Towards A Lean Innovative Approach to Rethinking Employees Turnover. Surviving with Less-Knowledge, but not Knowledge-less: A Case Study

Abstract

Regardless of title, authority level, or position in the organization hierarchy, each employee in any firm has unique knowledge that no other employee may possess. What happens when the employees with critical knowledge leave? What are the impacts of losing knowledge because of turnover? How do software development organizations mitigate the risks associated with knowledge loss? High turnover rates are forming a significant problem in the IT industry. Turnover is considered one of the main sources of draining institutional knowledge; hence, this paper seeks to identify the root impacts of the employee departure from the Lean ideal. Over a 3-year real-life case study, the investigators explored and analyzed the implications of turnover in an industrial setting. The emphasis was to re-think the way organizations deal with turnover; The study suggests retaining organization knowledge, rather than retaining staff through utilizing the lean methods to operate with less knowledge, but not knowledge-less!