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Transport CanadaKNOWLEDGE TRANSFER

PROJECTPresentation

CASS Conference April 2003

Purpose of PresentationThe purpose of this presentation is to inform you about the Knowledge Transfer Pilot Project and other activities that have been taking place in TC. This project has been launched by Regulatory Inspection Community to address the critical nature of knowledge transfer for this group.

My name is Gordon Chapman and I’m the Executive Director of the Regulatory /Inspection Secretariat, and my partner is Annette Dunlop, Manager of Learning Strategies and Policies, Transport Canada.

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OBJECTIVESOBJECTIVESBackground

Overview of TC Knowledge Transfer (KT) Project

Implementation of TC’s SME Succession and KT Planning

Next step – Knowledge sharing as a way of doing business

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BACKGROUNDBACKGROUND

Rationale - looming workforce crisis

The Raison The Raison d’etre d’etre for this project is the simple fact that, present company for this project is the simple fact that, present company excluded, the Regulatory Inspection Community is getting old. Weexcluded, the Regulatory Inspection Community is getting old. We have one have one of the highest average ages as a group in the public service. of the highest average ages as a group in the public service.

During the la During the la releve releve exercise, this community was declared to be atexercise, this community was declared to be at--risk. In risk. In the period from 1999 the period from 1999 –– 2008 40% and over will be eligible to retire in the first 2008 40% and over will be eligible to retire in the first 4 years, up to 69.2% by 20084 years, up to 69.2% by 2008

There were other factors too There were other factors too –– a higher than average departure rate (7.4% is a higher than average departure rate (7.4% is PS average) poor PS average) poor labour labour market availability and competition for skills. market availability and competition for skills. Feeder groups are also problematic as new workers have sometimesFeeder groups are also problematic as new workers have sometimes come come from industry and started second careers with government. Industfrom industry and started second careers with government. Industry has the ry has the same demographic issues that we do now, and same demographic issues that we do now, and theseethesee feeder groups are feeder groups are now drying up.now drying up.

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2001

Statistics are just statistics and really are limited for illustration purposes, so lets take a graphic look at what the coming demographic crisis really looks like in an organization and what the effects are. This is an actual organization, in 2001. We’ll assume that it was fully staffed at that time.

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2002

People start to retire in 2002, some are fairly senior people, so the loss is felt but not in an overwhelming way - the organization is still able to function fairly well.

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2004

In 2004, the impact is getting pretty severe. The outlook is bleak and senior management recognizes the need to make dramatic action to recover the situation,

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2006

But unfortunately…senior management retires in 2006.

The organization is in real trouble at this point, and we’re not even considering that if this organization isn’t an employer of choice, it has trouble attracting and keeping young recruits, and it may lose some existing staff to industry or other agencies. The PS has a turnover rate exclusive of retirements of 7.4% – but we’re just showing the impact of retirements here

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2010

Did I mention that this is based on an actual RI organization ?…And we really hope that it doesn’t look like this in 2010 as it will not be able to fulfill its mandate.

This is the situation that organizations can find themselves facing. The first step to recovery that Transport Canada is undertaking is a knowledge transfer program to replace subject matter experts. At this point I’ll turn over to Annette…

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Ontario Region•AO Commercial & Business (13%))•TI Marine Safety (38%)

Pacific Region•Senior Marine Surveyors (31%)

Atlantic Region•TI Marine Safety (26%)

Prairie & Northern Region•TI Aircraft Certification Commercial & Bus. (30%)

Quebec Region•Fewest overall eligible retirees

Inspecteur Rég Séc Security & Emergency Preparedness (15%)

NCR•Marine Safety TI Standards(19%)•Road - TI Vehicle Safety Enforcement (29%)•A0s (23%)•TIs (20%)

Potential “Hot Spots”

As of August 2002Retirement eleigibility within next 3 years (2002, 2003, 2004)

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IDENTIFIED 4 KEY STRATEGIES

Identify critical peopleMaximize retention of critical peopleFacilitate transfer of their critical knowledge Expose the right people to that critical knowledge

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Criteria Criteria for for Identifying Identifying CriticalCritical PeoplePeople

Who….do others go to in a crisis ?are the Subject Matter Experts?has long-term corporate memory?is doing a « one-of-a-kind » job?has a unique set of skills/knowledge?carries the ball on major projects?

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ApproachApproach

Structured individual interviews andworkshops Knowledge/Stakeholder MapTask-support systemKnowledge repositoryLexicon

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MMajorajor FindingsFindingsSuccession planning, mentoring, and structured-on-job training (SOJT)

Knowledge sharing as a “way of doing business”

Integration of piloted tools/approaches

Resourcing

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RRecommendationsecommendationsUrgentUrgent

Identify SMEs whose departure is imminent and evaluate impact, using piloted template developed in Phase 1

Provide resources and guidelines for 4double-banking of critical positions4coaching/mentoring training to identified SMEs4developing key SME KT documents

Ensure documentation of4the « why » of decisions4good practices4lessons learned

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RRecommendationsecommendationsMidMid--termterm

Develop and implement 4SME Succession Planning System4SME Knowledge Transfer Framework

Identify 4software most appropriate for KT tools piloted4current internal web-based data warehousing

initiatives with a view to integrating them with KT tools piloted and developing,at some future date, an electronic one-stop knowledge shop for SMEs

Develop baseline set of procedures, practices, and training for inspectors

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RRecommendationsecommendationsLongLong--termterm

Develop an integrated TC Knowledge Transfer Strategy, including a business case outlining resources required for implementation

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Proposed Proposed IIntegratedntegrated TC TC Knowledge Transfer & Knowledge Transfer &

Organizational Learning StrategyOrganizational Learning Strategy

Succession PlanningMentoring, SOJT

Knowledge Sharing as aWay of Doing Business

Integration KTTools & Data Warehousing

Leadership/HRManagement Practices

Continuous Learning

Knowledge RequirementsStrategy Components

Diversity

GeneralKnowledge

GovernmentKnowledge

TC andTransportation

Knowledge

SpecialistsKnowledge

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IMPLEMENTATIONIMPLEMENTATION

Conducted SME Succession and K T Planning pilot

Identified department-wide critical SMEs

Developed Toolkit

Developed Succession / KT Plans for all identified critical SMEs

Developed Tracking System

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Tool for Identification of SMEs with Critical Knowledge and Know-How whose Departure is Imminent

Group/Region: ________________ 1) Identify within your organization those individuals whose departure is imminent (within the next 36

months either due to retirement, promotions, etc.). Note: your HRMA and Regional Director HR can help you in this regard. Name________________ Position Title ______________ Position Number____________

2) Determine whether the individuals identified in no. 1 are Subject-Matter-Experts.

SME Selection Criteria and Rating Guide 1 – Not applicable/Does not meet criteria 5 – Partially meets criteria 9 – Fulfills criteria NAMES

The individual has highly specialized knowledge or skills that no one else or very few in the organization possess or holds a unique or “one-of-a-kind” position in the organization that may have been created for him/her 1 – Not applicable/Does not meet criteria 5 – Partially meets criteria 9 – Fulfills criteria

The individual’s decisions or actions are critical to the Safety and Security mandate and losing that expertise could represent a potential risk (e.g. public safety, liability) 1 – Not applicable/Does not meet criteria 5 – Partially meets criteria 9 – Fulfills criteria

The individual is considered a “go-to” person in critical situations by the organization 1 – Not applicable/Does not meet criteria 5 – Partially meets criteria 9 – Fulfills criteria

Clients and peers would identify this individual as extremely good at his/her job and as a Subject Matter Expert 1 – Not applicable/Does not meet criteria 5 – Partially meets criteria 9 – Fulfills criteria

It is critical that the knowledge and know how of this individual be passed on to his / her replacement before he/she leaves the organization. 1 – Not applicable/Does not meet criteria 5 – Partially meets criteria 9 – Fulfills criteria

TOTAL SCORE

Joe Smith [Insert score 1, 5, 9]

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3) Determine the degree of impact the departure of the SMEs identified in no. 2 would have on TC and your Group’s ability to carry out its safety/security mandate. The following impact rating guide has been developed as a guide. 1 – Not applicable/Does not meet criteria 5 – Partially meets criteria 9 – Fulfills criteria NAMES

The SME’s departure would have a direct impact on TC’s ability to carry out its safety / security mandate. 1 – Not applicable/Does not meet criteria 5 – Partially meets criteria 9 – Fulfills criteria

The SME’s departure would have a direct impact on the Region / Group’s ability to meet its Business Plan Objectives. 1 – Not applicable/Does not meet criteria 5 – Partially meets criteria 9 – Fulfills criteria

There are no qualified individuals (with the required knowledge and skills) readily available within TC to immediately take on the job. 1 – Not applicable/Does not meet criteria 5 – Partially meets criteria 9 – Fulfills criteria

There would be no qualified individuals (with the required knowledge and skills) readily available within the federal government or outside to immediately do the job. 1 – Not applicable/Does not meet criteria 5 – Partially meets criteria 9 – Fulfills criteria

The estimated time required to train the person to be qualified would be: 1 – One to three months 5 – Four to six months 9 – More than 6 months

TOTAL SCORE

Joe Smith [Insert score 1, 5, 9]

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AWC AWC Knowledge MapKnowledge Map

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AWC AWC Knowledge MapKnowledge Map

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NEXT STEPSNEXT STEPS

PROMOTE…

KNOWLEDGE SHARING AS A WAY OF DOING BUSINESS

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Who Who are are we talking we talking about?about?11,80%

31,60%56,67%

Less than 35 yrs old35-45 yrs oldMore than 45 yrs old

Now, knowledge sharing is important, but who’s going to share this knowledge?

We’ve spoken already of the aging of the workforce, and retirement eligibility and who’s leaving. What we also need to think about it who is staying and who might replace those who leave.

This chart shows an age distribution – the vast majority being over 45 and approaching retirement eligibility, with the next set of senior practitioners being only 31% and a shocking 11.8% under 35. – clearly showing that the supply of new folks doesn’t match the ones who will leave.

The key point to take from this chart is that it simply may not be do-able to to replace the people that we have, and their knowledge.

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Static ResourcesStatic Resources

EMPLOYEES KNOWLEDGE

We’ve also tended to think of our knowledge resources in static terms. We set knowledge and experience requirements for positions, and think when we have all the seats filled, we have the intellectual capital we need. If you could take a snapshot in time you might have something like this – employees in the seats, and the knowledge they bring with them.

Again, this represents a problem if we can’t replace all those folks on the org charts with people with the same level of knowledge and experience

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EMPLOYEESEMPLOYEES

Dynamic ResourcesDynamic Resources

KNOWLEDGEKNOWLEDGE

But, in reality, intellectual capital is not a static commodity. I’d like to make an analogy here – probably most of you suffered through an economics 101 course somewhere, and you’ve heard of the money multiplier – that being how one looney is actually several dollars in the economy. That phenomena happens I put my looney in the bank, the bank lends it to someone else who spends it, it goes back to the bank, it get’s lent out again and so on until each looney actually represents a number of dollars in the money supply.

Intellectual capital is much the same. If Annette has an idea, and I have an idea, and we share those two ideas, we double our intellectual capacity. In an organization, the intellectual capital is like an organic entity – depending not only on the employees in the seats and their static knowledge at any one time, but the interaction of the employees and their knowledge – it’s a balloon of knowledge, the size being a function of how well organizations allow knowledge interaction.

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The whole is greater than

the sum of the parts

Where intellectual capital becomes more exciting than money is that, given the right circumstances, it is self procreating – I’m sure you wish money was like that. Dr Nancy Dixon calls this the “AHA Factor” – that you put two pieces of knowledge together, you don’t just increase the intellectual capital through sharing - you create more knowledge.

A few years ago, someone noticed that the leading cause of transportation casualties and deaths in Canada was trespassing on rail lines. Someone else mentioned that they’d recently seen a music video with a band playing while walking down the railway tracks – AHA – maybe a public awareness program could reduce trespassing accidents. Now we have a very successful program directed at reducing these accidents.

So – this really is wonderful magic – people, their knowledge, an environment conducive to knowledge sharing and creativity will generate a big balloon of intellectual capital. Now the bad news.

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KnowledgeCollapse

If you start pulling elements out of the intellectual capital equation – it has the same multiplier effect on the way down as it did on the way up.

Assuming a worst case scenario – where we have massive retirements, not enough replacements, and haven’t implemented a strategy that enhances knowledge sharing – we run the risk of deflating the balloon – in essence having a knowledge collapse.

We have to consider what this means to regulatory organizations – there is a duty of care for these organizations with responsibilities for the health and safety of Canadians – and a legally mandated responsibilty. We simply cannot afford knowledge collapse.

We’d like to say that common sense will prevail and a generalized knowledge collapse won’t happen. But, the risk already exists and this can happen in pockets of organizations with disastrous impact.I’d point to Walkerton as an example, it can happen here.

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What What do do we need we need to do?to do?Implement MGMT framework to work with multi-generational environment,diversity and focus on retention

Provide an environment conducive to « knowledge sharing as a way of doing business » and to transferring knowledge on a grand scale

Acquire and keep younger workers

So really – here’s what it boils down to if we wish to have knowledge sharing as a way of doing business:We first have to try to shore up the number of younger workers, and keep them. We need more than 11 percent of our workforce under 35 years oldWe need to go beyond the knowledge transfer program for subject matter experts, and start a more broad based strategy.And – we need a working environment that promotes retention and diversity and makes people want to join us. Finally, it’s management’s job to put together a framework to make this work