Are you facing the challenge of preparing your workforce to take the place of some of the most senior leaders in your organization?

If so, you're not alone.

Estimates say that up to 50% of today's senior leaders will be entering retirement within the next 5-10 years. These are the leaders that eat, sleep, and breathe your company motto, know your products inside and out, and can answer any question about your company like they've been there forever (and maybe some have...).

How will your organization prepare for this mass exodus of knowledge and skill?

They need a focused knowledge transfer program and tools to automate the employee development process.

Avilar has created a webpage at http://www.avilar.com/solutions/succession_retirement_planning.html which describes one approach to this problem. The reports shown offer a glimpse of how organizations can use Avilar's web-based competency management system, WebMentor Skills to identify the critical skills, identify the employees who have the highest advancement potential, and develop those employees' most critical skill gaps.

Future installments which focus on some of the most critical workforce planning challenges facing organizations today will include,

Focus On: Optimizing Your Training
Focus On: Preparing for the Unexpected (Disaster / Pandemic Planning)
Focus On: Identifying the Next Generation of Leaders
Focus On: Aligning Training with Corporate Goals

I'm afraid my competency-based learning needs assessment and development planning project is going to get the axe as part of a huge cost cutting measure. Any ideas on how I can save it?
 

Dear concerned:

No matter what the economic times, it makes sense to position your project in terms of value to the organization rather than cost. If you can articulate real, immediate benefits that exceed the cost of your program, you stand a good chance of keeping it alive. Here are some ideas:
 
1. Pay attention to your organization's revised priorities and think about adjusting yours. If you're refocusing product or service strategies, concentrate your competency project on the specific roles and skills that will be critical for success. For example, Avilar's recent white paper gives some ideas about how to maximize the effectiveness of your training budget.
 
2.  Find internal partners who may benefit from your initiative. If you haven't already partnered with the HR functions involved with hiring and placement, this is an ideal time. Your model could be used not only for strategic learning, but for selection and succession management.
 
3.  Finally, don't neglect your own self-development.  We're all doing more with less, and it takes some real skill to work smarter rather than harder. Take a look at ways to improve your own time or project management skills to find opportunities for efficiency. If your budget doesn't support attending a course, check out some of our suggested reading in the left-hand column.


Best wishes,
Chris

Have a question you'd like answered?
Email Chris or DM @CompetencyMgmt on Twitter.

Reading we Recommend

• Total Workday Control Using Microsoft Outlook by Michael Linenberger

• Nice Guys Can Get the Corner Office by Russ Edelman, Timothy Hiltabiddle and Charles Manz

• The Milkshake Moment: Overcoming Stupid Systems, Pointless Policies and Muddled Management to Realize Real Growth by Steven S. Little

Do you Tweet?
Are you LinkedIn?

Besides our Full Circle Solutions eNewsletter,
Avilar is also communicating about relevant talent management topics through the use of several online social networking sites including LinkedIn and Twitter.

These powerful social networking tools are allowing for a greater ease of communication and networking while allowing for fairly in-depth, detailed conversations about competency models, skills assessments, and even product technical support.

If you already have accounts with Twitter and/or LinkedIn, connect with Avilar using the links below. We look forward to sharing ideas!