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You know George. He’s the guy you rely on when you have a problem. George has worked at your store for years and there’s very little he doesn’t know about art materials. Rumor has it he can advise customers on just about anything. The good news is you have a vital knowledge asset in George. The bad news is he’s leaving your store. And when George leaves, so does his knowledge.

Why didn’t you protect yourself from losing all that knowledge? Business moves too quickly for you to take the months, even years, necessary to rebuild lost knowledge. Time lost trying to replace key knowledge can cost a fortune. More importantly, financial losses resulting from not having the knowledge when you need it could cripple your company.

What can you do? Is it too late? Ideally, you should have worked on the transfer of knowledge long before George announced his new plans. In the real world, however, it’s not uncommon for companies to wait until the 11th hour to begin thinking about what to do. Thankfully, there are practical, low-tech, cost-effective ways to capture George’s tacit knowledge and make it available to other people who need it.

The key is a targeted decision-making/problem-solving focus. Don’t try to capture everything George knows or try to build a computerized version of his brain. Instead, focus only on the key processes, actions and behaviors that illustrate how George does what he does. You want to capture the steps of the process including how, what, when and where, then deliver this information back in the form of solutions, chunks, or knowledge nuggets that are immediately actionable.

People don’t have to leave for you to lose knowledge

Losing knowledge when an expert quits, retires or is hired away is worrisome enough, but so often companies lose knowledge inside the organization while people are still there. Experts get promoted, transferred or take other jobs within the company, and we lose track of what they know.

When people change jobs, we tend to associate them with the new role and make a terrible psychological mistake. We generalize and unconsciously assume they only know things related to that one job. It’s as though we forget about all the other experience they bring to the table.

How do we keep track of who knows what?

One of the smartest things you can do is implement a yellow-pages type of “find the expert” directory. Not only is this generally a low-cost investment in technology, people and time, it’s one that can offer a dramatic return on investment. The key in making the program work rests in the quality of the information provided. It should not focus on basic bio or resume-type data. Rather, it should focus on knowledge and applied expertise. It should be a directory of “who’s worked where, doing what, with what, and with whom.”

Find the Georges in your organization

In order to identify the people in your organization whose minds possess key knowledge, you should start with your business strategies, objectives and core competencies. What is it that your store absolutely must do to be successful? Try this simple exercise. Think about people in your organization who have key knowledge in their heads. You’ll want to focus on vital knowledge and abilities that aren’t easily available anywhere else or easily replaced if the expert becomes unavailable to you. It might be knowledge concerning:

• A relationship with a particular customer or art school.
• A key operational process, such as ordering inventory.
• Your POS or customer rewards system.
• Interviewing and scheduling employees.
• Displays and merchandising.
• Product lines or specific techniques.
• Scheduling classes, workshops, special events or sales.

Remember: You don’t need to capture and classify everything that everybody knows. Your objective is to recognize what knowledge is most important to the success of your organization, who has it and who would benefit from it most.

Think of five people who have key knowledge in your organization, and how their knowledge is used. Now imagine if these five people were no longer around. What would it be like on a day-to-day basis if you didn’t have access to their skills and knowledge?

In some situations it is obvious what kind of knowledge is important. In others, there may be a fair amount of pre-existing explicit knowledge that you can use to build the foundation of your employee knowledge base. Sometimes, the tool may be a manual or a quick-reference card. Other times, an interactive, computer-based training tool might be more appropriate. Video or live telecasts are also good delivery vehicles. Apprenticeships and mentoring might also be appropriate.

The point is, the simplicity or complexity of the process depends on a multitude of factors: the nature of the knowledge, where you are in the process, the willingness of the expert, and the caliber and skills of people supporting the exercise.

Maintain relationships after employees leave

George is looking forward to his new venture, but the door that closes behind him doesn’t have to seal itself. George will probably be interested in staying connected to what he has became an expert in. He might even be willing to work on an as-needed basis, so long as you’re careful to structure the relationship in a way that balances his new priorities and recognizes the value of his expertise.

Make a concerted effort to maintain relationships with former employees of all ages. This includes those who quit, got transferred or promoted, as well as those who retired. When people leave your store for another job, chances are they’ll be doing new things that increase their knowledge. They’ll certainly have more external exposure, meet more people, use different kinds of technology, and so on. The knowledge they acquire could prove useful to you at some time in the future.

Let George walk out the door, but capture his knowledge before he leaves. Then, maintain a positive relationship with him. When you need him, he’ll be more inclined to be there for you.

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Pam Holloway is a business psychologist and cofounder of AboutPeople, a training and consulting firm that helps companies maximize the people side of business. She is a program designer, author and teacher specializing in market psychology and organizational dynamics. Pam also delivers keynotes and workshops throughout the United States and Europe. For more information, contact pam@aboutpeople.com.