Many baby boomers ages forty to fifty-eight have spent large chunks of their career, maybe their entire career, with one company. That's a lot of institutional knowledge to lose to retirement: irreplaceable information such as how things get done and who is in charge of getting them done.
In Lost Knowledge, David DeLong offers advice and perspective that managers in different settings can use to prepare for expected turnover and attrition of mid-career employees. Demographic projections point to not only an aging workforce, but also a shrinking pool of younger skilled workers in line to replace them.
DeLong aims to answer three questions:
1. Why should you care about the threat of lost knowledge in your organization?
2. What are the different types of scenarios where knowledge disappears and how does it affect performance?
3. What can you do to retain more critical knowledge in the face of major turnover?
The author analyzes different knowledge retention practices including the creation of an HR infrastructure for knowledge-retention, and the use of information technology to retain intellectual capital.
DeLong concludes with four chapters that focus on issues that arise when implementing knowledge retention strategies. He examines pioneering organizations such as Sandia Labs and the Tennessee Valley Authority, who early on identified the importance of knowledge retention. DeLong also addresses typical behaviors in organizations that can block knowledge-retention efforts.
So, even if you can't keep your experienced workers from walking out the door, at least start strategizing about retaining what they know.—Mallory Stark