Executives today recognize that their firms face a wave of retirements over the next decade as the baby boomers hit retirement age. At the other end of the talent pipeline, the younger workforce is developing a different set of values and expectations, which creates new recruiting and employee retention issues. The evolution from an older, traditional, highly-experienced workforce to a younger, more mobile, employee base poses significant challenges, particularly when considered in the context of the long-term orientation towards downsizing and cost cutting. This is a solution-oriented book to address one of the most pressing management problems of the coming years: How do organizations transfer the critical expertise and experience of their employees before that knowledge walks out the door? It begins by outlining the broad issues and providing tools for developing a knowledge-retention strategy and function. It then goes on to outline best practices for retaining knowledge, including knowledge transfer practices, using technology to enable knowledge retention, retaining older workers and retirees, and outsourcing lost capabilities.

About the Author
David W. DeLong is a research fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's AgeLab and an adjunct professor at Babson College where he teaches a course on "Leading Change." He has consulted and lectured in many countries and is a widely published writer whose work has appeared in leading journals and magazines.

Reviews
Raises the intriguing question: Are companies ready to deal with the loss of intellectual capital that comes from workers' retirement? * The New York Times *
... the book is thought provoking and acknowledges the readers expectation of fact-based strategies to create solutions... Lost Knowledge is readable and is written in a reflective style with a scholarly tone. * People Management d *



Book Information
ISBN 9780195170979
Author David W. DeLong
Format Hardback
Page Count 268
Imprint Oxford University Press Inc
Publisher Oxford University Press Inc
Weight(grams) 516g
Dimensions(mm) 241mm * 161mm * 16mm