Capturing valuable employee knowledge is not something many of us think about until it’s too late.
It’s only when an employee unexpectedly leaves that we realize the wealth of knowledge that person had in their head is now gone, never to be available to you again.
But what if you were prepared? What if you knew that 10% of your workforce was leaving, and that you had the time, and ability, to retain that specific knowledge? Wouldn’t you begin that plan of action right away?
Well, that day is coming sooner for us than we realize. Known as the silver tsunami, baby boomers will soon be leaving their jobs, and potentially taking with them a lot of knowledge. It might be easy to dismiss the threat of retiring employees but the US Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that as many as one out of ten workers will retire either this year or next.
To effectively manage this mass exodus, organizations must find a way to capture and share the knowledge of their aging workforce. Video is one of the most powerful tools to help manage and share valuable employee knowledge. Here’s why:
It’s the preferred medium
While we typically attribute video usage to younger generations, video is actually extraordinarily familiar for Baby Boomers. Approximately 27% of this demographic regularly watch and share video on Facebook. As a result, Boomers and other senior employees are the ideal candidates for participating in the creation of video presentations. Their wealth of acquired skills and expertise of senior workers lends itself perfectly to creating brief video tutorials to share with other employees.
It’s easy to use
One of the biggest reasons organizations don’t invest in knowledge share comes down to the fact that most of us simply do not have the time and bandwidth to produce new content. The good news is that today’s enterprise video solutions are easy to use, and require significantly less time to create informative videos explaining specific skills or knowledge.
It enables micro-learning
While it’s often said that millennials don’t have the patience for traditional learning methods, the fact is that outdated training sessions never effectively engaged any employees. Micro-learning, where content is delivered in short nuggets, vastly improves learning and retention. Video makes it easy to incorporate elements of micro-learning. Seasoned internal experts can create informative videos in just under five minutes in length–or in some cases even shorter. Delivering bite-sized training rather than forcing employees into an eight hour session just makes sense. Also, continuous and frequent micro-learning also helps workers grow their knowledge and expertise slowly and gradually, without taking them away from important daily tasks.
It’s cost effective
Perhaps the best reason to invest in a video knowledge share and training strategy relates to the reduction in costs. By involving elements of micro-learning, courses can be created in video knowledge share and training strategy than traditional eLearning courses. There’s no need to pay for an instructor, or rent a physical classroom. It is also much easier and cheaper to update digital information than reprint training manuals. And, because critical employee knowledge can be accessible in a centralized video portal, employees aren’t wasting their time searching for information.
The key to effectively managing the effects of the silver tsunami isn’t that complicated. It really comes down to retaining the knowledge of current employees, while ensuring your future workforce has the tools and resources to locate educational and relevant content.
Ensuring valuable employee knowledge is retained is a smart strategy no matter what age your employees are. No organization is immune to turnover, but with the right tools and resources, you can prevent it from having a negative impact on your business. Video training and content sharing is an effective way to capture knowledge and educate your employees. The sooner your organization adopts a knowledge sharing strategy, the happier your learners will be. And the happier your learners are, the stronger your business.