I've been tasked with exploring issues related to succession planning. By
"Succession planning" I am referring to a problem where veteran employees
are leaving -- in this case retiring -- and replacements will need to be
trained.
In our case, the retirees are Ph.D.'s that have over the years acquired
highly specialized, very proprietary skills. These people have been with
the company sometimes over 30 years. Their knowledge is primarily in their
heads.
There are various aspects to this role. First, I'd like to get advice from
people who have been in this position as to what issues I may not even be
thinking of up front and how such things have/can be addressed. Secondly,
I'd like resources to which I can turn to explore this topic more fully.
Third, I'd love to get/hear some "Best Practices" and Case Studies on this
issue.
There are many side to this problem. Among other things:
(1) We will have to deal with the technical, cultural, and process problems
related to capturing the retirees' knowledge
(2) We will have to deal with the same types of problems related to
communicating this knowledge to the replacements
(3) We will have to implement effective systems to prevent this problem from
resurfacing in the future.
(4) What else?
Thanks in anticipation of the help I know this list is great about giving.
J.B.
--"Bryant, JB" <jbryant@cas.org>
Learning-org -- Hosted by Rick Karash <rkarash@karash.com> Public Dialog on Learning Organizations -- <http://www.learning-org.com>