Ordering Information:
ORDER NUMBER:  91220
DATE AVAILABLE: Summer 2008

Printed Report		PDF
Subscribers	Order Report
Non-Subscriber	AWWA Bookstore (Oct. 2008)	N/A
	IWA Publishing (Jan. 2009)	N/A

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATORS:
Linda Blankenship, Terry Brueck, Melanie Rettie, Denise O’Berry, and Jim Lee

OBJECTIVES:
The objectives of this project were to (1) define a methodology for how utilities can implement knowledge retention based on an understanding of the key drivers, critical success factors, barriers, costs, and benefits; and (2) develop specific strategies, tools, and techniques that can be used immediately by utilities.

BACKGROUND:
Knowledge retention is a significant issue for water utilities, as employees are retiring or leaving to seek other opportunities. This phenomenon is not unique to water utilities, so there is an opportunity to adapt approaches that have proven successful in other industries. Utilities that successfully deal with knowledge retention will be much better equipped to deal with the challenges ahead—increasingly stringent regulations, higher customer expectations, aging infrastructure needs, technology pressures, economic constraints, and more.

HIGHLIGHTS:
Utilities must first identify the mission, including critical knowledge that should be used and the organizational resources required to retain the knowledge. Once determined, proven tools and approaches for knowledge retention piloted in the project included

1. developing formal processes to capture and document organizational policies, business processes, standard operating procedures, and system knowledge in a repository that is updated and easily accessed and searched;
2. using retirees to document knowledge and train and mentor employees;
3. implementing formal mentoring programs to transfer cultural and other deep tacit knowledge; and
4. developing organizational learning and training programs to identify and transfer utility best practices using a variety of training approaches.

APPROACH:
Secondary research was reviewed to identify knowledge management best practices and key trends especially relevant to drinking water utility experience. An online survey provided initial data on drivers, barriers, costs, and benefits for drinking water utilities, supplemented with stakeholder interviews.

An experiential workshop provided additional input into drivers, barriers, and benefits of knowledge retention, and identified knowledge retention strategies and tools to be validated. An interim report was prepared to expedite the transfer of findings.

Incorporating Retirees, Mentoring, Document Repository, Organizational Learning and Training (OLT), and Social Network Analysis (SNA) were selected for piloting and using desktop and field approaches. A second workshop was conducted to gather the pilot results from using these tools and further refine the strategy and business case.

RESULTS/FINDINGS:

A proven strategy of knowledge retention addresses the following questions:

• Who has the knowledge?
• What knowledge is being lost?
• What are the business consequences of losing each item of knowledge?
• What can be done about the lost knowledge?

Utilities should use pilot programs to test approaches. They should identify the business case to justify the use of organizational resources. Specific approaches for knowledge retention that were validated included the following:

• Document repositories to capture the best codified knowledge such as standard operating procedures, policies, and system information. Best practices for verifying, updating, and accessing such information were identified.
• Using retirees to document knowledge, mentor, and train. Careful planning must be used to ensure knowledge transfer—otherwise, it is a stopgap measure.
• Mentoring programs to transfer tacit (unwritten) knowledge such as culture, which otherwise can be extremely difficult to transfer. To help avoid “heir apparent” issues of succession, mentors should be outside of the mentee’s chain of command.
• OLT to transfer organization best practices. OLT recognizes that knowledge creation, capture, retention, and sharing are most effective for an entire organization.
• SNA to analyze the exchange of knowledge between individuals on an informal and formal basis.

IMPACT:
Utilities now have specific guidance on how to successfully retain critical knowledge in their organizations. This guidance includes (1) how to develop a strategy for knowledge retention; (2) how to begin the process by developing a pilot program; (3) elements of the business case for knowledge retention, (4) suggested measures to monitor success; and (5) how to implement five specific but very different tools and approaches including Incorporating Retirees, Mentoring, Document Repository, OLT, and SNA.

MULTIMEDIA:
The report appendices are included on a CD-ROM.

PARTICIPANTS:
Twenty-five utilities from the United States and Canada participated in this project.

ISBN 978-1-60573-022-6