Knowledge Retention From Older and Retiring Workers: What Do We Know, and Where Do We Go From Here?

TLDR

The aging and shrinking of skilled workforces, coupled with the massive wave of baby‑boomer retirements, has made retaining knowledge from older workers an urgent organizational challenge, yet research on this topic is scarce and lacks an integrated framework. The authors conducted a systematic literature review to address these gaps. They reviewed existing studies by the four main antecedents—knowledge, individual, relationship, and contextual—examined the nature of the retention process, and identified relevant theories. The review yielded a conceptual framework that specifies key antecedents, clarifies how knowledge retention unfolds, summarizes theoretical foundations, and proposes research questions and practitioner implications.

Abstract

The aging and shrinking of skilled workforces already has been, and will continue to be, a major challenge for organizations, particularly in highly developed economies. In light of the massive wave of retirements of members of the baby boomer generation, the retention of valuable organizational knowledge from older and retiring workers has been identified as an urgent need. Surprisingly, research on this specific area of knowledge transfers in organizations is scarce, the nature and antecedents of the knowledge retention process are not yet well understood, and an integrated conceptual framework is missing. As a first step to address these limitations, we conducted a systematic literature review. We summarized the existing literature on knowledge retention according to the 4 main antecedents of knowledge transfers: knowledge, individual, relationship, and contextual characteristics. Furthermore, we examined the nature of the knowledge retention process and identified theories that can explain the proposed relationships. We developed a conceptual framework of knowledge retention that specifies the most relevant antecedents, clarifies how this process unfolds, and summarizes the theoretical foundations. Finally, we utilized the conceptual framework to propose research questions, to identify avenues for future research, and to derive implications for practitioners.