The last of the ‘baby boomer’ generation are now retiring from the workplace. As they walk out of the door of your business for the last time, they are taking with them a lifetime’s experience from old-school apprenticeship programmes to a lifetime of fault diagnosis and learning in the ‘university of life.’ That experience is what helped your business grow, become successful, and kept your customers happy and returning with repeat orders! So, what can be achieved in the time before valued employees retire; to capture that knowledge so your business can maintain the momentum that was enabled by your retirees. The businesses I have worked with fall into three categories when it comes to knowledge capture and knowledge transfer from retirees:
Those who have an organic plan for retention of knowledge.
Those who have a last-minute scramble to retain what they can.
Those who live to regret not having had any plan.
Organic Plan for Knowledge Transfer
Those with an organic plan for knowledge transfer are by far the most successful at not experiencing that Monday morning feeling of, “Now what do we do? We can’t even turn on the plant compressor!” (true story) or, “Carol retired, and we don’t know what she did!”
Here I will try to formalise my experience to provide you with some simple steps to build your own organic plan for knowledge capture.
Knowledge Capture and Knowledge Transfer
Firstly, knowledge capture is a very specific skill that requires training; an inquisitive nature; patience and time to sit, listen and record the voice of experience. Either train your own people in this very specific skill or bring someone in with the skill set you need to at least get you started.
Once you have the skill set, capturing an individual’s experience to pass it on to others before that experienced employee retires can be done through two main knowledge transfer methodologies: documentation and mentoring and training.
Documentation
Every process that your business depends on, from completing a purchase order, to fitting a new bearing to a machine, to how to efficiently load a truck and maximise the space, etc. should be documented irrespective of people leaving your business. In terms of business continuity, your business should not be limited just because somebody is on vacation, has been promoted, is in a course, or has had an internal business move.
If you use an ongoing business practice of building Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) that reflect the best practice of your business, are simply constructed, are as visual as possible, and as intuitive as possible, training time should be at an absolute minimum when you lose an experienced employee.
An example of this is building ‘Operator Care Manuals’ in a paper converting plant as part of the introduction of an Autonomous Maintenance regime. Using skills analysis, I was able to capture the set-up routines and troubleshooting charts for some very complex machinery. This task took a number of weeks per machine and used the experience of all operators across all shifts. As we made it completely visual we did not have issues of having to train in multiple languages (we had a team made up of Africans, Americans, and Spanish-speaking South Americans). The proof of the success of this visual document was that I was then able to setup the machine and start it up unaided. We also improved OEE by 7% in the first week as a happy bonus.
Visual methods are now expected by the post millennial generations, and they also make good business sense. If a picture labelled with a few arrows can replace pages of explanation, it makes business sense to be visual. Even better, everyone now carries a smart phone, so once you have decided on best practice, take a video of the processes and place them on a company server or in the cloud. This has the extra advantage that the videos can be recorded at almost no cost and use the native speakers as the actors, avoiding the language problem all together.
Mentoring and Shadowing
Companies with a focus on business continuity use Mentoring and Shadowing to great effect. I once worked with a very forward-thinking paper plant that brought in recently graduated mechanics and employed them six months ahead of a planned retirement so the experienced millwright could pass on their knowledge across the range of work the new mechanic was expected to master. Pairing up the retiring individual with a younger employee to benefit from their expertise was great for business continuity.
This mentoring and shadowing relationship allows the retiree to pass on their knowledge directly to someone who can apply it in their work. Shadowing arrangements can also be set up, where the retiring individual allows others (new and current colleagues) to observe and learn from their daily tasks and decision-making processes. This is also a great opportunity to ensure that the SOPs get a final review before the retiree leaves for their well-earned retirement.
Last Minute Scramble for Planned Knowledge Transfer
If you suddenly realise that your employee Susan only has a few weeks or a month before she is retiring, you must prioritise her time for planned knowledge transfer. I would suggest the following:
Task Prioritisation. Get someone, ideally Susan’s replacement, to sit with her, draw up a prioritised list of everything she does, and link that list to current SOPs.
Record. Where there are no SOPs or videos of Susan doing the task or talking in detail through the task, including the nuances of what she does, who she speaks to, when the tasks need to be done, who else understands the task, etc. By doing this you have a record that can be transcribed later.
Phase Retirement/Part Time Knowledge Transfer.If the business sees value in recording Susan’s knowledge but there is not sufficient time available, consider if Susan can come back a couple of days a week after her retirement date to document what she does, ideally with her replacement. This will not only capture data for the business, but will also help Susan phase into retirement (which has been seen as valuable for mental health).
Ongoing Mentoring. Just because someone has retired, it doesn’t mean they no longer exist. With prior arrangement, they may be open to taking phone calls for a period of time to answer questions or help with the induction of the new employee. You can also invite the retiree to work functions or knowledge transfer days to maintain valued relationships.
Interviews and Oral History. If you only have a few days before the retiree leaves, quickly conduct and record interviews with the retiring individual to record priority experience and insights. This can be done through audio or video recordings, allowing them to share their stories, accomplishments, challenges, and strategies in their own words. These recorded interviews can be transcribed, archived, and made accessible to others who may benefit from their wisdom.
No Plan
If you have no plan and no time, or even as I have seen, suddenly realise that you are at someone’s goodbye party and nothing has been captured, you have two options. Firstly, take the hit to the business and make the best of a bad situation. Secondly, if you have a good relationship with the retiree, ask if they would be willing to come back under some paid arrangement to carry out a knowledge transferring activity. At this stage, anything you can get from the retiree to maintain business continuity will be a bonus. Doing nothing is never a good business stratergy.
Summary
Anyone leaving your business after a period of valued service, be that the last of the baby boomer generation or anyone else, will leave a hole in your business.
The best practice to partially compensate for the loss of 40 years’ experience that I have seen is an organic rolling program of capturing processes and procedures visually and then having the expert go through the visual or video process before they leave so that you are able to maintain business continuity.
If the business does not have the forethought to capture their knowledge and experience the ‘hole’ they leave can be debilitating to business. Avoid this self-inflicted injury and ensure you have a comprehensive business continuity plan in place to capture retirees’ knowledge and experience. Start today.
Dr Anthony Kenneson-Adams
Dr. Anthony Kenneson-Adams had a 30-year career in the Royal Air Force, becoming a Senior Engineering Officer, Project Manager and Engineering Authority responsible for multiple fast jets and large-body aircraft in peace and war operations. On retiring from the Royal Air Force, he became a Corporate Operational Excellence Consultant in the Paper Manufacturing and Packaging Industries and is now the Head of Learning and Knowledge Transfer for the international Project 7 Consultancy. You can contact Anthony at www.project7consultancy.com or [email protected]
About 80 percent of maintenance mistakes involve human factors (HF), according to the Federal Aviation Administration. The maintenance world has unique HF issues that are more severe and longer lasting than elsewhere in aviation. Operators are looking at various techniques to combat HF challenges.
About 80 percent of maintenance mistakes involve human factors (HF), according to the Federal Aviation Administration. The maintenance world has unique HF issues that are more severe and longer lasting than elsewhere in aviation. Operators are looking at various techniques to combat HF challenges.
Many managers are unaware that best-in-class companies routinely design-out maintenance at the inception of a project. That, clearly, is the first key to highest equipment reliability and plant profitability. Whenever maintenance events occur as time goes on, the real industry leaders see every one of these events as an opportunity to upgrade. Indeed, upgrading is the second key, and upgrading is the job of highly trained, well-organized, knowledgeable reliability professionals.
Many managers are unaware that best-in-class companies routinely design-out maintenance at the inception of a project. That, clearly, is the first key to highest equipment reliability and plant profitability. Whenever maintenance events occur as time goes on, the real industry leaders see every one of these events as an opportunity to upgrade. Indeed, upgrading is the second key, and upgrading is the job of highly trained, well-organized, knowledgeable reliability professionals.
For management, new and untrained employees present a different set of costly challenges. For example, productivity will drop due to lost time, there may be overtime expenses, insurance costs will rise and there can be potential lost customer sales. Worker's compensation claims will also increase and lead to higher premiums. How can these problems be avoided? What are some steps that can be put in place to help alleviate these concerns for new and untrained workers already in the workforce? Ideally, health and safety programs that offer basic training will fit the bill quite nicely. New and untrained workers need to learn about personal protective equipment (PPE), back-injury prevention, health and safety regulations and hazard recognition.
For management, new and untrained employees present a different set of costly challenges. For example, productivity will drop due to lost time, there may be overtime expenses, insurance costs will rise and there can be potential lost customer sales. Worker's compensation claims will also increase and lead to higher premiums. How can these problems be avoided? What are some steps that can be put in place to help alleviate these concerns for new and untrained workers already in the workforce? Ideally, health and safety programs that offer basic training will fit the bill quite nicely. New and untrained workers need to learn about personal protective equipment (PPE), back-injury prevention, health and safety regulations and hazard recognition.
A chaotic or traumatic event can happen to anyone at any time or place. Would you be ready if it happened to you? Anything that threatens your sense of safety and security either physically or mentally can be considered a traumatic event. How well you respond to and recover from such events primarily depends on your overall state of well-being. Let's look at ways to develop the Internal Resources and External Resources you need to put yourself in the best possible position to deal with chaotic events.
A chaotic or traumatic event can happen to anyone at any time or place. Would you be ready if it happened to you? Anything that threatens your sense of safety and security either physically or mentally can be considered a traumatic event. How well you respond to and recover from such events primarily depends on your overall state of well-being. Let's look at ways to develop the Internal Resources and External Resources you need to put yourself in the best possible position to deal with chaotic events.
In my consulting and educating roles at Noria, I’m often asked what effective plant reliability management looks like. How does one recognize it when he or she sees it? While there are plenty of details, I’ve boiled it down to the following 12 dimensional elements.
In my consulting and educating roles at Noria, I’m often asked what effective plant reliability management looks like. How does one recognize it when he or she sees it? While there are plenty of details, I’ve boiled it down to the following 12 dimensional elements.
The cost of maintaining the status quo is enormous. The status quo affects each and every one of us every hour of every day, at work and at home. We have come to accept doing nothing as a safe and acceptable alternative. We even make it the default solution. Doing nothing is the management equivalent of a baby’s soother. It makes us feel safe and comfortable. But there is a cost to doing nothing.
The cost of maintaining the status quo is enormous. The status quo affects each and every one of us every hour of every day, at work and at home. We have come to accept doing nothing as a safe and acceptable alternative. We even make it the default solution. Doing nothing is the management equivalent of a baby’s soother. It makes us feel safe and comfortable. But there is a cost to doing nothing.
It never ceases to amaze me that no matter what industry you are in or how big or small of a company you work for, success is dependent on the ability to find, attract, hire, manage, develop and retain the right people. I continue to see companies disproportionately dedicate more focus and investment into non-people issues such as technology or equipment than focusing on getting “the right people on the bus.” I haven’t quite figured out why, but I believe it could boil down to one of three reasons:
It never ceases to amaze me that no matter what industry you are in or how big or small of a company you work for, success is dependent on the ability to find, attract, hire, manage, develop and retain the right people. I continue to see companies disproportionately dedicate more focus and investment into non-people issues such as technology or equipment than focusing on getting “the right people on the bus.” I haven’t quite figured out why, but I believe it could boil down to one of three reasons:
There are numerous issues influencing our economic engine-many real, many politic, and many mysterious. We could discuss capital formation problems, balance of trade politics, over-wary management, and so on. However, I want to focus on the part that professional development plays in this scenario. And more importantly-the role that professional development will play in the future performance of our economic engine.
There are numerous issues influencing our economic engine-many real, many politic, and many mysterious. We could discuss capital formation problems, balance of trade politics, over-wary management, and so on. However, I want to focus on the part that professional development plays in this scenario. And more importantly-the role that professional development will play in the future performance of our economic engine.
Baby Boomers are going to retire soon. There won’t be enough skilled labor to fill all the jobs. Employers aren’t prepared to handle the labor shortage. It goes on and on. So, is this workforce shortage thing for real? Well, YES! The numbers don’t lie. By 2012, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) estimates there will be 165 million jobs and only 162 million people available in the workforce.
Baby Boomers are going to retire soon. There won’t be enough skilled labor to fill all the jobs. Employers aren’t prepared to handle the labor shortage. It goes on and on. So, is this workforce shortage thing for real? Well, YES! The numbers don’t lie. By 2012, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) estimates there will be 165 million jobs and only 162 million people available in the workforce.
In most businesses, success is easily measured by looking at the bottom line; but what’s the bottom line in the maintenance business? To better understand how to evaluate maintenance business performance, it’s helpful to examine how businesses generate profits. Quite simply, businesses generate profits by providing goods and/or services at minimum cost and sold at a fair market price. Obviously, revenues generated from sales must exceed the costs. It is important to note that the customer determines the fair market price.
In most businesses, success is easily measured by looking at the bottom line; but what’s the bottom line in the maintenance business? To better understand how to evaluate maintenance business performance, it’s helpful to examine how businesses generate profits. Quite simply, businesses generate profits by providing goods and/or services at minimum cost and sold at a fair market price. Obviously, revenues generated from sales must exceed the costs. It is important to note that the customer determines the fair market price.
This paper considers Product Service Systems as an emerging approach to creating a win-win situation for OEMs and their customers, and discusses maintenance outsourcing as a step towards applying this new concept. Two key elements in successful maintenance outsourcing are to understand the risks to the service providers in taking responsibility for their customers' maintenance activities, and understanding the value that is delivered to the customers by the maintenance service provider. The concept of 'value in use' will be introduced. as an improved decision criterion for maintenance outsourcing, and the need for a too/ to assess value-inuse will be explained.
This paper considers Product Service Systems as an emerging approach to creating a win-win situation for OEMs and their customers, and discusses maintenance outsourcing as a step towards applying this new concept. Two key elements in successful maintenance outsourcing are to understand the risks to the service providers in taking responsibility for their customers' maintenance activities, and understanding the value that is delivered to the customers by the maintenance service provider. The concept of 'value in use' will be introduced. as an improved decision criterion for maintenance outsourcing, and the need for a too/ to assess value-inuse will be explained.
There are many paradigms and legends surrounding maintenance management in plants. Often, the legends are known to be untrue, but people live with them because it is politically correct, or simply convenient. To be successful in improving equipment reliability and maintenance management, plants must break the legends that exist in their organizations. Some of the legends will be addressed in this article. You may find that these legends are uncomfortably close to describing how your plant operates.
There are many paradigms and legends surrounding maintenance management in plants. Often, the legends are known to be untrue, but people live with them because it is politically correct, or simply convenient. To be successful in improving equipment reliability and maintenance management, plants must break the legends that exist in their organizations. Some of the legends will be addressed in this article. You may find that these legends are uncomfortably close to describing how your plant operates.
Whether your company is large or small, whether you're hiring an entry-level employee or a top executive, any one of the following mistakes can result in a hiring disaster for your organization. Recent Kennedy Information audio conference speaker Lori Davila and her co-author Louise Kursmark offer 10 key points for reviewing your organization's hiring procedures and making adjustments where needed.
Whether your company is large or small, whether you're hiring an entry-level employee or a top executive, any one of the following mistakes can result in a hiring disaster for your organization. Recent Kennedy Information audio conference speaker Lori Davila and her co-author Louise Kursmark offer 10 key points for reviewing your organization's hiring procedures and making adjustments where needed.
When a forced layoff takes place in a unionized environment, the latest employees, in this case the apprentices were laid off; the plant had to lay off its future employees. Even sadder is that only four months after the lay offs the plant had to hire back many of the people they laid off. Many of them worked for a contractor who had contracted them to the plant after they were laid off! Soon this plant will start talking about a new improvement initiative and new management will wonder why it is so difficult to get people committed to improvement initiatives.
When a forced layoff takes place in a unionized environment, the latest employees, in this case the apprentices were laid off; the plant had to lay off its future employees. Even sadder is that only four months after the lay offs the plant had to hire back many of the people they laid off. Many of them worked for a contractor who had contracted them to the plant after they were laid off! Soon this plant will start talking about a new improvement initiative and new management will wonder why it is so difficult to get people committed to improvement initiatives.
You can develop, document, and preach your improvement plans as much as you want, but if those plans do not result in better front line maintenance performance, you have just wasted money and time. Maintenance managers cannot produce expected results without the help of others, especially the frontline. Those organizations that have experimented with autonomous teams lacking front line leadership often fail to deliver sustainable results. If you believe this statement is wrong, I am very interested in hearing back from you.
You can develop, document, and preach your improvement plans as much as you want, but if those plans do not result in better front line maintenance performance, you have just wasted money and time. Maintenance managers cannot produce expected results without the help of others, especially the frontline. Those organizations that have experimented with autonomous teams lacking front line leadership often fail to deliver sustainable results. If you believe this statement is wrong, I am very interested in hearing back from you.
To compete in this adverse environment, companies switched mantras, from "do or die" to "do more with less or die." Every year, the bar of acceptable performance is raised. Employees are challenged to achieve these objectives with fewer resources. According to the U.S. Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics, between 1981 and 1996, the total number of workers who lost jobs they held for three or more years because their plant or company closed or moved was nearly 18 million.
To compete in this adverse environment, companies switched mantras, from "do or die" to "do more with less or die." Every year, the bar of acceptable performance is raised. Employees are challenged to achieve these objectives with fewer resources. According to the U.S. Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics, between 1981 and 1996, the total number of workers who lost jobs they held for three or more years because their plant or company closed or moved was nearly 18 million.
The "Program of the Month" phenomena. I feel that there is somewhat of a misunderstanding of this issue. Mindsets such as these are often attributed to the fact that management are not fully behind the concept, or a coping mechanism for a workforce that has reached a saturation point in terms of the continual changes that they need to endure. While there is, of course, some validity in these arguments the prime reason, the reason that proven programs fail is generally due to the lack of adequate communication.
The "Program of the Month" phenomena. I feel that there is somewhat of a misunderstanding of this issue. Mindsets such as these are often attributed to the fact that management are not fully behind the concept, or a coping mechanism for a workforce that has reached a saturation point in terms of the continual changes that they need to endure. While there is, of course, some validity in these arguments the prime reason, the reason that proven programs fail is generally due to the lack of adequate communication.
The last of the ‘baby boomer’ generation are now retiring from the workplace. As they walk out of the door of your business for the last time, they are taking with them a lifetime's experience from old-school apprenticeship programmes to a lifetime of fault diagnosis and learning in the ‘university of life.’ That experience is what helped your business grow, become successful, and kept your customers happy and returning with repeat orders! So, what can be achieved in the time before valued employees retire for knowledge capture and knowledge transfer so your business can maintain momentum?
The last of the ‘baby boomer’ generation are now retiring from the workplace. As they walk out of the door of your business for the last time, they are taking with them a lifetime's experience from old-school apprenticeship programmes to a lifetime of fault diagnosis and learning in the ‘university of life.’ That experience is what helped your business grow, become successful, and kept your customers happy and returning with repeat orders! So, what can be achieved in the time before valued employees retire for knowledge capture and knowledge transfer so your business can maintain momentum?
