Minimize defections
Treat senior professionals fairly and retain their goodwill
Reduce tensions among the generations and facilitate client and business retention
Avoid legal, negative publicity and morale problems
Foster professional development of younger professionals
Relieve management stress on these issues.

Individuals

Attain awareness of opportunities in the next phase of career/life
Acquire tools to create a path to the next career/life destination
Maintain identity and self-worth in a changing career environment.

TRANSITIONING – THE REDEFINED RETIREMENT SOLUTION

HERE'S HOW WE HELP

As a neutral party to deal with your sensitive issues on transitioning:

Assess the firm's needs: challenges, opportunities, partner sentiment
Provide expertise on relevant management issues
Identify alternative roles and resources for partners in transition
Provide coaching for individuals and management
Conduct internal or external workshops for age 50+ professionals
Collaboratively design an Action Plan
Monitor progress and provide additional coaching and consulting
Conduct management briefings

*** Practice Development Counsel takes the points of view of both the firm and the affected partners, working with you to arrive at feasible and mutually satisfying solutions

WHY US? OUR VALUE-ADDED

Principals Phyllis Weiss Haserot and Richard T. McDermott serve as neutral parties to help resolve personal and emotional issues that affected partners are experiencing as well as providing access to high quality resources to deal with economic, health, next career and legacy issues. With decades of experience as practitioners, managers and consultants and coaches in professional firms, we know and understand professional service firm cultures, methods of operation and how the players think.

Phyllis Weiss Haserot is a business development and organizational effectiveness expert and thought leader with more than twenty years of experience advising professional firms. She is President of PRACTICE DEVELOPMENT COUNSEL, a consulting and coaching firm working with law and other professional firms. She works with firms on strategic marketing planning, inter-generational relations, transition and succession planning, influence strategies, retention and integration, client relationship management, implementing flexibility, collaborative culture and workplace conflict resolution. (Please see www.pdcounsel.com for details.)

A frequent speaker and facilitator, Phyllis is the author of The Rainmaking Machine (Thomson/West), two monthly e-Alerts on organizational effectiveness and inter-generational relations, and a prolific author in the professional and business press.

Richard T. McDermott is a business case study on successful partnership retirement planning and has held a number of law firm management positions. He retired as a partner of Clifford Chance in April 2004 and continues as an Adjunct Professor at Fordham University School of Law. He is a consultant to Moody's Financial Services and Clifford Chance and works with Practice Development Counsel in its *Next Generation, Next Destination* programs.

Dick served as Chair of Clifford Chance's Legal Personnel Committee, which is responsible for the training, development, advancement and evaluation of attorneys in the firm's Americas Region. Previously, he served as a member of the firm's Finance and Legal Employment Committees.

For a confidential, exploratory conversation, contact:
Practice Development Counsel
212-593-1549
pwhaserot@pdcounsel.com
www.pdcounsel.com

tel: 212 593-1549
fax: 212 980-7940

pwhaserot@pdcounsel.com
www.pdcounsel.com