Editor’s letter: Put this on your list!

We’re all getting older. Yes, folks, it’s truism time. And there does seem to be point where the gleeful upward romp through life’s significant markers becomes more gravity afflicted – in all sorts of ways. When you start totting up how much time is left to tick off the “to do” list – you’re definitely in trouble.
Having just spent 10 days in simple fale strategically placed no more than 15 paces from sparkling expanse of warm Pacific water, my personal list is growing rather than shrinking. There is, I’m sure, heap of other places to continue my research on just how many colours one fish should reasonably be able to boast.
Those busy battling winter blues probably didn’t need to hear about that – but the subject of age and “to do” lists does have management angle. Honestly. It’s what this month’s cover story is all about.
The truism that we are all getting older has serious place on business planning lists – because those who don’t start taking it into account could find themselves with some serious holes in their workforce fabric. What Pauline Herbst refers to as the “grey tsunami” is not new phenomenon – it’s slow-breaking wave that’s been washing towards the world’s developed economies for some time.
And it does add whole new impetus both to succession planning and to work practices – like flexibility, mentoring, employment incentives, job sharing …
On the subject of goals, our Face to Face interviewee Jenny Shipley (p36) has already ticked off some biggies – but that hasn’t deterred her from re-engineering her own career to encompass broader, more global aspirations.
Meanwhile, our regular look at corporate governance issues (see The Director p59) suggests that some serious “to do” lists could lie between the current global recession and “business as usual” around the world’s board tables. Acknowledging an acceptance that the financial crisis was due to many things but “poor governance was at the core”, AUT’s Coral Ingley asks “just where were the directors – and what were they thinking?”
On p27 you’ll find the first of our new series on workforce health – we’ll be exploring range of topics sure to yield few “to do” lists both at workplace and individual levels.
And if you’re still short of things on the list – can I gently suggest “Samoa”. Sun, sand, sea – guaranteed to make you forget we’re all getting older.