Discussions and support

  • Looking forward to Retirement: Discussing your retirement plans

    Retirement is a natural part of the employment journey and the University encourages all staff to have open discussions with their managers about their plans for the future, at all stages of their career. With no statutory retirement age there is no specified time when this discussion takes place.

    Early, open and honest discussions will enable you and your manager to plan more effectively for the future and facilitate a smooth transition from work into retirement.

    These conversations may:

    • ensure that you are supported in meeting personal or career objectives before your retirement;
    • provide you with the opportunity to discuss your own training and development needs;
    • enable early discussions about potential flexible retirement options, where early consideration is important for both pensions implications and to allow time for the department to make the necessary arrangements to accommodate a flexible working request, if approved;
    • enable your department to consider succession planning (where appropriate).

  • Opportunities such as PDR or regular one-to-one’s may be a helpful place in which to begin and continue your retirement planning discussions with your manager.

    It may be helpful to start retirement planning conversations by discussing your plans for the future in relation to the:

    • short-term
    • medium-term
    • long-term.

    As part of these discussions you may wish to explore plans for:

    • Your role
    • Your workload
    • Your training and development
    • Succession planning
    • The support you need during your transition into retirement etc.

    Your retirement plans may develop and change over time, so it is helpful to ensure that you keep your manager up to date through regular meetings to enable them to support you.

    In planning for your retirement, it may be be appropriate to explore succession planning within your discussions with your manager. This may be particularly important if your role and responsibilities require considerable knowledge, skills and expertise.  Early conversations with your manager will enable arrangements to be put in place to ensure that knowledge and skills are transferred to build a talent pipeline for future sustainability.