Conversations about knowledge continuity often relate to succession planning and the retirement of key older leaders. While these considerations are obviously important, they can mask the fact that, these days, business critical expertise and knowledge often reside lower down in the organisation and with younger employees. And when these younger people leave, they can threaten the life of the business itself. New thinking and strategies are required to ensure that businesses find out who knows what, understand how they know, create processes for transferring what they know, develop communities rather than stars and secure their future success by enabling business continuity.
For the past few decades this function has largely been delegated to ‘Knowledge Management’ (KM), who in turn thought of it primarily as a technology solution. The amount of raw information that has been captured but not properly utilised or transferred into companies is frightening (and, very often, overwhelming and confusing, and therefore fairly useless). It is time to move beyond KM to ‘Wisdom Management’. Wisdom is knowledge that is not time-bound or linked to specific experiences. Rather, it is transferable and has the ability to be used, adapted and applied wherever it is needed.
The problem is that wisdom can’t be bought. It takes time. Or does it?
We live in a world of constant change. In particular, the last decade has seen a dramatic increase in staff turnover and voluntary employee churn. This has been driven mainly by a younger generation who tend to move every three years on average – and move not just within industries, but to entirely different careers, on a regular basis.
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GraemeCodrington – Yes, it will cost more
KeithCoats – Whatever: Leading the Next Generation – Six essential things leaders need to know about leading TalentLeadership in today’s world is not easy. I suspect it has never ‘been easy’ but with the contemporary levels of complexity, connectedness and ubiquitous change these are indeed unique times in which to live and lead. The twin challenges that leaders face, that of leading diversity and understanding the inherent paradoxes, demands from leaders new mindsets that lead to new behaviours. All of this converges, like the Leader's personal perfect storm, when it comes to leading Talent or those we refer to as the 'Bright Young Things'. This article explores six keys to understanding and leading Talent. It may even shed some light on those 'Bright Young Things' who inhabit your household!
AidenCholes
JohnMaxwell
The first Baby Boomers will turn sixty this year and they will do what no other generation has done before them: Re-tyre.
It is becoming increasingly difficult to differentiate between competitors in almost every industry in the world. New innovations are quickly copied and improvements in quality, service and price are easily matched. In this globalised world, you can no longer differentiate yourself simply on the basis of your product or service. What you do is becoming increasingly less and less important, and who you are is growing in significance.
Dr Graeme Codrington continues from 
Raymond de Villiers, director of Talent at TomorrowToday.biz, asks corporate leaders to define talent. Its not good enough to answer: “I’ll know it when I see it”. Raymond then provides a framework for understanding who is talented, how to identify them, and what will engage them most effectively. This is one of the most important articles you will ever read on the issue of Talent.
John Maxwell, co-founder and administrator of the Nkomazi Community Trust, examines Broad-based Black Economic Empowerment (BBBEE) and points out some flaws within the current implementation. Telling the story of a BEE deal gone wrong John shows that BBBEE is much more than merely black ownership and control. He then discusses two difficulties: attracting black investors and finding the right ones.
Aloysias Maimane, TomorrowToday’s resident expert on young talent, especially young black South African talent, questions whether companies truly understand what these young people see as perks and what they just expect to receive by default. Knowing the difference is a key component to talent retention.
Aiden Choles, an expert in the use of narrative techniques in the corporate world, argues that the rise of the corporate autobiography as bestseller is proof that we need stories, rather than benchmarks, and human connection rather than policy and procedure manuals. In his usual insightful way, Aiden highlights the leadership implications faced by corporates today.
Lynda Smith, trained Retirement Coach and Wisdom Continuity expert, shares some insights into the options facing those who will reach retirement age in the next 10 years. Its fairly clear that this generation of retirees are not going to give up work completely and disappear to the coast or golf courses. But what options do they have?
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