Kai Ning Lim: Silver Lining for the Silver Gen
It is rare to come across an MZer (under 30) looking out for retired or retiring Boomers. What is even more rare is a millennial with an advocacy to help an ageing population by offering job-matching solutions to experienced retired senior professionals.
Stories about the ageing population and its associated worrisome impact (some say ‘burden’) have been widely covered in the past decade. From Asia and America to Europe and the Middle East, there is a growing cause for concern. Globally, there are 771 million people aged 65+ comprising about 10% of the world population (2022). The number is expected to hit 16% by 2050 and rise to 24% by 2100.
Image : Ray Chan, Unsplash
While economists, governments, the academe and researchers continue to discuss, dissect and write White Papers on the socio-economic and healthcare impact of an ageing population, Gen MZ Singaporean Kai Ning Lim has taken concrete steps to help solve the problem by establishing The Courage Chapter (TCC) in 2023 with co-founder Jesslyn Yim. Their goal: help mature employees transition into a retirement that is fulfilling, financially viable, and still gives them time to do what they love through meaningful company “reternship”projects (a word pun to mean returning to work after some time). TCC matches jobs with seniors with a strong desire to work, not because they need to but because they want to remain productive and leverage their expertise in interest-based flexible jobs.
Petite and mild-spoken, Kai Ning went to Nanyang Business School in Singapore on a scholarship, graduating with a double degree in Accountancy and Business. She was already active in social enterprise on campus by the time she joined Unilever Singapore’s human resources team in 2018 after graduation.
Kai Ning Lim
After three years at Unilever, her fiancé was sent by his company to Seoul as part of his career progression. Keen to maintain the relationship and up for a new adventure, Kai Ning requested – and was granted – the opportunity to work in Unilever Seoul, where she was stationed for 22 months.
“It was quite liberating! Nobody knew me so I could be whoever I chose to be. Living in a new city, one doesn’t feel boxed in by cultural rules which may limit your actions and behaviour in your own country,” says Kai Ning.
“The Korean manager, who was my business partner, didn’t know my age. He could only judge me based on my competence, which was important to me. He was initially concerned about my successor because she was ‘young’, but we were actually of the exact same age. I was glad that I seemed experienced to him and that he found me professional.”
Kai Ning with colleagues at Unilever Korea
Just like a K-drama poster: Kai Ning with fiance Bertrand Wong in Seoul
Now back in Singapore, the 29-year-old narrates: “I see a lot of elderly people doing gruelling work. They sell packs of tissue in hawker centres. They keep food courts clean. I’ve always felt compelled to help these vulnerable people who still want dignity and self-respect.
There was a period in my life when I watched someone close to me struggle through early retirement… I thought ‘there are still so many good years ahead’. There was so much more that society could benefit from this person’s knowledge and experience. I noticed that having a meaningful pursuit greatly enhanced their happiness level.”
A lot of self-worth is attached to jobs. Take that away and one loses his/her identity. It is important to feel wanted, to contribute to something larger than yourself, to make a difference, to feel productive every day.
The TCC idea started formulating in her head at Unilever, where Kai Ning met Isa Buencamino, founder of Women of the World (WOW) Coaching. Isa was brought in by the company as a resource speaker on Resilience.
After Isa’s talk Kai Ning signed up for WOW Coaching Foundation, a programme that’s open to youth ages 18-28. The goal is to equip participants with the resilience and the drive to continue working in sustainability, startups, non-profit and the public sector for years to come. This helps in building a new generation of female leaders in these sectors. Toward the end of the programme, there was an exercise called “Letter to My Future Self” and Kai Ning found herself clearly envisioning a future in the senior citizen space, setting up a social enterprise that would benefit the Silver generation, planting the seeds for The Courage Chapter.
Testimonial for Women of the World (WOW) Foundation course
“This is not my first foray into social enterprise,” Kai Ning shares. “With some friends, we have an enterprise called CareerSocius which offers Personal Branding. One day I came across an uncle (older gentleman) who lost his job. He challenged me – ‘So what if you edit my resume? So what if I have a perfect resume, will anyone still want to hire me?’ I didn’t know how to respond. I realised that there is a limit to personal branding in helping these seniors.”
Kai Ning recognised she had to work on the employer side, too. This eventually led to TCC’s ‘Reternship’ Programme.
Kai Ning (left-most) with good friends from Nanyang Business School
Kai Ning (3rd from left) with teammates after winning an HR case competition
Kai Ning sees a vast business opportunity for The Courage Chapter. She found her own courage to apply for a sabbatical from Unilever to launch TCC, supporting senior professionals who are in their second life chapter. The key to improving their lives are interest-based jobs that deliver meaning and fulfillment with flexible terms. TCC capitalises on these and has created three business pillars:
Contingent Hiring. TCC matches specific specialised tasks with seasoned, experienced experts. On the one hand, MNCs, SMEs and NPOs do not want a permanent headcount or fixed costs, but they have specific business requirements that need to be addressed. On the other hand, seniors appreciate work with flexible hours, an opportunity to remain active and productive. Companies benefit from highly experienced, time-flexible professionals who can contribute their industry and functional expertise on a short-term, part-time basis.
Fractional Consulting. Having built a network of available resources, TCC is discovering how it can also harness expertise via consulting projects. SMEs and NPOs worry about manpower costs and find it difficult to access strategic, specialised expertise for unique problems. Sometimes business needs are not addressed by engaging one individual. What arises is a need for a team of experts to work with the organisation, alongside employees via consultancy work that is effective, pragmatic and can create immediate buy-in.
Transition Workshops & Coaching. The Silver population is rich with expertise, but with it also comes insights, limiting beliefs and convictions that may no longer serve them in an ever-changing work environment. There’s too much identity attached to jobs and the security of belonging to a big company for many years. TCC helps shift mindsets and unlock these long-held attitudes by encouraging seniors to open up to possibilities and new sources of meaningful work through its coaching offerings.
Kai Ning with TCC co-founder Jesslyn Yim
Win-win Proposition
Seniors want to continue to be independent and self-sufficient, which gives them a strong sense of self-worth and relevance to their families and to society.
The future of work is silver and fractional. There is an “Open Talent Economy” – a collaborative, technology-driven, rapid cycle way of doing business. Work is “pixelated”— meaning work can now be deconstructed into core tasks and activities and matched to required skills. This presents a huge opportunity for highly qualified, skilled and eager retired and/or soon-to-retire professionals to add value and productivity for any company. It’s a win-win proposition.
However, there are challenges, too. Innovative employment models are practically nascent especially in big companies where doing things outside their own employment norms could be deemed an inconvenience… at least for now.
Kai Ning with “reternees” at the Unilever office
Fortunately, Kai Ning’s employer, Unilever, realised that it could indeed tap expertise with flexible terms. One of TCC’s first clients was Unilever International (UI), which is a business unit in charge of serving emerging fast-growing markets like the Maldives and Mongolia or under-served consumer segments like those looking for halal or kosher products. UI hired three senior leader coaches with previous experiences working at a leading bank, at Microsoft and at Coca-Cola to partner their CFO, CMO and Head of Sales respectively for six months. It also engaged a supply chain executive from Levi’s to work on Procurement process improvement for three months.
TCC ‘reternee’ Michelle Tan shares her experience: “Post retirement, I came across TCC… Its offer of flexible work arrangements (e.g. 3 days a week) on a contract basis caught my eye. I immediately signed up for it and was placed successfully with a smooth onboarding process. After a few days of work, I felt happier and more useful because I could still share my experience with younger teammates, learn new skills from them, and have time to keep up with my hobbies on my off days. It provides a good balance of work and play.”
On the supply side, Kai Ning is finding that a lot of people have friends and contacts who have further contacts who fit specific project requirements. The space is ripe, and people are more than willing to share their networks’ connections with her.
TCC’s list of growing clients that have begun embracing and engaging senior professionals include among others: Japanese semi-conductor and manufacturing HOYA Electronics Singapore and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC).
TCC’s future has a silver lining sparkling on the horizon. There is upward momentum for part-time, flexible jobs for Silvers who want to remain productive. Employers can no longer turn a blind eye. If they can see this as an opportunity vs just something they merely need to comply with, then companies can take full advantage of inter-generational, cross-industry expertise, unleashing the benefits of diversity in contributing to business results. This trending flexi-work practice may yet become a new norm in Singapore.
Recently, the Singapore government announced compulsory guidelines to all companies to fairly consider formal requests for employees for Flexible Working Arrangements (FWAs). This is in line with practices in the UK and Australia, countries that recognise the need of employees to work with more flexible terms: flexi-time, flexi-load and flexi-place. Although the guidelines are not strictly dedicated to pre- or post-retiree segment, the Minister for Manpower Gan Siow Huang stated: “… If we want to have a strong labour force in Singapore, if we want to empower adults in Singapore who want to work, to be able to work, flexible work arrangements have to be the way to go.”
(Second from right) Singapore Minister of Manpower Gan Siow Huang talking about the tripartite workgroup’s flexi-work guidelines. (Photo: Lianhe Zabao, The Straits Times)
When I asked Kai Ning about a philosophy she is inspired by, she offered this quote believed to have come from 18th century philosopher Samuel Johnson: “The true measure of a man is how he treats others who can do nothing for him.”
I was at a loss for words and had to pause. I am awed by Kai Ning’s boundless kindness and courage. She is relentless in sparking inspiration and renewed hope for Boomers. The future is silver and is shining on her.
Roxanne | ws
Images c/o Kai Ning Lim | LinkedIn: Kai Ning Lim | email: kaininglim@gmail.com | The Courage Chapter | WOW Coaching