By Dan Clay
“The best farmers prepare for a famine during a surplus.”
My grandpa, Forrest Stokes, himself a farmer in Rice Lake, Wisconsin, spread this wisdom any chance he got: while budgeting finances, rationing fertilizer, or stealing Sweet & Low from Perkins. It’s proof that repetition is the key to education, because I have never forgotten this important lesson—a lesson that at once teaches foresight, restraint, conservation, and preparation.
I’m reminded of it because, amidst record-high unemployment and recent mass layoffs (in other words, a labor surplus), it’s counterintuitive to be concerned about employee retention. But many HR professionals are pointing out a perfect storm about to hit staffing departments: the loss of irreplaceable knowledge and experience as millions of baby boomers retire. The Baby Boomer Brain Drain.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the number of people entering the retirement sweet spot (ages 65 to 75) will grow by more than 80% by 2016 while the number of people in the prime of their careers (25- to 54-year olds) will grow a mere 2%. Customer service will be hit hard by this trend, with a combination of industry growth and employee departures leading to 1.2 million job openings.
A forewarned company recently called me for advice on how to handle the brain drain.
What I’ve found is that most companies are examining retention strategies. While there are great opportunities to keep older workers by offering more flexible career options, these solutions are band-aids at best—a semicolon in the sentence of a career with an inevitable period.
The real fix comes from retaining knowledge, not people.
Many baby boomer employees have amassed great skills and wisdom, but this info has not been captured by organization.
I see two ways to transfer knowledge: to systems and to people.
Systems are great at capturing “explicit” knowledge—the observable, indisputable knowledge that can be recorded in training books and product manuals.
But “tacit” knowledge—the inexpressible “tricks of the trade” that come with experience but aren’t easily written down—is spread best through knowledge sharing and coaching.
- The smartest companies I’ve encountered have made knowledge sharing a promotion requirement. As you gain more knowledge, you’re expected to share more knowledge. This is very different than the approach of rewarding “experts.” Experts are nothing more than glorified knowledge-hoarders.
- Inherently, the motivation of employees approaching retirement age shifts. The desire to demonstrate mastery tends to diminish, whereas the desire to leave a positive legacy becomes stronger. Smart organizations are catering to this desire by creating coaching programs and opportunities for folks to share their information.
It’s crucial to get ahead of this “brain drain,” because if we wait for the problem to fully present itself, the solution will have walked out the door. Have you thought about the impact that baby boomer retirements will have on your organization? What are you doing to transfer knowledge?
CCC members, check out LexisNexis’s coaching-specific career paths.
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