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Some experts estimate that 25% of the 12 million manufacturing employees now working in the U.S. are 55 years of age or older. Replacing these people when they retire is a big problem for manufacturers because they are the most experienced and skilled people working in a manufacturing plant-and the knowledge base they've built over decades will go with them when they retire.
In many industries, a good deal of the knowledge about products, processes and customers is not written down-it is in the workers' heads. I call this information "tribal knowledge," and it is not only more important than most corporations will admit, it is also a driving force behind innovation; is critical to the company's competitive advantage; and is the basis of the training a retiree's replacement.
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To ensure continuity, every manufacturing company needs to assess both the written knowledge and tribal knowledge. At the same time, they need to identify the "tribal knowledge gurus" in the company. The objective is to "download" the information from the gurus' brains, and document it, before it walks out the door with a retired guru.
Does Management Understand the Tribal Knowledge Problem?
In too many companies, management hasn't been around long enough to recognize the loss of tribal knowledge as a problem. Or, they have not worked closely enough with the valuable workers to recognize the value of the tribal knowledge. I have written about this problem several times and a reader once commented, as follows:
"I am an "older" worker with over 30 years' experience. I am surely the most experienced individual in the whole company as the other Pioneers of this industry have already retired. I'm the last one. You'd think Management would be picking my brain at every opportunity, but they don't. They don't even ask my opinion on things, and I continue to see them try things that were done 20 years ago-didn't work then and don't work now.
I think its ego, pride, and the fact that they are Managers-therefore they know better. Seems to...