Silver tsunami. Peak 65. Baby boomer brain drain. These are just a few of the terms to describe the record number of retirement-eligible employees on their way out of the workforce. Every day in 2024, 11,000 Americans will reach their 65th birthday. In fact, over 4 million people will turn 65 every year through 2027. As experienced employees leave, how will your organization preserve institutional knowledge? To prepare for this retirement wave, it’s important to have a knowledge transfer plan, particularly in your key control processes.
As the name implies, a knowledge transfer plan is a strategy for employees sharing information with their colleagues or other stakeholders. This knowledge could include details about the business’s customers, processes, or technology.
Although knowledge transfer often happens organically, it’s helpful to create a process for upcoming retirees to impart their knowledge to the next generation of employees. In the context of key control processes, knowledge transfer involves the nuanced details of keyholder permissions, the reasons behind certain security protocols, missing-key procedures, key audit history, and more. As employees retire, it’s important for them to pass along this information to ensure the continuity of key control processes.
Most younger workers (84%) consider it a loss when senior employees exit the workforce without sharing their years of knowledge. Without knowledge transfer, 47% of employees are forced to self-train, leaving critical gaps in workflows and information. When it comes to key control — and business operations in general — these gaps pose significant risks and challenges:
If employees are having to familiarize themselves with your company’s key control procedures on the fly, the odds of process breakdowns and security breaches increase.
Preserving institutional knowledge when employees leave requires a sustainable key control framework. To be effective, your key control efforts should not rely on a single person’s knowledge or manual effort and should include the following elements:
As the retirement wave carries seasoned employees out of your organization, make sure their valuable knowledge doesn’t leave with them. By taking a proactive approach to knowledge transfer, you’ll help ensure the continuity and security of your organization’s key control processes.