Departure of Key Employees
A situation where an organization loses the holder of critical know-how.
What it means
A departure can be planned (retirement) or sudden (resignation, illness). Either way, knowledge that was never recorded disappears with it.
Why it matters
The impact shows up with a delay: slower decisions, more mistakes, longer downtime, and greater dependence on outside vendors.
A real-world example
After two experienced technicians leave, the average fault diagnosis time doubles.
A worker whose knowledge or decision-making is irreplaceable for operations.
An organization's ability to keep its key people — and with them, their knowledge.
An organization's readiness to replace key people without losing their know-how.
An organization's ability to keep functioning without losing know-how as people change.
The part of an organization's knowledge whose loss would directly threaten safety, quality, or continuity.