Passing the Baton: Baby Boomers & Ensuring Knowledge Transfer
The baby boomer generation can create a brain trust and enhance their legacy –the workforce is aging; however, they are also desirous of staying employed longer for several reasons, with many motivating factors. Many senior workers are motivated by their need to experience respect in their working environments and by a desire for self-actualization. Senior workers want to do work that interests them, has meaning, and creates a feeling of usefulness and contribution. Job satisfaction is also of significant importance to the senior worker, as it is of intrinsic value to them to enjoy what they do and to know that their efforts are valued and appreciated by their employers.
Techniques that employers can use to address the needs of senior workers, keep these individuals motivated, and also ensure effective knowledge retention and transfer from these employees:
Employers can address the needs of senior workers in a plethora of ways, which include ensuring that there is a work/life balance, so that there is time for a private life. Thus, flexible work hours, including part time and temporary work will assist in ensuring that the valuable knowledge that senior workers have is captured for transfer to succeeding generations of workers. The majority of senior workers have not been asked in the past to create their own self-development plans and therefore employers should be mindful to provide initiatives that assist in further skills-development for this population. A coaching leadership style of management would be most appropriate for senior workers as the best approach to ensuring continued development of their skills.
Knowledge transfer seeks to organize, create, capture or distribute knowledge and ensure its availability for future users. It has complexities because knowledge resides in employees, work tools, tasks, and people networks and due to the tacit nature of knowledge it is not easily articulated without the show-how to accompany the say-how. Knowledge transfer from senior workers to the younger workforce is vitally important for organizational success. The older workers will eventually retire, creating the need for a plan to implement knowledge transfer. This can be achieved by using guidelines that are in essence critical success factors and are a part of the larger activity of knowledge management.
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