The aging workforce - you've seen the news time and time again of the looming crisis. We hear of the magnitude of the issue ... companies on average will see 29 percent of their workforce eligible to retire by 2025. The crisis is even worse outside the U.S. Companies in many countries will see, on average, 36 percent of their population reach retirement eligibility even earlier - by 2020. Yet little is being done to effectively handle its impact. The most likely reason is that companies have been forced to shift their strategic planning priorities to address the ever increasing short-term expectations of investors. As a result, many will delay investing in a potential solution until the crisis is close at hand. Even these numbers don't tell the whole story.
These trends clearly indicate a need for effective knowledge transfer and retention for organizations. In addition, companies will need to increase focus on knowledge growth and retention at lower levels to maximize effective succession for many of the vacated leadership jobs. Using so-called fundamental knowledge management, companies can transfer generational knowledge by transforming their workforce environments into learning communities.
