Navigating the Retirement Cliff: Challenges and Strategies for Knowledge Capture and Succession Planning

As organizations prepare for workforce retirements, knowledge management should be a key element of any effective succession planning strategy, ensuring a culture of ongoing learning and stability. This piece explores the challenges organizations face in capturing and transferring critical knowledge, alongside practical knowledge management strategies to address them and build more sustainable knowledge-sharing practices. The Retirement Cliff and Its Implications The “retirement cliff” refers to the impending wave of retirements as a significant portion of the workforce—particularly Baby Boomers—reaches retirement age. According to labor market trends, millions of experienced professionals are set to retire in the coming years, posing a critical challenge for organizations. The departure of seasoned employees risks the loss of institutional knowledge, technical expertise, and key relationships, leading to operational disruptions and costly efforts to regain lost expertise.