The Impact of the Aging Workforce on Public Sector Organizations ...

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www.equaterra.comGet to what matters.to advance within <strong>the</strong> organization and may push someemployees to pursue additional training or developmentopportunities. Despite <strong>the</strong>se benefi ts, few organizationsappear to be developing or utilizing career paths. Fifty-fi vepercent <strong>of</strong> respondents indicate that only between 1 to 25percent <strong>of</strong> current positions have formal career paths. Twentypercent report that between 25 to 50 percent <strong>of</strong> currentpositions have formal career paths. Developing career pathsis a more strategic activity and may be low on <strong>the</strong> list <strong>of</strong>priorities for HR departments with limited staff and resources.At <strong>the</strong> same time, organizations consistently cite career pathsas one <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> most effective retention strategies.All respondents were asked to describe what methods orstrategies were most effective in retaining employees oridentifying new talent or leadership. Expanded pr<strong>of</strong>essionaldevelopment and training opportunities and improvedcompensation and o<strong>the</strong>r benefi ts were <strong>the</strong> most commonresponses. <strong>The</strong> public sector presents some inherent limitson compensation and benefi ts. Ra<strong>the</strong>r than <strong>of</strong>fer bettercompensation packages, many organizations utilize morefl exible scheduling or non-traditional arrangements, like telecommutingor job-sharing, to retain employees. Organizationsmay be able to attract a broader pool <strong>of</strong> applicants by <strong>of</strong>feringpart-time opportunities or home-source positions in whichemployees work from home. <strong>The</strong>se types <strong>of</strong> arrangementsmay allow public sector organizations to be more competitivewhen looking to attract specifi c skills or experiencedpr<strong>of</strong>essionals, as <strong>the</strong>se individuals may be more interested in<strong>the</strong> fl exible schedule or benefi ts than actual compensation.Respondents also recognize o<strong>the</strong>r strategies, like developingcareer paths and employee recognition programs, as beinghighly effective in retaining employees.<strong>The</strong> Struggle <strong>of</strong> Knowledge ManagementKnowledge management is defi ned as any effort related to<strong>the</strong> capture and maintenance <strong>of</strong> institutional knowledge.It is a popular concept, especially as more organizationsexpand usage <strong>of</strong> content and document managementand imaging, records management and o<strong>the</strong>r similar ITapplications and systems to become more paperless andimprove record-keeping capabilities. <strong>The</strong> push to adopt<strong>the</strong>se systems, however, can create confusion aroundhow best to employ knowledge management. While anadvanced IT system, a document imaging program or auser-friendly central database are important foundationIT components in combating knowledge loss, <strong>the</strong> act<strong>of</strong> deploying IT tools does not make a comprehensiveknowledge management effort. Knowledge management isas much about <strong>the</strong> identifi cation <strong>of</strong> important institutionalknowledge as it is about capturing this knowledge.“Too many organizations get overly caught up in <strong>the</strong> IT-side<strong>of</strong> knowledge management. While applications and systemsthat can capture, process and manage data and informationare necessary and helpful, <strong>the</strong>re is more to knowledgemanagement that just IT. Organizations need to determinewhat information to capture from whom, how to organizeit, and how to make it readily available in a contextualfashion for <strong>the</strong> workers that need it. A vast repository <strong>of</strong>data, or scanned documents, or an online s<strong>of</strong>t copy <strong>of</strong>detailed policies and procedures, may not provide muchhelp to, for example, a new employee trying to determinehow best to do <strong>the</strong>ir job. KM efforts must not only focus oneffi ciently organizing explicit knowledge (e.g., facts, fi gure,policies, procedures) but also it must focus on effi cientlyorganizing explicit knowledge (e.g., contextual information,best practices, identifi cation <strong>of</strong> subject matter experts,“tribal knowledge”) to be truly useful. Simply capturing anddigitizing reams <strong>of</strong> data and content under <strong>the</strong> guise <strong>of</strong>knowledge management can be very expensive and evencounter-productive,” adds Stan Lepeak, Managing Director forResearch and Knowledge Services at EquaTerra.Taking into account what goes into a comprehensive KMstrategy, only 10 percent <strong>of</strong> respondents have a knowledgemanagement plan in place. Those organizations with a planidentifi ed <strong>the</strong> following as key components:• Documentation <strong>of</strong> policies and procedures• Cross-training• Centralized archives or repository <strong>of</strong> records• Job shadowing or mentoringwww.ipma-hr.orgPage 13
www.equaterra.comGet to what matters.Organizations understand <strong>the</strong> risk <strong>of</strong> losing knowledge even if<strong>the</strong>y are unsure <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> potential ramifi cations <strong>of</strong> this knowledgeloss. <strong>The</strong> majority <strong>of</strong> respondents (65 percent) indicate <strong>the</strong>irorganizations are defi nitely at risk <strong>of</strong> losing knowledge dueto retiring or exiting employees. When asked to rank <strong>the</strong>irorganizations’ abilities to identify what knowledge is at risk,on a scale <strong>of</strong> one to fi ve (1 being low and 5 being high), <strong>the</strong>average rank was 2.8. Respondents also ranked <strong>the</strong> extent towhich <strong>the</strong> organization has already experienced knowledgeloss. <strong>The</strong> average ranking in this category was 2.9.<strong>The</strong>se fi gures demonstrate an important point aboutknowledge management. It is diffi cult to develop aplan or strategy to combat <strong>the</strong> loss <strong>of</strong> knowledge if <strong>the</strong>organization cannot identify what knowledge is at risk.Likewise, organizations may not be aware <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> knowledgelost until <strong>the</strong>y experience a negative impact. How does aloss <strong>of</strong> important or mission-critical knowledge impact anorganization? For those organizations which indicated asignifi cant loss <strong>of</strong> knowledge, respondents report lossesin effi ciency and time as <strong>the</strong> greatest impacts. Figure 6demonstrates <strong>the</strong> impact <strong>of</strong> knowledge loss.<strong>Impact</strong> <strong>of</strong> Knowledge Loss on Organization MissionFigure 60% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80%Loss in efficiencyLoss in timeGoals not reachedStrategic Goals/ProgramSetbacksProjects placed on holdO<strong>the</strong>rWhile few organizations have a knowledge management planin place, 51 percent are undertaking some effort to record orstore institutional knowledge. <strong>The</strong>se efforts mirror those keycomponents discussed earlier and include requiring writtenmanuals, documentation <strong>of</strong> processes and procedures or <strong>the</strong>development <strong>of</strong> a central database.Respondents cited numerous strategies and methodsas being effective in combating <strong>the</strong> loss <strong>of</strong> institutionalknowledge. Establishing standard operating proceduresN=71(SOPs) and documenting policies and procedures werecommon responses because many organizations still lackdocumented policies, procedures and related manuals.O<strong>the</strong>r strategies focused on records management suchas document imaging systems and centralized archives.Organizations are dealing with higher scrutiny on recordkeeping <strong>of</strong>ten due to new regulations. Records management,including archiving and established policies for <strong>the</strong>maintenance and disposal <strong>of</strong> documents, has also becomeincreasingly important. Finally, many organizations namedcross-training as an important tool. Cross-training allowsmultiple employees to learn to do a job and reduces anorganization’s risk if an employee leaves. Cross-trainingbecomes even more important for mission-critical tasks andprocesses that may be required to keep <strong>the</strong> organizationoperating or delivering services. Cross-training should becomprehensive so employees feel confi dent in <strong>the</strong>ir abilitiesto complete <strong>the</strong>se o<strong>the</strong>r processes and responsibilities.While each <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>se identifi ed strategies and approachesare valid and valuable to knowledge management efforts,organizations must exert equal emphasis on capturing andmanaging all types <strong>of</strong> organizational knowledge, both hardand s<strong>of</strong>t.ConclusionPublic sector organizations must take a proactive and directapproach to dealing with <strong>the</strong> issues associated with <strong>the</strong>iraging workforces. Organizations must assess and understandwhat pending retirement trends mean in <strong>the</strong> context <strong>of</strong><strong>the</strong>ir own organizations and to know as much as possibleabout <strong>the</strong>ir current workforces and <strong>the</strong>ir dimensions <strong>of</strong>recruitment, retention, training and retirement. Educationand self-assessment are keys to rationally assessing <strong>the</strong>aging workforce’s actual potential impact and determininghow best to respond to it. Utilizing a combination <strong>of</strong> bothproactive and pre-planned responsive measures will alloworganizations to recognize potential and real challengesbefore <strong>the</strong>se issues become a crisis that endangers <strong>the</strong>organizations and <strong>the</strong>ir abilities to deliver service. A goodplace to start is with employees that have already retired.How long did <strong>the</strong>se employees stay in <strong>the</strong>ir jobs afterbecoming eligible for retirement? What were <strong>the</strong>ir rolesin <strong>the</strong> organization and what was <strong>the</strong> impact <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir exit?Was knowledge lost? This information will provide someperspective on employees currently eligible for retirement.www.ipma-hr.orgPage 14
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