"Leaking Knowledge" and What to Do About It

A "void" in corporate knowledge can be created in a number of ways such as employee departures (resignation, termination, retirement, and, unfortunately, death).  There has been much said of late about the effect of the aging workforce and the implications that this will (or might) have on business (views have been mixed on the significance of this on business) and what steps companies should be taking in the face of the demographic reality.

There are a number of issues presented by the aging workforce including recruitment, retention, and continuity.  By continuity I mean preserving the knowledge and history possessed by the "older" worker (or any worker, frankly). 

A post by Rob Hyndman entitled On Leaking Knowledge (linking to Lessening the Knowledge Leak) again got me thinking about the aging workforce and what business can (or should) be doing to minimize risks of a knowledge "void" created through departures of the older members of the company where (a) the knowledge is not preserved, in some fashion, in the organization and (b) a succession plan is not in place.  I would think that preserving the corporate "history"  and experience through "knowledge management" and otherwise, is an important corporate initiative (though not necessarily a legal one).