Posts Tagged knowledge continuity
A privileged perspective – knowledge exchange
Posted by Catriona in Musings, What we're up to on February 15th, 2012
Facilitator and coach
This week Sageco facilitator and coach, Michael Hollingworth shares what it’s like facilitating the ‘sages’ in the Sageco Exchange program.
At Sageco, the men and women we call ‘sages’ are the experts and most senior executives in organisations, who have spent a lifetime – or at least a very long time (measured in decades) – learning, leading and applying their knowledge in the specialist areas they direct.
Facilitating them in the process of capturing and transferring their expert knowledge is an unusual and fascinating privilege. Their stories are unique, and in telling them you get some glimpses (often totally unexpected) into the complexities of how our very complex society works.
Stories are told in every technical and management realm:
- How to locate an inexplicable leak causing lower pressure in some small corner of a city’s huge water mains network.
- What can be done to ensure safety and balance the clearly conflicting demands of a railway line and its road overpass, built in unavoidably unstable terrain.
- The secret skills of negotiation that keep a large public utility operating and profitable, while avoiding strikes and meeting the increasing pay needs and conditions of its workers.
All those involved in capturing their stories and handing on the skills of the sages learn and grow: the people who will take over their work from the sages, colleagues from other areas linked to their output, administrators who keep the workforce operating. Often the sages themselves learn all over again lessons they had forgotten – or knew by intuition or implicitly.
And perhaps the most satisfying aspect is to see the sages thanked and acknowledged by colleagues who understand, often for the first time, how much they contribute to keeping the wheels turning.
For over seven years the Sageco Exchange program has been used by organisations as a catalyst for knowledge transfer. Contact Sageco to find out more.
Winning ways for knowledge loss: three questions you need to ask.
Posted by Catriona in Uncategorized on October 27th, 2010
Last month we surveyed our SageCentre community (an online ageing workforce resource) about their three top concerns regarding the impact of an ageing workforce.
• 75% nominated knowledge loss
• 48% nominated skills gap
• 28% nominated lack of expertise in mission critical roles
When asked about the most successful age management solutions they had experienced, only 25% nominated a knowledge transfer solution.
My hunch is that so little is done because we are overwhelmed by the task. Here are three questions to help you focus your knowledge continuity efforts.
1 What do we need to know?
Think about what knowledge and skills are core to your business – now and in the future. Start with your critical areas and work outwards.
2 Who knows what we need to know?
There are people in your organisation who know a lot. We call them Sages. You can call them anything you like as long as it’s respectful! They are your living, walking, breathing database of corporate knowledge. Do you know who they are? Make sure you know who they are and keep them close! Do what you can to influence their late career decisions and explore how they might continue a relationship with your organisation beyond traditional retirement.
3 Who needs to know what they know?
Whether it be through the more formal processes of talent management and succession planning or the natural result of working together, you will identify people who need to ‘sit at the feet’ of your sages. Create opportunities for them to have conversations and begin transitioning knowledge.
Knowledge is slippery. There is no sure fire way to keep it, capture it or ensure access to it. What we do know from our knowledge continuity programs is that solutions emerge once you start the conversation.
Proud of our sages…
So proud of the sages we are working with at ANSTO, RTA, NSW Office of Water, Austrade and the like. These are people who are taking the time to contribute to the future of their organisations. We are honoured to work with you.
“We are made wise not by the recollection of our past, but by the responsibility for our future.”
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Different strokes for different folks
Posted by Catriona in Commentary, Research on September 16th, 2009
I was up with the sparrows this morning to attend the SA CEDA trustees breakfast to look at the findings of the latest Hudson 2020 report entitled: Talent Tightrope – managing the workplace through the downturn. I suspect that for most, this report confirms much of what we already know. There was one alarming stat for me:
“Fewer than one in five employers report that they are tailoring their approaches by generation (19%), and only a third indicated that ideally they would tailor their approaches, though they currently lack the resources to do so.”
My co-director Alison often says, “Conversations come free!”. A starting point for all employers is to have individual conversations with employees from all generations to work out the drivers for retention and attraction. Focus on your critical resource areas. Focus on employees who hold core business knowledge that you can’t afford to lose. Tailoring doesn’t need to cost an arm and a leg; and it’s far less costly than losing the arms and legs of your organisation.
Top tip from SageCo:
Your window of opportunity for conversations with your baby boomer workforce is even shorter than with other generations due to retirement options. If you want key individuals to extend their working life with you, use some of these questions in your conversation:
Help your baby boomer employees create a positive and productive future.
ageing workforce, graying workforce, knowledge continuity, working longer
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