talent management
Preventing Boomer
BRAIN DRAIN
HOW HR PROFESSIONALS CAN KEEP COMPANY KNOWLEDGE
FROM WALKING OUT THE DOOR WITH RETIREMENT
As the Baby Boom generation
retires, companies are rightfully
concerned about losing
critical knowledge as their
most experienced workers prepare to
leave. Some companies will see leadership
with decades of experience retire,
while others will lose individuals with
intimate knowledge of the company’s
systems, key client relationships or the
people and management skills that keep
a team working together smoothly. For
companies whose competitive advantage
is based on their knowledge, these are
significant risks.
The Asia Pacific Gateway Skills Table’s
work looking at the labour market for the
transportation sector showed that nearly
half of senior managers could retire in
the coming decade. Feedback from business
leaders included concerns that they
were unprepared for this wave – finding
people to do the jobs is one challenge
they are grappling with, but preserving
the knowledge of departing employees
is a daunting task and many companies
don’t even know where to begin.
By Krista Bax
Lightspring/Shutterstock.com
HRPATODAY.CA ❚ SEPTEMBER 2016 ❚ 37