Demographic change is presenting companies with enormous challenges that can no longer be ignored. With the baby boomers approaching retirement and the birth rate falling, the workforce is shrinking considerably. While knowledge and experience are moving out of the company, fewer and fewer young skilled workers are coming in. A demographic strategy is therefore not a “nice-to-have”, but essential to ensure long-term growth and competitiveness.
This article shows why a demographic strategy is essential and how companies can use targeted measures – from knowledge management to flexible working models – to sustainably promote their employees and retain important skills within the company.
Demographic change will significantly alter the workforce in many companies. The baby boomer generation, which includes baby boomers born between 1955 and 1969, is now increasingly entering retirement.
In Bavaria alone, 1.5 million workers are expected to retire by 2035, which corresponds to around a third of the current workforce. At national level, around 13 million baby boomers are expected to reach retirement age by 2036 (according to the Federal Statistical Office).
Consequences of demographic change:
The loss of experienced employees often also means the loss of valuable knowledge. This includes both explicit knowledge, which is recorded in manuals and documentation, and implicit knowledge, which has been acquired through experience and relationships. In the absence of a sustainable knowledge strategy, this information is often lost, costing the company valuable resources.
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Objectives of a knowledge strategy in demographic change:
Companies that develop a clear strategy for knowledge management and securing skilled workers are focusing on sustainable growth and securing a clear competitive advantage.
While companies are increasingly being called upon to develop their own demographic strategy, the German government is creating a comprehensive framework for adapting to demographic change with its demographic policy.
This strategy, which has been politically supported since the 1990s, encompasses all areas that are crucial to Germany’s social and economic future.
The “Every age counts” project was launched in 2012 and further developed in subsequent years to provide cross-departmental and cross-level solutions to the challenges of an ageing population.
The national strategy focuses on four central objectives:
With these goals, the federal government is providing an important point of reference for companies and organizations that are developing their own demographic strategies. The national strategy emphasizes the importance of measures to ensure growth and cohesion and is based on a dynamic, future-oriented concept that can also be applied to corporate strategies.
But what specific building blocks need to be considered when looking at a demographic strategy for your own company? Although every company should set different priorities and emphases, the following seven key components are a suitable point of reference.
Well-structured knowledge management is at the heart of any successful demographic strategy. It ensures that employees’ specialist knowledge and experience is documented and passed on across departmental and generational boundaries.
Capturing knowledge is the first step towards securing know-how within the company. A clear system makes it possible to make information easily accessible for current and future employees. All important processes, projects and experience should be stored centrally so that they can be retrieved at any time.
Structured offboarding processes ensure that knowledge is not lost when an employee leaves the company. Meetings and knowledge transfer workshops can secure crucial information. This information should be passed on to successors as part of a systematic onboarding process to ensure a seamless transition.
Proactive HR planning helps companies to prepare for changes at an early stage. Strategic succession planning identifies key positions and ensures that potential successors are prepared. Regular talent analyses help to identify potential gaps and take action before a position becomes vacant. This ensures continuity within the company.
The targeted promotion of young talent for key positions is an investment in the future. Training programs, mentoring and development plans help to prepare potential successors for responsible tasks and ensure their further development within the company.
Older employees bring valuable knowledge and experience that enrich companies in the long term. Flexible employment models can motivate them to remain active in the company even after regular retirement.
Project-based assignments are an ideal option for older employees who want to apply their knowledge specifically to individual projects. They can act both as mentors for younger employees and as consultants on specific issues.
Part-time or consultancy models allow experienced experts to continue to contribute their specialist knowledge and support the company. These models offer an opportunity to adapt working hours to personal needs and secure expertise in the long term.
Digital solutions can play a key role in securing knowledge in the long term and making it efficiently accessible. Tools for the structured recording and automation of knowledge transfer are indispensable.
Digital knowledge platforms such as great2know offer the opportunity to capture knowledge digitally and make it accessible in a targeted manner. Documents, experience reports and process descriptions are stored in a structured manner and can be accessed at any time – a sustainable solution for long-term knowledge retention.
Artificial intelligence supports the automatic categorization of knowledge and makes it easier to find relevant information. Machine learning and semantic search functions simplify the use of large amounts of data and make knowledge quickly accessible.
Successful knowledge management requires a corporate culture that promotes the exchange of knowledge. Through targeted measures, you can create an atmosphere in your company in which knowledge is readily shared.
A regular exchange of knowledge should be established as a fixed element of the corporate culture. Employees should be encouraged not only to document their knowledge, but also to actively share it within the team. An open and transparent exchange not only promotes know-how, but also strengthens collaboration.
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Incentive systems, such as rewards for actively sharing knowledge, and digital tools help to stimulate knowledge sharing. Gamification approaches such as knowledge quizzes or competitions can also promote knowledge sharing in a playful way.
Age-diverse teams bring different perspectives and approaches to the table. An age-conscious strategy helps to ensure that the skills of all generations are effectively integrated and utilized.
In addition, age diversity creates valuable synergies and can promote innovation. Teams made up of different age groups benefit from the combination of different experiences and new approaches. Mentoring programs between young and old promote knowledge transfer and exchange.
Workshops to promote age diversity sensitize employees to different working styles and ways of communicating. In this way, team members learn to appreciate the value of diversity and work together efficiently.
In view of demographic change, employee retention is becoming increasingly important. Through targeted measures, you can ensure that employees identify with your company, stay for the long term and continue to develop within the company.
The prerequisite for this is that employees feel valued through clear career paths and individual development opportunities and have prospects within the company. Regular development meetings and targeted further training strengthen loyalty to the company and promote satisfaction.
Clear structures and prospects are essential to retain younger generations in particular. Employee motivation programs and targeted onboarding strategies can reduce early turnover.
In view of demographic change and the associated challenges, a well thought-out demographic strategy is not a luxury, but a necessity for sustainable growth and competitiveness. Companies that act proactively can systematically secure knowledge, react flexibly to new requirements and integrate the strengths of all generations in a meaningful way. A culture of knowledge sharing, targeted personnel planning and modern technologies to secure knowledge help companies to remain successful in the competition for talent in the long term.
With a well-thought-out demographic strategy, you lay the foundation for a future-proof organization in which knowledge and talent are sustainably promoted.
