Guessing is not a strategy: How to build decision velocity with AI and real-time data
June 10, 2026 | Live Webinar
We seem to be constantly returning to this topic, but the more we learn, the more we can manage the problem. And the problem is the brain drain caused by Baby Boomer retirement. Important institutional knowledge may be lost even in your organization. A recent Monster survey (Building and Securing an Organizational Brain Trust in an Age of Brain Drain),reveals that only 12% of human resource managers surveyed report that knowledge retention is a high priority, despite a third of the same managers estimating 20% of their current workforce will be eligible for retirement over the next several years.
In a previous post, I mentioned that many of these potential retirees will not actually retire on schedule, but there still needs to be some program in place to ensure you retain knowledge, such as
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Proven IT success tactics and those that do not work
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Expertise on how to get things done in specialty areas, including security, compliance, infrastructure, and so on
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Project management wisdom
Hey, look, you can benefit from this wisdom! Right now, does your organization exhibit these two problems areas?
(1) No formal method to identify knowledge that needs to be protected and retained, and
(2) No reward or even encouragement to share organizational knowledge.
If the answer is Yes, then initiate action or push an existing group to “Maintain the Brain”. Some examples from the survey recommendations:
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Implement a formal program to actively identify key knowledge assets and their sources
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Provide knowledge-sharing incentives for employees and incorporate standards in performance reviews
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Create a blogging forum and mentoring program whereby workers can redistribute and access organizational knowledge.
Start now, before it is too late!
Posted on: October 02, 2007 12:35 PM |
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