Research Studies

Only 16 Percent of Organizations Have Prioritized Workforce Demographic Issues in Company Education Initiatives

No author cited
IBM and the American Society for Training & Development, October 2006

Available online

A study by IBM and the American Society for Training & Development (ASTD) reveals that while global organizations recognize the looming workforce demographic shift, far too few have taken action to meet the challenges, either by addressing the retirement of baby boomers, or streamlining the learning curve for new employees. Learning leaders and their teams are uniquely positioned to lead the way in bridging the gap between awareness and action, yet only 16 percent of organizations have made changing workforce demographic considerations a priority in their learning strategies.

The study surveyed more than 240 global learning executives on issues including the impact of changing workforce demographics on their organizations, approaches to knowledge transfer, perceptions of learning preferences among workers of different generations, and barriers to learning. The study builds upon IBM's leadership in insights and solutions to help organizations navigate the challenges and opportunities of the multi-generational workforce, and IBM and ASTD's joint research into the role of learning in organizational success.

Public, private and not-for-profit (including government) organizations across eight industry sectors in North America, South America, Asia-Pacific, and EMEA (Europe, the Middle East, and Africa) responded to the study, which was carried out online in June-July, 2006. Over 70 percent of respondents were learning executives or professionals, with the balance including HR executives, and senior management outside of the learning function.

Among the study's specific findings:

• Over 80 percent of learning executives believe that changing workforce demographics will have a notable influence on their organizations, yet only 46 percent of learning executives report their organizations are doing either a "good" or "excellent" job in addressing demographic shifts.
• Learning executives are keenly aware of the need to preserve and transfer critical knowledge before employees retire or leave an organization for other reasons. Yet, while organizations are making strides in areas such as mentoring and knowledge repositories, less than one-third incorporate knowledge transfer into traditional learning programs. Recruiting mature workers to deliver classroom content, fostering communities of practice, and capturing and embedding knowledge into existing learning programs are among the practices organizations are under- utilizing. Virtually no companies, only about 2 percent, are using multimedia, such as audio/video interviews, to capture knowledge and insights from retiring employees.
• Over one-third of organizations believe that mature workers participate in learning activities less than younger workers, and that older workers encounter more barriers in participating in learning activities.
• Learning leaders are concerned about streamlining the learning curve for new employees, not only as they replace older workers, but in organizations with rapid growth, especially in emerging economies such as China and India. Rapid "on-boarding" is taking on new priority as demographic shifts gather steam.