© Kate Andrews 2003 Minimising Knowledge Risk from the Retirement Boom actKM Forum 2003 Dr Kate Andrews BDO Kendalls [email protected]

© Kate Andrews 2003

Minimising Knowledge Risk from the Retirement BoomactKM Forum 2003

Dr Kate Andrews

BDO Kendalls

[email protected]


In this session

• Knowledge Risk: What is the shape of the beast?

• What is being done?– Two case examples

• Going forward


Knowledge Risk

Knowledge Risk is the risk associated with the under-utilisation or loss of knowledge critical to organisational performance.

It matters to organisations because it impairs performance and results.


Contributors to Knowledge Risk

• Downsizing

• Outsourcing

• Restructuring

• Reduced corporate budgets

• Generation X preferences

Does this sound familiar?

And then we put the age demographics over the top…


Demographics - Just the Facts…

• 30% of APS employees 45 – 54 years old (compared with 19% a decade ago)

• 45 – 54 year olds are clustered at the higher classification levels – 69% of SES – 46% of Executive Level

• Likely departure of a significant proportion of the workforce (~23%) by 2008

Organisational Renewal: APS 2003


Is Effective Knowledge Transfer Occurring?

Both current and former employees are uncertain that their corporate knowledge is or was being transferred. This is true for executive and SES level and long-term staff



Conclusion: Demographics in the APS

Finding ways to efficiently capture knowledge has become an imperative, given the increasing emphasis on ‘knowledge work’ in the public sector, and the risk posed to corporate memory through loss of employees



Protecting Corporate Memory: The Obvious Questions…

• Do we have a problem?

• What is its magnitude? (What and when?)

• What can we do about it?


Protecting Corporate Memory: Do we have a problem?

Where does critical expertise lie?– Organisational structure chart– Who do others (in the organisation or

outside of it) go to for help? – Who contributes what to your core

processes?


Protecting Corporate Memory: What is the magnitude of the problem?

• What will be the impact on delivery of core services?

• What does our demographic data tell us about when the effects will be apparent?


Case Example 1Knowledge-based Exit Process – State Government

• Highly specialised and differentiated skills

• Decentralised

• Points of knowledge sensitivity

• Typically long lag time for incoming staff member



A comprehensive separation pathway for planned exits

• Valuable position-specific information available for incoming staff member

• Knowledge sharing occurs• Opportunities to comment post-exit• Tangible assets appropriately managed



A comprehensive separation pathway for planned exits

• Valuable position-specific information available for incoming staff member

• Knowledge sharing occurs before exit• Opportunities to comment post-exit• Tangible assets appropriately managed



Codification

Update Position description to reflect your duties and responsibilities

Information Transfer Templates: 4 or 5 key issues that the incoming staff member will need to address



For each key issue

Where related information is located / stored

Key contacts on this issue

Frequently asked questions that call on your special expertise (and the answers): contacts related to these questions and answers



Knowledge Sharing

Handover Discussion (recommended audio recorded and notation by handover partner)

Adding context to the information templates


Case Example 2Retaining Corporate Memory – Commonwealth Government

• Most senior staff now eligible for retirement

• Very limited documentation, skills development

• Pinpoint risk – develop strategies to transfer and retain



• Too many knowledge kings and queens, not enough princes and princesses

• We rely too much on just a few people because there’s nowhere else to get the information

• Everyone is too busy to explain ‘why’



• Quality, consistency and timeliness of service delivery is supported by authoritative complete information resources

AND• Work with expert staff to support knowledge

transfer and capability development (SME, coaching, communities)


Tools and Techniques

RiskIdentification

K mapping

K process mapping

Social network analysis

This is a sense-making process


Protecting Corporate Memory: Rule of Thumb

The longer you leave it to address the problem, the less options you will have and the more it will cost you! (Time, resources, knowledge sharing opportunities foregone, $)

Now Planned Exit

$ $ $



TacitTransfer

Mentoring

Communities

Alumni

Coaching

Narratives



Codification

Exit process

Annotated examples / guidelines

Methodologies

FAQs

SME for training, procedures


Going Forward

• Know your risk

• Think tacit and explicit

• Start soon

• Au revoir

• Embed and sustain


Comments and Observations?

Thank you

Kate Andrews

[email protected]

Documents

© Kate Andrews 2003 Minimising Knowledge Risk from the Retirement Boom actKM Forum 2003 Dr Kate Andrews BDO Kendalls [email protected]