Managing Knowledge—and Talent—for the Future
By: Source: AARP.org Date Posted: 2007-08-09 18:24:00-04:00
As Baby Boomers near retirement, how much of your organization's corporate knowledge is poised to walk out the door along with your older workers? More and more companies today are recognizing that knowledge retention efforts go hand in hand with strategies for attracting and keeping top talent.
Knowledge management typically means two types of knowledge:
- Explicit knowledge is technical and process information which can be gathered, stored and disseminated relatively easily (for example, in procedure manuals).
- Tacit knowledge comes from a lifetime of experience, including facts, perceptions, insights, instinct, personal relationships, and the ability to devise creative solutions. (For example, a sales executive leaves the organization, leaving no one familiar with the history and important details of key customer relationships.) Compared with explicit knowledge, tacit knowledge is less easily captured and communicated.
Some companies are using innovative programs to help retain a portion of this tacit knowledge.
At Dow Chemical, a formal mentoring program has been in place for over a decade. Mentors are assigned a small group of protégés with whom they meet regularly to share insights and experiences and check progress. Mentors also serve as a sounding board for younger employees.
Northrop Grumman established "communities of practice" to facilitate knowledge sharing, via in-person meetings and online. The communities often cut across disciplines and divisions to encourage creative thinking.
Successful Talent Management
Successful approaches to talent management are as varied as the organizations that use them. But the following key ingredients are critical to any company's efforts:
Define your needs and inventory your talent.
- Analyze your business plans to understand your critical talent needs over the next 5 to 10 years.
- Be as specific as possible about the kinds of skills and number of people that will be needed to execute your business plans.
- Analyze your current population for each key job category identified in your needs analysis.
Define your talent strategies.
Look first at your internal talent pool, taking into account expected turnover from retirement and other causes. Then research the external labor markets in the areas where you operate. Comparing your projected talent needs and the available supply of qualified workers enables you to target your talent strategies. These might include new recruiting initiatives to ensure that you can attract and retain the right people, in the right locations, at the right cost, to support your business goals.
Align rewards to support your objectives.
If workers 50+ will be an important element of your talent strategy, remember that health care and retirement benefits are the top drivers for this age group. And, if you do not already offer them, you may want to consider medical coverage for part-time workers, the option to buy long-term care coverage, and elder care referral. Ask your employees which rewards would make them want to continue working for your organization. Flexible work options, for example, are increasingly popular with mature workers.
Pay attention to revenue and performance. Remember the value side of the equation. Determine how the investments needed to attract or retain 50+ workers could pay added dividends in terms of:
- lower turnover
- enhanced customer service
- stronger customer loyalty and, ultimately
- increased revenue and efficiency.
Successful talent management programs take a holistic approach. They begin with a thorough understanding of the organization's needs, and they combine recruitment, retention and reward strategies to keep the talent pipeline full. Such programs focus broadly on optimizing the abilities, knowledge, skills and experience of all workers, regardless of age.
Additional Resources
David DeLong, Lost Knowledge,
New York, Oxford University Press, 2004.
The Society for Human Resource Management website includes a variety of resources and research reports on talent management.
This article was adapted from The Business Case for Workers 50+: Planning for Tomorrow's Talent Needs in Today's Competitive Environment (AARP, 2005).
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