Taking Care of What you Know

As the wave of retirement begins, many of the people who integral to your company will take their knowledge to the golf courses nearest you.

You manage the day to day: people, processes, operations—all with a view to achieving your company’s vision. You build and create knowledge through the years of experience each employee invests in the organization.

But do you manage the knowledge you create? Possibly not enough. While there may be some action plans currently in place, more could be done. Here are a few ideas:

How to keep Knowledge where it belongs:
In your Organization

1. Take Stock
   
   • What skills are critical to your organization?
   • Who currently possesses these skills and how close are they to retirement?
   • How long would it take a new incumbent to learn the skills and be capable of delivering the same output as the current skilled employee?
   • If specific individual(s) retired today, who else possesses a similar depth of knowledge or skill?
   • Is there an exit strategy in place to ensure training and knowledge transfer before the veteran employee retires?
   • Who is responsible for knowledge management in your organization?
   
   
   
2. Recruit with the future in mind
   The exit of the Baby Boom generation (born 1946 to 1964) has not impacted the workforce — yet. Now is the time to recruit and train new resources to whom organizational knowledge will flow; those who will fill in the gaps when the first half of the anticipated retirements begin. For a look at what each generation in the current labour market may mean to you, send us a reply e-mail for excelHR’s Snapshot on the Generations at Work.
   
   
3. Be Creative
   Consider a “Shadowing Program” to allow a new or existing employee to shadow (and directly learn from) a skilled worker who is expected to leave the organization.
   
   Try a “Position Sharing Program” where two people do two jobs interchangea- bly. This could be one week on and one week off, or one month on and one month off. That way, two people know two jobs intimately and can train a new incumbent when required.
   
   

   Junior Office Support Data Entry Filing/Photocopying Reception Invoicing Administrative Support Executive Assistant Administrative Assistant Secretarial/Reception Accounting Accounts Payable Accounts Receivable Payroll Bookkeeping CMA, CGA -Controllers Customer Contact Customer Service Order Entry Call Center Inside Sales Professional Human Resource Assistants Recruiting Office Managers Computer Support Help Desk Representatives Desktop Publishers Production Support Web Page Designers

4. Retain your best if you can
   Identify the “keepers” - those with skills that your organization needs. Consider the things that you can do to make them want to stay… perhaps even long enough to offer on-the-job training and knowledge to those who will take some or all of their role and responsibilities. Retention strategies do not have to be made up of fancy programs (like during the tech-boom of 1998-2000). Reasons to stay in an organization can include: opportunities to learn new things or to train others, the ability to make or impact decisions.
   
   If you can enhance morale, this may be the time to do it. Good morale will increase knowledge transfer, make people less likely to resign with short notice, and importantly make your best people want to stay a little longer.
   
   
5. Retrain your best if you can
   Identify the employees whose skills may soon become redundant and may be ideal candidates for re-training, to take on the jobs of departing senior workers.
   
   
6. Get everyone on board
   Designate a “Chief Knowledge Officer” to be at the helm of the issue. The exit of senior or skilled personnel should be top of mind for all management team members who should ensure training, cross-training, and the implementation of solutions are everyone’s responsibility.
   
   Collectively answer the questions in #1 for an understanding of the issue—and whether it may (or may not) impact your company. Brainstorm about the knowl- edge transfer strategies that would best apply to your organization.
   
   
7. Documentation is key
   A flow chart demonstrating how to undertake a process in your branch could be helpful to a new incumbent. Use diagrams or process descriptions to serve as training tools. Updated annually, these documents could serve as a guide should someone leave unexpectedly—or simply as a frame of reference.
   
   
8. Train the Trainer
   Being skilled or knowledgeable does not automatically make someone a good “Teacher”. Research has shown that teaching adults for maximum learning requires an understanding of how people learn and what teaching approach to use. Current team members should be taught how to teach effectively and how to make sure that learning has taken place.
   
   
9. Network
   To learn more about Canada’s aging population, visit: www.hc-sc.gc.ca/seniors-aines. To find out more about Knowledge Management, visit: http://www.kmresource.com/exp_intro.htm.
   
   
10. Rely on us
    We represent a variety of skilled resources available in the GTA. These candi- dates are looking for short or long term contracts in which they can apply their knowledge and teach others too. Our resources could be an integral part of your knowledge management solution.