The topic we wrote about a while back - what to do with near-retirement officers and partners staying on but not contributing much - resonated with many of you.

It’s a delicate issue requiring dignity, care, and tact. Below are some comments and approaches from agency executives which you may find helpful.

You may want to file their suggestions away someplace. Because sooner or later this issue will affect all of us.

Be assured the piece was not about any one firm or individual. This is a near universal problem and we wrote about it based on evidence and experience from many different situations. The scenario: a senior player now nearing retirement age and earning a juicy salary is no longer contributing with the same relative impact he or she had in earlier years. If you'd like to read the original piece, go to the Articles section of our website and click on “The Senior Issue” at the bottom of the page.

Harvey Bailey of the San Francisco agency of the same name writes, “In situations like this, I believe in sharing both in the problem and the solution. For example, reduced pay in exchange for more time off.” So if your policy allows 20 year veterans 25 vacation days but an SR wants to take more, those ‘extra’ days should be without pay.

Is that fair? Perry Ballard, of the agency bearing his name in St. Joseph, Michigan writes: “’FAIR’ is where you buy a pig in August, [but] I’m getting to the age where I’ll have to see if some of those shoes begin to fit me.”

Suzanne Brown, CFO/COO at Princeton Partners in New Jersey, calls the SR issue, “…the 900lb gorilla in the room no one wants to talk about” and suggests making sure first that the SR’s HR basics are in place – regular performance reviews with objectives, goals, and understood expectations. “Sometimes a mutually agreeable change in responsibilities (and therefore compensation and office time) can start the process and ease the transition. This can actually be a win-win for both parties.”

A reassignment doesn’t have to be a demotion, Suzanne says. “The agency gets the knowledge and experience of that employee and can reassign some responsibilities that might be done more effectively elsewhere. The employee feels valued for what they really do bring to the agency and the pressure is off to do the things that they are no longer motivated or comfortable doing.”

Louise Sanders at Kelly, Scott and Madison in Chicago wrote to say she thought our article was a little narrow in scope given the impending shortage in the workforce as more baby boomers reach retirement. She says seniors can fill that gap “…because they are still productive and able at this age, and the majority are not financially prepared to retire.” Or just don’t want to.

Yes, it’s a 900lb gorilla but it has to be dealt with. We’ve seen too many situations deteriorate into painful resentments and ill feelings sometimes souring decades of partnership. SRs don’t deserve to be treated poorly, but sometimes situations decay to where things are so uncomfortable that all parties slip into denial. Like any situation perceived by your constituency as ‘unsolved,’ this undermines the credibility of the entire management group. What good are they if they won’t deal with something as obvious as a 900lb gorilla?

These issues must be resolved with dignity and understanding, but it’s usually impossible to do so from the inside. Suzanne Brown says, “I absolutely recommend getting outside help. This can not be handled by those too close to the situation.”

Human nature is such a funny thing. We think we see the world so clearly through our own eyes – we know what the truth is, right? – but when it comes to the obvious we’re masters of delusion and denial. If the SR issue is just too tender to touch at your place, get some outside perspective.

And what if you’re an SR yourself? You didn’t get to this point in your life by ignoring challenges. Face it head on. Sit down with your peers and colleagues and let them know you’d like their ideas on meshing the agency’s goals and opportunities with your needs and desires. There are many options.

Remember, ours is a creative industry. If we can come up with truckloads of ways to sell soap, beer, and toilet paper in little 30-second movies then we can certainly collaborate on making a very natural process a win-win for everyone.

If one of your New Year’s resolutions is to read more books to help improve your business success, here’s a bibliography for the first quarter linked to Amazon. These are leadership building blocks, each well worth your time. We’ll provide another handful of titles at the beginning of each quarter.

Built to Last – the author himself says it’s more important than his hit Good to Great. Read both.

Customer Winback – find out how to get those accounts you lost back. Available as a .pdf so you can read it on your Palm next time you’re stuck in the Admiral’s Club.

Action Coaching – learn how to bring your people (and yourself) to full potential. Otherwise everyone’s stuck in status quo.