• 50% of 1.6 M federal workers eligible to retire by 2008
• Nursing population expected to grow by 6% by 2020 while demand for nursing care expected to grow by 40%
• Over 50% of employers say that aging workforce will lead to workforce shortages
• 2/3’s say that retirements will lead to “brain drain”
• 85% of companies have no formal programs in place to retain key talent

Don’t be one of those companies that isn’t ready for the changing workforce. “Workforce Planning” and “Knowledge Transfer” are some of the current buzz words out there today given the shifting workforce demographics. Organizations inability to retain knowledgeable workers or to replace them easily can have a devastating impact on an organization. This makes it even more critical to ensure that the knowledge you currently have isn’t walking out door before being transferred to others. To do this, you need to start thinking about developing a Knowledge Conservation Culture, which requires:

1. A vision and a plan
2. Systems and processes to:
   • Identify risk: probability and consequences of knowledge loss
   • Clarify what knowledge is necessary
     • What people do
     • How they do it
     • Who works with whom
     • Why they do it
     • When they do it
     • What they need to do the job well
   • Extract, store and transfer knowledge
   • Identify options in expanding knowledge: buy, rent or grow
3. A culture of accountability around sharing and developing knowledge
4. Time and resources to make this a priority