Teaching New Dogs Old Tricks

By Ted Gannan, CEO, Panviva Inc.

Between now and 2020 (assuming the time machine and anti-aging tonic still only exist in sci-fi movies), there are a few facts about the workforce that can't and shouldn't be ignored.

1. By 2020, the majority of the Baby Boomers will be at retirement age
2. With them, they will take huge amounts of valuable explicit and implicit knowledge about the businesses they work for
3. The new entrants to the workforce are very different to those who have gone before - they work differently and, more importantly, they learn differently.

As of next year, the oldest of the Baby Boomers will be 62 - so let's look at the average 62 year old worker of today. He's been in the workforce for approximately 40 years and, unlike his younger counterparts, he's probably spent a large chunk of his career in the one company or agency. In some cases he's one of a diminishing group of workers who are familiar with legacy technologies that still run critical business functions and his managers, although aware that retirement is looming for Mr 62, are doing little to prepare for the event.

The loss of business knowledge that will be experienced over the next two decades - the Boomer brain drain as some call it - will affect different businesses in different ways. For some, it will be the loss of one or a handful of top-performers or specialised skill holders, for others it will be a gradual shift that will see the staff demographic alter dramatically.

Whatever shape it takes, the change is certainly coming and the impact will be determined by how a business manages it. There are two logical steps involved in this generation-to-generation knowledge management - firstly, capturing knowledge from the business and, secondly, passing the knowledge on in a way that ensures the first step wasn't a complete waste of time. Think this is not your problem? Well, prepare to be shocked - because this two-step logic requires input from various sectors of the business; for example, managers who need to identify what the important information is, who has it and who needs to get it; CIOs who need to build the systems that both capture the knowledge and ensure it is accessible to those who need it; and, HR Managers who need to create multi-faceted learning/training environments that suit both new and old workers.

When it comes to capturing knowledge, there are a number of knowledge 'nets' that can be used - mandatory process/procedure documentation, mentor programs and exit interviews are just a few. But the more important question is what to do with all of this information? Create an electronic library system or a training session to fill the minds of new, younger workers? This may have worked 20 years ago - but let's throw a few more facts into the equation:

1. Today's 21 year old was born 11 years after the first computer went on sale
2. He has spent thousands of hours playing computer games, has exchanged hundreds of thousands of instant messages/emails/text messages and has spent countless hours online
3. He grew up in a world where blogs, wikis, skype, podcasts, MySpace and YouTube defined his perception of how information is exchanged.

So unless you want your young workforce doodling through the training session and online courses, using the manual as a shelf for their ipod docking station and then googling the answers to business quandaries (let's not go there - but this does introduce a range of performance and compliance issues) then knowledge must be presented to them in a way that makes sense.

What makes sense to the multi-tasking, fast-switching Generation Y-er who is au fait with abbreviated communication, likes high-level overviews and only dives into the detail if and when needed? The answer is 'just in time', 'just enough' learning solutions that provide the 'when, what and how' information at the moment it's needed and in the context of the task that is being performed.

This new era will see learning, knowledge and work unite and will rely on the creation of ‘GPS systems’ for businesses. A GPS system doesn't teach you to drive - but it will guide you on your journey - taking into account new roads, construction and detours. The external and extrinsic knowledge management systems of the past required employees to remove themselves from the workflow in order to access support. Conversely, the intrinsic “performance support” systems of the future will give precise directions and guidelines to employees within the workflow when they demand it, guiding workers through the twists and turns of an organisation’s complex processes, rules and systems.