By Guest Author Steve Trautman
"Who is going to do all this work?” That was a question I recently heard from an executive running a major engineering organization.
He has a familiar combination of challenges including 40% of his employees and 70% of his leaders ready to retire, competitors trying to poach his strongest mid-career talent plus problems attracting (and retaining!) the elusive GenY population.
Of course, he’s not alone. Executives running businesses in critical sectors like engineering, health care, government, manufacturing, research and development, aerospace and defense are all feeling the pressures of a changing workforce. Many believe there is no practical solution but that is not the case. Like any problem, this one needs to be broken down into manageable components and solved – starting with the most critical risks first.
The solution to this problem is pretty straightforward and I describe it in detail in my new book with David DeLong, called The Executive Guide to High-Impact Talent Management, published by McGraw-Hill (2011).
In recent years, “competency mode
ls” have been developed as a way to try to figure out whether a given group of people constitutes what we call a “ready workforce and leadership team.” The problem is that competencies are typically a vague collection of attributes that don’t really mean anything. If you can say that someone is a competent “communicator, problem solver and project manager” what does that really tell you about their ability to do the job?
The truth is that work gets done because employees have developed expertise; a collection of tangible, knowable skills that allow them to tackle actual tasks. There is no need to be vague about it. Every job can be viewed through this lens. Whether the work includes inventing biodegradable product packaging, securing funding for a defense program, designing a next generation video game or ensuring that a beverage produced in Tulsa tastes just like it’s counterpart produced in Morocco, it is a compilation of tasks that you know how to DO that makes you able to deliver the work.
Executives have to have a framework they can use to be certain that their workforce is, in fact, ready to deliver both now and in the next 3-5 years. It doesn’t matter how clever the strategy if the workforce isn’t in place to make it happen.
Step one in assessing the readiness of your workforce is to list out the areas of expertise that, collectively are required to deliver your products and/or services. We call these areas of expertise “Knowledge Silos.” Knowledge Silos are groups of 20-75 skills or tasks that represent the tools, processes, platforms, standards, products, customers and history that exist within an organization. You can figure out your silos fairly quickly by thinking about each of your employees individually. For example, when is Sarah the “go-to” person? What questions are always directed to her? For which topics is Mike considered the “guru?” What is Chris’ expert domain on the team?
Don’t make the mistake of thinking your work is too complex to make a list of knowledge silos. It isn’t. I’ve made lists of knowledge silos for some of the most complex jobs on the planet (see above) and in a wide variety of industries. Most people’s current job represents 2-8 silos. Extremely complex positions might include up to 15. And once you break those silos down into skills/tasks, you’ll typically find fewer than 120. That isn’t an insignificant number, but it is manageable. Once you know the list of silos for each person or each position, you have the beginnings of a solution to the talent management problem. In my first book, "Teach What You Know" I lay out how to transfer knowledge from the silo mentor to the silo apprentice. In my new book and in this post, we’ll stay a level up:
How can executives assess the risk of not having sufficient bench strength for each knowledge silo?
The solution is called the Knowledge Silo Matrix (KSM, see sample below)
The Knowledge Silo Matrix allows executives to:
- List out the Knowledge Silos (Top row on the matrix)
- Count the individuals who have that expertise and who are capable of doing the work associated with that silo (shaded green on the matrix)
- Note the individuals who would be appropriate to serve as “silo peer mentors” because they are not only capable of doing the work but their approach sets the standard for others. (shaded purple)
- Call out individuals who need to learn specific silos (shaded yellow)
- Highlight risks to the team getting the job done (shaded red)
Once the KSM is filled out for a team, management has a clear risk assessment that can be viewed in a blink and then tracked over time. Here are some of the clear risks called out in the example above:
- Silo 2 is at risk because in the near future, the team will need 6 skilled people and currently has only one
- Silo 9 is at risk because so many people are trying to learn from one mentor
- Silo 12 is at risk because neither of the people is appropriate to mentor
- Silo 13 is at risk because the only skilled person left recently
- Employee A is at risk because too much of the team’s success is dependent on him/her
- The team is at risk because about half of them are learning most skills
Who will do all this work? The answer comes from being able to clearly frame the work in simple language, confirm who knows how to do it and then comparing that to what is needed both now and in the future. With this framework in place, and the risks clarified, your talent management team can help you fill your matrix appropriately, spend your resources wisely, and increase your likelihood of success.
David DeLong: The Executive Guide to High-Impact Talent Management: Powerful Tools for Leveraging a Changing Workforce