Leadership: Knowledge transfer is key in multigenerational offce

By Jennifer Lawrence, managing director, Management Resource Group, Hiawatha

What does the demographic population look at like at your company? Do you have a large number of employees in their late 50s or older who have put their retirement plans on hold?

As a business owner or executive, have you thought about the impact that an aging U.S. work force could have on your own work force?

As baby boomers move into their 60s, there is a much smaller generation of lesser-skilled employees entering our job market.

If your organization does not accommodate the baby boomers and struggles to find the skill levels necessary in the younger generation, the consequences could be severe and long-term to your organization.

According to AARP, almost half of employees ages 45 to 70 envision working into their 70s or beyond. The recession has forced many to postpone their retirement plans.

Some have even depleted their retirement savings or borrowed against their 401(k).

It's also safe to assume that people are working later in life because they can. They live much longer than their parents did and enjoy the various benefits that working can bring - not only financial, but also a sense of utility, status and social interaction.

I will guess that if you are reading this, you may know someone who chooses not to retire simply because they need a good reason to get out of the house.

So, as an employer with individuals who are working longer than expected, you will need a plan as to how you are going to address this changing demographic population and how to avoid its negative affects on your organization.

THE BAD NEWS

Let's start with the negative affect that this knowledge that is leaving your organization. When your long-term employees retire or leave for other reasons, they also are taking the historical knowledge, skills, customer relationships and know-how with them.

When these historians walk out your door, this can affect your company's bottom line because it may become more difficult for you to produce a product or deliver a service that is important to the financial health of your organization.

Another possible negative impact of this changing work force is the challenge of keeping boomers engaged until they do retire. Today, older workers and those who would like to retire soon want meaningful work and to make a difference.

THE GOOD NEWS

To get the most from their later years, workers want flexible, interesting work that accommodates their life style and schedule. How can your organization keep older workers engaged and interested?

First, many progressive employers are addressing the issue of brain drain by embracing new ways to leverage those workers' invaluable skills and experience. Many are offering options such as phased retirement, targeted training opportunities, flexible scheduling, telecommuting, part-time hours and wellness or other health-related programs.

Options such as these can keep the employee engaged while offering a systematic knowledge-transfer program that includes coaching and mentoring.

The most effective way to transfer knowledge is through personal mentoring between veteran and less experienced employees. However, one of the biggest challenges with knowledge transfer between individuals is that those with the specific knowledge often don't know how to teach it to others.

Organizations can significantly improve the knowledge-transfer process just by improving the ability of their experienced employees and managers to mentor or teach.

Keep in mind that it's important for any organization to continually assess, develop and retain talent - when it comes to engaging an older population, this may come in the form of a career checkup. By this I mean focusing on areas of development or learning opportunities.

The American Society of Training and Development and the U.S. Department of Labor estimate that about 30 percent of mature workers will need new skills and education to remain competitive. A career checkup may come in the form of executive coaching, leadership development, career planning and checking the status of one's career against the new demands of the organization.

The time is right for every company to pay close attention to the changing demographics in their organization. No organization can afford to lose the institutional knowledge of its older workers - or ignore the needs of its future labor force.