don’t let systems and processes leave with your employees.
by steven e. sacks
there are nearly 80 million baby boomers today, and this cohort ranging from ages 55 to 73 is projected by the u.s. census bureau to reach 83.7 million in the year 2050. by 2030, more than 20 percent of u.s. residents are projected to be aged 65 and over, compared with 13 percent in 2010 and 9.8 percent in 1970.
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a large part of this growth is because of the aging of baby boomers (individuals born in the united states between mid-1946 and mid-1964), who began turning 65 in 2011 and are now driving growth at the older ages of the population. as one source in 2016 put this into perspective, every day, 10,000 people turn 65. there are more than personal financial issues at stake here.
“an investment in knowledge always pays the best interest.” – benjamin franklin
what does this mean for business? the biggest concern is about the loss of experience, and more important, institutional, client and customer knowledge. this loss can be from long-term illness, maternity leave, resignations, accidents and acquisitions. what results is
- increased stress,
- impatience and frustration,
- diminished productivity and
- a negative economic impact.
moreover, as systems and processes remain stagnant, there is less urgency for training and expansion of skills that can leverage the knowledge and broaden exposure for current and future employees. this is not unique to any one particular industry. because training is not the number one priority (apart from the necessary learning of technical standards and rules), skills and capabilities are not expanded to create new ways of thinking that result in new policies and procedures. are employers doing anything about this? the existing knowledge is lodged in the minds of leaders, managers and lower-level staff and may be need to be dislodged.
knowledge has a price
employees move on, retire, become ill or relocate, and there is no process in place to capture what they know. if your cpa firm is acquired, the new leader may drive a different strategic direction that does not embrace the accumulated knowledge of the employees. even a simple reorganization undertaken to improve productivity and profits will diminish the value of institutional knowledge – not to mention the additional costs associated with a learning curve.
you must consider
- what knowledge is lost when certain employees leave,
- what the business consequences will be of losing that knowledge and
- what safeguards can be put in place to mitigate the damage.
every team, division or department should have a proactive process for maintaining this collective organizational knowledge. this means policies and procedures should be developed so onboarding for new employees can be accomplished efficiently and effectively. however, it is important to know the key things your employees should be able to do. a firm or company should have team meetings on a regular basis to evaluate and refresh the process(es) and assess the skill and knowledge levels of your team.
and what about those who have reached retirement age? is it really practical for them to pack up their belongings, throw them a retirement party and send them off into the sunset? logic dictates that keeping these folks available in a consultative capacity to offer tangible and intangible guidance shows you value them for the benefit they offer the firm and what they can offer the firm’s new generation of leaders.
use the available knowledge management technologies on the market to develop mechanisms for collecting and safekeeping this organizational knowledge and enhance functionality that is not tedious or burdensome. during this process you may discover new and better ways of operating that can be shared.