Many trees have been transformed into paper to publish the many, many analyses of the coming “Skills Gap.”
Could they have more productively been processed into Presto-Logs?
Predicting organizational distress is a small industry in itself. Yes, everyone knows the boomers are going to retire. Yes, they have skills, experience, knowledge of value. What we don’t know is whether organizations can become adept at capturing the value through knowledge-management programs, and conveying it to the surviving employee base. Gurus began pointing to Wikis, talent management processes, and a variety of other tools. Who’s paying attention?
Remember the Y2K Crisis?
My friend Robert Cenek forwarded me the recent survey by the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College found that, among 450 employers surveyed, fully 60% expected employees in the post-50 age group to stay 2 years longer than the current median retirement age of 65. Most decision-making on retirement age was in the employees hands. The survey explored what effects the delayed retirements would have on 1) the knowledge base of the organization, 2) promotion ladders, 2) labor costs, etc.
A careful perusal of the survey questions and results, triggers several questions:
1) If more older workers are going to stay in the workforce, is there an effect on the way learning/performance programs are deployed?
2) How does an organization identify key knowledge/skills to capture?
3) What are some examples of knowledge irretriveably lost?
4) How does an organization know if they’re on the right path?
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