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Summit team spearheads knowledge-transfer solution

People are the most important resource at ITD. Yet every month, decades or centuries worth of institutional knowledge walk out the door, with no way to capture and pass that knowledge down to newer employees. This challenge affects sections and districts throughout the department. A recent Leadership Summit team tackled the issue.

"I referred to it as 'The Lotwick Problem,'" explained team member and Environmental Specialist Tracy Schwartz. Lotwick Reese recently retired, taking with him more than five decades of institutional knowledge, with no knowledge-transfer plan in place.

The team originally targeted specialized positions — like geotechnical engineers, hydraulic engineers, and similar critical functions — that put the department at risk of not fulfilling its mission without adequate transfer of knowledge.

"We quickly realized that it extended into all job areas, and whenever anyone walks out the door, they take with them institutional knowledge and information about day–to-day tasks that only they may know how to do," Schwartz added.

With the goal of establishing methods allowing ITD to retain and leverage institutional knowledge and develop employees, the team got to work. Between a "Silver Tsunami" of retirements and the "Millennial Monsoon" of younger workers who leave jobs more frequently on average than their predecessors, there is a 50-60% employee-turnover average across the country.

Their solution involves creating a knowledge management coordinator/owner in each section, and a strategy to engage and align key stakeholders in the organization, set clear directions and hold staff accountable. There would be one single source of knowledge capture, access and use. As the information and technology safeguarding arm of the organization, ETS would be the owner of the effort.

The strategy also involves standardizing work manuals, assessing talents and abilities to determine the best fit, double-filling key positions when possible as someone prepares to leave, and a combination of cross-training, delegating or on-the-job training to minimize the hoarding or silo-ing of knowledge.

While acknowledging that the task is monumental, Schwartz said the bottom line is that a need exists.

"Critical time and knowledge is being lost. If we don't solve the problem, ITD's mission is at risk."

Watch the Knowledge Transfer Team video.

Picture above, left to right: Facilitator Joel Drake, Mark Neil, Lori Hill (Targett), Jez Arroway, Santiago Palomera (arms raised), Reggie Phipps, Nicole Hansen (hidden behind Lori Fox at podium), Tracy Schwartz, Jeremy Gough, Kevin Hoskins, Matt Farrar, with champions Mollie McCarty and Larry Allen at end.