Across the globe, there is a tsunami of Baby Boomer retirements. This is good news for them and for the younger colleagues who will take their place. But what does this mean in terms of losing business-critical, experience-based knowledge — what we call deep smarts? One organization reported that the next anticipated wave of almost 700 retirements would mean the loss of over 27,000 years of experience. If that know-how and those skills (or better ones) can be hired on the open market — no problem. Or if the succession planning has been meticulous and a highly qualified successor can step right into the vacancy — terrific.
