Strategies for Managing the Wave of Retiring Workers

https://www.reliableplant.com/Read/30198/managing-retiring-workers

Senior leaders across a broad array of industries continue to highlight retirements, turnover and
succession planning as key issues confronting their organizations. Much has been written and reported
on the impending retirement wave of baby boomer workers as one of those areas of concern.

As new generations enter the workforce and older generations remain at work longer,
employers must evolve to meet new employee needs. Most solutions involve recruiting tactics for
attracting new, younger talent to industry ranks through collaboration with local colleges and technical
schools, but what about proactively managing the actual turnover in the workplace? What's the broader
plan for transferring the “tribal knowledge” of departing workers to their replacements?

Capturing Knowledge from Workers Before They Leave

Keeping with the previous example, you likely would see work being conducted on a
Navy ship with checklists or standard operating procedure manuals, formal safety
procedures and a buddy system that ensures quality control and safety. Training, both
formal and on the job, is continuous. Senior supervisors and officers are visible and
supportive. Very little seat-of-the-pants work is performed despite the nature of the unique
maintenance, operations and training challenges the crew confronts daily.
Within any organization, the most effective method for establishing a repeatable and
more easily adopted operating culture is to develop standard best-practice business,
operations, and maintenance processes and procedures. It is critical to ensure that high
expectations and associated accountability standards are set for procedural compliance and
to continuously improve these processes.
An example at a power generation facility might be the synchronization of electrical
turbine generators. Is this accomplished by each shift and supervisor with a standardized
set of procedures and checklists or is it done a little differently each time based on the
personalized styles of those in charge? How would it be accomplished next month if those
supervisors or technicians were no longer with the organization?
Evolving from a culture of tribal knowledge and informal operating practices to one of
standardized process adherence, practices and procedures involves commitment and
accountability from the leadership team. Sharing knowledge, documenting inherent best
practices and eliminating the “knowledge is job security” mentality will require time and
significant behavioral change.
Do your root cause failure analysis efforts often result in “human error” as a common
cause? Have you observed personnel completing a task such as swapping out a duplex
strainer on a pumping system lately? Are they following a standardized process or
procedure that is written down? Are they completing a checklist and confirming or quality-
checking their work? If not, how might you go about introducing those concepts?
The following initiatives can be useful in creating more standardized work practices and
reducing the damaging effects of high turnover:
  Identify critical work and procedures that are currently being accomplished with tribal
knowledge or without the benefit of documented standard operating procedures.
 Capture knowledge and data for this critical work from existing employees and
transform that knowledge into institutionalized training programs and documented
procedures.
 Establish training programs that drive accountability and ensure all employees have
the skills, competency and knowledge to perform the assigned tasks as well as the
ability to record data from those tasks.
 Develop continuously evolving standard operating procedures that are followed via
checklists and supervisory oversight.
 Utilize an enterprise asset management system that allows managers to make
decisions and plans based on factual information, captured data and trends rather
than gut feel or the experience of employees who may no longer be around.

It takes time to shift from a culture of “That's the way we've always done it,” to “Here's
precisely how and why we do it this way.” This will require a commitment from leadership to
be engaged and visible with workers.
It's likely your organization has accomplished this within other elements of your
business. Safety and human resource departments tend to have evolved their
standardization of procedures and processes. Now is the time to initiate the change and
activities necessary to bring this consistency and standardization to your everyday
operating practices on the plant floor.
The operating culture of a U.S. Navy warship is an impressive vision for leaders to
model because it serves as a realistic example of how an organization can be efficient and
effective in managing workforce turnover.
A survey of corporate boards once defined the No. 1 reason senior executives are
terminated as “the inability to affect change within their organizations.” Likewise, changing
the operating culture within your organization to ensure the transitions that take place when
personnel leave will be a critical factor in meeting goals and objectives through this coming
wave of retirements and into the next generation of more frequent employee turnover.  

Utilizing an EAM/CMMS
In many organizations, information is compartmentalized by functional group
(finance, procurement, etc.) and fragmented into pre-programmed reports or analysis
formats. As a result, it is difficult, if not impossible, to quickly and accurately measure
performance or make data-driven decisions.
Information is a highly complex, multi-dimensional and multi-disciplined issue. It is an
ongoing challenge to convert data into knowledge that is reproducible and sustainable. No
single employee or vendor can provide a comprehensive solution.
Handling the massive amounts of data generated by a plant is not a small endeavor.
A number of elements must be considered, including information quality, legacy systems,
data visibility, security concerns, etc. It is impossible to take everything into account upfront.
Many plants are data rich but knowledge poor. They record gigabytes of raw data
ranging from trivial transactions to critical business indicators. The rapidly changing global
market has put more pressure on the ability to quickly make data-driven decisions. As a
result, the volume of data needed to manage a company has grown by a factor of 10.
Unfortunately, the ability to convert raw data into an actionable database has not kept pace.
An enterprise information management system should be able to seamlessly
integrate in near real time all of the data required to manage the entire plant operation,
including each of its functions. It can provide effective coordination of activities and the
same real-time information to workers at the appropriate level.
In conclusion, adapting to a changing workforce climate with higher turnover
demands a multi-dimensional approach. Leaders must understand the dynamics of near
and long-term turnover in their organization as well as how younger generations of workers
will impact how they recruit, train and operate their business. They must also employ tactics
for capturing knowledge from workers approaching retirement before they leave. Utilizing an
EAM or CMMS can also help you institute and sustain best practices despite these higher
turnover rates.

Retiring employees: 8 tips for a smooth transition

https://www.insperity.com/blog/retiring-employees-8-tips-smooth-transition/

Many organizations are facing a worrisome situation – retirement looms for a

large percentage of their workforce and younger workers aren’t yet ready to fill
those shoes.

What strategies can you implement to proactively preserve the wealth of

institutional knowledge that drives your company’s productivity?

Here are eight tips to help soon-to-be-retiring employees make a smooth exit.

1. Avoid knowledge silos

Long-time employees have often formed relationships across the company,

giving them a deeper understanding of how their job impacts someone else’s
work in another area. If your company’s policies or procedures don’t actively
encourage knowledge-sharing across departments, silos can result. Without a
broader appreciation for other departmental roles, younger, less experienced
employees may unwittingly sow chaos, causing delays or costly mistakes.

To avoid such silos, encourage managers to have experienced employees

share their knowledge in monthly meetings, or document the bare bones of
processes and procedures particular to them.

2. Don’t undervalue older workers

Many companies make the mistake of thinking younger, less experienced
employees will cost less than older employees who make more money.
Beware the younger, cheaper siren call.

Long-time employees have built a wealth of knowledge about how to work

most efficiently and know your customers. They know what’s worked in the
past, what hasn’t, and why. A younger, less experienced employee, eager to
make their mark, may implement policies and procedures that have failed
numerous times before, alienating customers and costing the company
money.

Also avoid signaling to senior employees that you want them to leave by
asking, “Are you ready to retire?” A more subtle conversation may begin with,
“What are your plans for the next three to five years?”

3. Cross-train employees

Cross-training is another antidote to the brain-drain inherent when long-time

employees leave. A three- to six-month assignment in another
department allows younger or newer workers to gain hands-on experience in
areas of the company unfamiliar to them.

Cross-training can also build your operational team and prevent information
silos.

To prevent older workers from feeling threatened, be sure to communicate

that the purpose of cross-training is to build company-wide knowledge, not to
push senior staff out the door.

4. Consider alternatives to full retirement

Some employees want to start their permanent vacation ASAP. Others may
want to remain in a part-time or consulting role for a few years before hopping
in their RV and riding into the sunset.

For employees, such alternative work arrangements offer reduced stress and
a continued, though smaller, paycheck.

For employers, part-timers can lessen the chaos caused by a sudden change
in personnel. Going part-time forces needed changes in roles and
responsibilities, but leaves the older worker in place and available to answer
questions and share wisdom.
Occasional consulting may work for special projects or to free an experienced
manager to coach newer leaders.

5. Plan succession across all departments

Succession plans aren’t just for the C-suite. You also need to pay attention to
whether an entire department is closing in on retirement, and manage
accordingly.

For instance, if your entire HR department is 55+, you have trouble brewing.
As older HR workers retire or make lateral moves, you should have a plan in
place so that younger specialists and managers have time to learn from their
older peers and be ready to step into senior roles when the time comes.

Some managers unconsciously get into the mind-set of thinking they need
someone of a particular age, gender or other external characteristic rather
than focusing on skill set.

A succession plan that outlines each position’s key roles and responsibilities

can help an organization shake such self-limiting behaviors and create
opportunities to find excellent replacements for retiring workers. Remember,
someone’s style or work cadence doesn’t necessarily equate with an ability to
learn or fulfill a new role.

6. Manage across generations

Aging employees need to know that it’s part of their job to train the younger
generation, and younger workers need to know it’s their job to learn from their
more experienced peers. At the same time, you don’t want to signal to older
workers that their experience is unappreciated or unneeded, or that you think
it’s time for them to leave.

You can help facilitate cross-generational learning by reminding everyone that

there is much to be learned from different perspectives and work styles. Often,
if the leader fosters an open-sharing work environment it can minimize
feelings of ageism or discrimination that older workers may feel as they begin
to transition.

An open environment can be as simple or complex as the leader desires. It

may take the form of quarterly team huddles. For a younger manager,
showing respect to older workers might mean planning a staff outing to a
museum rather than a rock-climbing facility. For an older manager, it might
mean encouraging senior staff to mentor a younger employee or engaging
them in the process of planning for their retirement.

7. Make annual assessments

Whether it’s succession planning or knowledge sharing, you should conduct a

retirement assessment annually. Take a look at which departments or jobs
may be heavy on soon-to-retire employees. Have conversations with your
long-time employees and ask, “What do you do that’s not in your job
description? How do you do it?”

Tenured employees are often the ones who’ve created bypasses for broken or
inefficient processes – processes you may not know are broken. Such
conversations give you the opportunity to capture what these workers know
and use it to the company’s advantage.

8. Don’t wait till they’re out the door

Knowledge transfer takes time and effort, so don’t wait until a week before the
retirement party to start the process. Either through mentorship, job sharing,
job shadowing or other techniques, have your retiring workers share the whys
behind what they do and the way they do it.

If you ask someone to document their job, it doesn’t have to be terribly formal
or in-depth, but it should cover the key elements. They should identify those
processes that are critical to the business, including important details, such as
where files are kept.

It signals an appreciation for what your aging employees do when you ask
them to partner with you in planning their graceful exit.

In the end, always go back to the human element when dealing with
someone’s retirement. Remember, you are touching on this person’s
livelihood and their identity so proceed with kindness and respect.

Knowledge Management (KM) - How to Beat the Baby Boomer

Retirement Blues
https://www.cio.com/article/2447793/knowledge-management--km----how-to-beat-the-baby-
boomer-retirement-blues.html
Costs of Lost Knowledge
While most top managers are aware that they’ll soon have a lot of workers retiring, few
are doing much to prepare for the event. That’s often because it’s hard to quantify the
cost of losing knowledge. "The baby boomer exodus is the elephant in the room when I
talk to managers," says Mary Corcoran, vice president and lead analyst at Outsell, a
research and advisory firm. "Most are not doing anything in a major way about retaining
knowledge."

CIOs can take a leading role in preventing baby boomer brain drain by being
prepared to respond quickly when management decides the company needs
a KM system to help retain crucial knowledge. "CIOs need to know what’s
going on in this area because records management, search tools and
databases will be running on their systems," says Frappaolo. In many cases,
KM and human resources leaders can work closely with CIOs to put in place
databases that track knowledge and other technologies as part of an overall
plan. Northrop Grumman’s Shaffar, for example, says he works closely with
the IT department and spends more than 50 percent of his KM budget on IT—
and will continue to do so. "How would engineers connect across the U.S. if
they didn’t have e-mail, instant messaging or document management
systems?" he asks.
Experts divide such critical know-how into two parts: explicit and tacit
knowledge. The explicit kind refers to information that can be easily explained
and stored in databases or manuals. Tacit knowledge is much harder to
capture and pass on because it includes experience, stories, impressions and
creative solutions. Tacit knowledge is also much harder to get from people
because it accumulates over years of experience, and a scientist or
salesperson may not even know how to verbalize it.
For example, if an experienced scientist plans to retire in a year, the pharmaceutical
company where he works should have a younger researcher shadow the scientist and
work side by side. "In this way, the younger scientist will learn not just the facts, but the
method of diagnostics," Leonard says. "Databases are not a complete waste of time,
but it’s a mistake to believe they are transferring knowledge."

In some cases, it’s easy to see that the loss of a key employee, or group of employees,
will affect a company’s strategy and bottom line. At engine manufacturer Rolls Royce,
for example, managers—when faced with the impending retirement of a veteran
systems engineer—calculated that the engineer’s retirement would cost the company
$400,000 in the first year, says Colin Cadas, team leader for design technology at the
U.K.-based company. Cadas based the calculation on the number of employees whose
productivity is affected when the system is down and the average time the system is
unavailable. Using that calculation, managers could then justify the knowledge
acquisition activity before the engineer (the primary troubleshooter for that system) left.
The process also guaranteed increased training for younger engineers before the
retiring engineer left the company. "For every knowledge retention project we do, we
have those involved work out the business value to the organization," Cadas says.

Stop the Bleeding

After finding the 46 people who had this specialized experience, Cadas set up
a program that allowed younger, recently hired engineers to interview the
older experts. The engineers met and went through a questioning process that
enabled the younger employees to learn about supersonic technology and
then to put that knowledge into a repository for future reference.

For example, few would complain that they can’t find a typewriter repairman in
the phone book. However, organizations must carefully analyze whether a
technology or skill might be needed in the future.

KM Can Aid in Succession Planning

Some companies turn to software to help predict future departures and determine
crucial knowledge. Succession planning or talent management software can give
organizations a good picture of who is working for them, how they are performing and
how long they’ll be around. With retirement on the horizon and new management
positions to fill last year, automotive chain Pep Boys started using succession planning
software from SuccessFactors to give it a clear picture of all employees at the
company’s 584 retail and service centers. "The risk of knowledge loss will always be
there because there will always be unexpected departures," says Liviu Dedes, Pep
Boys’ director of training and organizational development. "But if you have a solid
process to map out who is in your leadership pipeline, you’ll be better prepared to fill job
openings, retain top-performing employees and prepare for retirement."

Dedes says that the software lets him check how many employees are near retirement
age and how many might be leaving soon for other reasons. Another way to get a visual
picture of human interaction and pinpoint the go-to people in an organization is to do a
social network analysis (SNA), which often involves interviewing employees and
managers to see who is working with whom, and whom employees go to most often for
help. SNA software can help organizations map out relationships and get a clear picture
of who has the most knowledge and experience in a specific area (for more on SNA,
see "Who Knows Whom, and Who Knows What?" at www.cio.com/061505). The next
step is to work on retaining those people, says Mohl at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta.
"You need to focus on helping these people advance as quickly as possible," he says.

Keep the Data

Once a company identifies key knowledge, it must develop the data-collection tools so
that others can use it. In Illinois, where almost 10,000 out of nearly 60,000 state
government workers have taken early retirement since 2003, a KM group has
developed a database to capture the experience of buying government goods and
services for the lowest prices. In the past, employees left without passing on the money-
saving know-how. In one instance, the person responsible for buying cars and trucks for
the state retired without leaving any information about vendors, prices or negotiating
techniques. "When she retired, the new buyers had to start from scratch," says Paul
Campbell, acting director of the Illinois Department of Central Management Services
(CMS).

Looking Ahead

Most important, Shaffar has learned that the problem goes beyond looking at
what skills you have right now. "There have always been new generations,
and we’re not any different in that way," he says. "Mentoring, training and
passing on knowledge is not something you can do at the last minute. You
have to plan ahead."