The coronavirus crisis had a noticeable domino effect in several areas related to lifestyle, wellbeing, public health, economics, and more. A large-scale change the world witnessed that perhaps was not as anticipated as the others was the Great Resignation. Of course, this is in reference to the substantial number of workers who decided to leave their jobs over the past few years.
Many factors have led to the boost in employee departures. As top reasons, a variety of people attribute a reevaluation of their priorities regarding salary, working conditions, and what they want to accomplish in life.
Whatever the reasons may be, according to the latest JOLTS report, the Great Resignation gained steam again in November 2021, as a record number of 4.53 million Americans quit their jobs. In December 2021, another 4.3 million workers left their jobs, equating to roughly 3% of the total workforce.
As a first step, businesses must do everything in their power to retain talent at their company. However, people leaving jobs behind is inevitable, and the numbers speak for themselves. Organizations small and large will need to focus on retaining knowledge if they cannot retain workers.
Using Artificial Intelligence to Retain Knowledge
People aren’t the only ones walking out the doors of companies when they decide to leave. Along with them, trails years of valuable knowledge and details surrounding their role or roles within the organization. Whether it is a key account executive with information on a specific customer or somebody on the production lines in a factory – their knowledge needs to be retained so the specific department can still operate effectively when they’re gone. Leaders within a company may not realize what information they are missing out on until their employee is months removed from the workplace.
Deploying innovative technology that holds data accountable can ensure knowledge stays at the company and replacements or other colleagues aren’t forced to pick up the pieces. Without proper digital tools, like an insight engine, enterprises risk going into scramble mode. With proper digital tools that connect data and information, enterprises can continue right where they left off. Workers can easily interpret knowledge at their fingertips with a simple search, gaining access to documents and information their former co-workers left behind.
Connecting datasets across your enterprise creates a knowledge repository for employees to access, whether pertinent details on a customer contract, company history, or procedures on a specific process. Artificial intelligence keeps it right where you need it, allowing for seamless knowledge transfer that doesn’t require picking someone’s brain or jotting down a handful of notes before their final day quickly approaches.
Maintaining business momentum during trying times is not only crucial for your workforce but directly impacts customers as well. The flow of business and operations can become bumpy when internal processes and personnel switches occur. Because the Great Resignation is on pace to continue, making knowledge preservation a priority is an intelligent business decision for leaders to make. Even without the alarming resignation rates, knowledge preservation is vital within a company. Artificial intelligence-powered insight engines ensure an employee retention problem doesn’t lead to a customer retention problem – all by keeping knowledge in the hands of your company.
Important Questions to Consider
If this employee decided to leave, are there certain tasks that could not get done? How long would it take for a replacement to possess the level of knowledge previously held in this role? Would any of the above answers negatively impact my business? If so, developing a plan to maintain the full scope of institutional knowledge is in your best interest.
While this may require some effort and extra meetings, it will be well worth it in the long run for your business and the satisfaction of your employees and customers.
The best part is that technology today can handle so much of this work when appropriately deployed. On top of retaining knowledge, insight engines use traditional search methods and sophisticated data analysis methods to interpret business data and provide answers to critical business questions – resulting in high-quality insights for high-quality decision-making. After all, you are not just retaining knowledge; you’re optimizing it and allowing the solution to work for you.
