Tribal knowledge is the collection of processes, workarounds, and institutional understanding that exists in employees' heads but nowhere in writing. It is the reason a senior employee's departure creates operational disruption that no onboarding document could have predicted. Capturing tribal knowledge before it leaves requires a tool that makes documentation as fast as doing the work itself. iorad does this: employees record their workflows once and the tutorial is built automatically, without writing a single document. This article explains what tribal knowledge costs when it walks out the door and how organizations can systematically capture it before turnover creates a gap.
According to a recent study, approximately 25% of the United States will be 60 years or older by the year 2025. Resulting in nearly a quarter of our experienced workforce exiting. Companies are beginning to plan for what needs to be done to prepare the next generations, NOW.
Capturing Tribal knowledge is a challenge for many companies. Employees are nervous to divulge information that makes them less of an asset. Do you remember being trained in a job and hearing re-iterated… “job security, job security.” It’s a real fear for older employees, they are concerned they’ll lose their jobs before they are ready to leave the workforce. These employees aren’t just concerned about giving information out but they aren’t interested in teaching other employees either. If they do, they may not teach all the tips & tricks that they’ve learned over the years that keeps them at MVP status.
The age-old question, how do we maintain a successful business as the tribal knowledge continues to leave the organization? There isn’t a formula to this for sure but there are a few things to keep in mind.
- Make those employees feel valued. Re-assure them of their worth & job security.
- They like to be the fixers. Let them know that even with capturing what they know, nothing is more valuable than their experience.
- They may not follow proper procedures. As tribal knowledge is captured, not all will be good or should be reproduced.
As a company, you can try to capture as much tribal knowledge as possible but those employees hold the most value and always will. Companies need to do the best to capture what they can to minimize the negative impact of the older generation leaving the workforce.
How to Get Started
- Determine the gatekeepers of knowledge
Knowing where to start can be quite an overwhelming decision. It may vary from organization to organization but generally, it’s best to start with the employees with the most knowledge. Those who tend to be closest to retirement. These employees may be more willing to help since they are already preparing to exit the workforce.
2. Define Content Parameters to Capture
Knowing what content path and staying on target is essential for making an impact in training. Try to pick one department or one process rather than sporadic pieces of a process.
3. Digitize Training
Digital training content is more accessible & easier to replicate in masses. Many times creating digital training is also more efficient.
4. Distribute
Lastly, it’s time to distribute. If the training is digital then this is most likely very easy. Push out the training using all the applicable channels.
How to start a tribal knowledge capture program
The fastest way to start capturing tribal knowledge is to identify the five employees in your organization whose departure would be most disruptive, then ask each of them to record their three most critical workflows in iorad during their next available hour. This produces 15 tutorials in a single afternoon with no project management overhead. From there, expand systematically: one department at a time, starting with the functions that have the highest turnover risk or the lowest documentation coverage. The goal is not to capture everything at once but to ensure that the most irreplaceable knowledge is documented before the next departure forces the issue.