Ep 104 - When Expertise Expires: How Do Organizations Keep Critical Knowledge Alive?

There is a simple situation that happens in almost every organization. An experienced employee leaves. There is a farewell, the laptop is handed back, files are transferred and a new person eventually takes over. 

Organizations do not just lose an employee. Sometimes, they also lose years of experience, practical knowledge, relationships and the small lessons that were never written down anywhere.

Research on knowledge loss caused by employee turnover has found that employee departures are one of the common reasons organizations lose valuable knowledge. A review of 91 empirical studies also found that tacit knowledge is particularly difficult to transfer because it is based on experience and is often not formally documented.

So when someone leaves, the real question is not only, “Who will replace them?” It is also, “What did they know that nobody else knows?”