This has been an issue rolling around in my head for a while and anyone who knows me will probably have heard me going on about this.... and that's the value associated with encouraging "soon-to-be-retired" or retired engineering and technical personnel to participating in volunteering mentoring roles.
A massive deal was made of Australia's quite unique volunteer culture in 2000 during the Sydney Olympics and just recently we've again seen the amazing work that the rural fire & SES volunteer personnel carry out on an all too regular basis. And of course we should acknowledge the bloody awesome job that Engineers Without Borders (EWB) do. Despite our apparently love of the "sickie" Australia appears to have a high amount of people willing to work for free! Gasp!
During the gala dinner at ICOMS 2008 we sat in the MCG members area and were told that the empty stadium seats easily represented the number of engineering vacancies, which at that time were unfilled in Australia. And while the urgency of available skilled technical personnel has eased due to the events of the last 12 months the future still holds challenging times for organisations wishing to resource their projects. The prospect of an economic upturn (hopefully in the not too distant future) and the spectre of an ever aging population suggests that the need to manage the wealth of technical knowledge and retain our skill base continues to be a key priority for organisations.
There are a number of knowledge transfer interventions, structural changes, job design strategies and technological solutions that can be put in place to mitigate the effects of an aging brain drain. However it would seem fairly obvious to tap into our admirable volunteer culture and encourage more of our experienced engineering and technical personnel to remain within the field, mentoring our less experienced, and encouraging them to continue to lift the bar in term of our engineering capability and national competitiveness.
Now I'm sure this is happening within some organisations on an ad-hoc basis (and we would be very interested to hear from any that do)... but a nationally funded project around this area would likely yield some real advantages - not only to engineering asset organisations but to the community as a whole. Continuing to engage our older workers has a range of benefits both physical and mental on top of the knowledge base that they offer.
Easy to say, harder to do, as effective mentoring would require a level of capacity both at an individual and organisational level to produce the desired outcomes.
At an individual level very few are natural mentors and would probably need a level of training in mentoring techniques, listening and communication skills as well as advanced elements such as leadership and motivation skills. Another significant challenge lies with participating organisations and their ability to incorporate a volunteer mentoring workforce. In the first instance organisations would have to possess a willingness to participate and see real value in the exercise. In addition it is likely that the presence of a sucession or talent management plan would help identify individuals or teams likely to benefit from the interaction. Other issues concerning the extent to which the mentoring process is considered part of the organisation's formal training and development process are also likely to arise...I'm sure you can foresee a number of others relevant to your organisation!
The challenges acknowledged I still feel that an established program driven by a peak body such as Engineers Australia and federally funded would offer significant benefits to the field....keen to hear from others on this and to share their experiences in this area!
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