I am not ready to retire — someday but not right now. However, two members of my team will be retiring in the next couple of years. Aside from the obvious issues — helping them to prepare, looking at the potential vacancies in the team, etc. — this change has started to raise larger questions for me. At this point in my career as a manager, I am more familiar with processes involving transferred employees or new hires. Retirement will be a first.

The labor market in recent years has been in flux. According to NC State University, for instance, “COVID had three impacts on our work lives. COVID caused a restructuring of where people work, affected how much workers are paid, and accelerated the development of machines and technology that could replace humans in the workplace.” But more broadly speaking, there continue to be larger issues affecting the market, such as labor shortages or globalization and trade while individualized worker needs, including lack of access to childcare or a flexible work schedule, continue to affect particularized industries. What this essentially means for more organizations is that while retirement is a normal stage for most workers, it is an increasingly complicated subject for both workers and agencies and has real outcomes.
It’s important to be prepared for employee turnover in order to ensure a stable workforce — particularly as the workforce continues to age. In light of this concern, it’s pretty common to find a fair amount of information about employee retention, such as how to attract talented younger workers. But perhaps more importantly, the continuation of operations or more specifically how to retain institutional knowledge should be a priority as well.
Institutional knowledge can be a fairly broad concept that likewise captures specific elements, including but not limited to workplace culture, company values, policies and procedures — concepts that are especially difficult to qualify and/or quantify. A decline in staff retention reduces institutional knowledge and can lead to decreased efficiency and productivity as well as fewer growth opportunities. After all, it takes time to train new staff.
In the library field, libraries and staff are always being told that the profession is rapidly becoming obsolete. While that argument is fallible, what is salient about this point is that library employees must not only be accountable to their communities, but demonstrate in concrete ways how they continue to serve. As such, losing institutional knowledge is a problem for us because it can produce significant impacts: diminished service quality; reduced community connections; and higher chances of low morale and/or burnout. While these issues are critical in and of themselves, the impacts are felt immediately by the most vulnerable populations — who often rely on library services.
Where to begin? Intergenerational issues in the workplace, particularly related to retirement, continue to arise as older workers delay retirement, potentially impacting younger workers’ career advancement and creating tensions. But addressing these concerns through constructive team building may reinforce not only a shared ideology but instill the very information you want the younger generation retain.
I have started grappling with this issue by looking at and closing mentoring gaps, an area that offers important promise. For example, as Harvard Business Review notes, “A new employee may be able to perform the essential duties of the person they are replacing, but without personal mentoring, they have no way to replicate their predecessor’s relationships, ideas, or approaches to work.”
There is more work for me to do, but by starting now I have given myself time to plan — not only for my team but also to help my agency thrive through challenging times. As a repository of knowledge management, it would seem natural for libraries to value their organizational legacy, and by actively practicing, reevaluating and shaping their work, they are taking active steps to meet community needs and ensure continuation of service.
Erin Farquhar is a Branch Manager for DC Public Libraries in Washington, D.C. Erin holds a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in English Literature and Folklore, as well as a MLIS. She has worked in quite a few of DC’s wards, and enjoys working with the varied communities and rich cultural heritage she serves.
Erin has stated, “Now, as a manager within this infrastructure I look to further develop the practices of strategic thinking and plan implementation. As libraries continue to develop their social role in order to build strong vibrant communities, I would like to mirror this direction in order to help shape the ideas and perspectives that are central to an innovative society. Any metamorphosis can be a slow process, but a caring workforce reflects the commitment of all its employees.
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