The industrialized world is growing older. We've long been warned of the burdens of an older population on pension systems, but the message that companies will be losing so many years of experience with each retiree receives less fanfare. By 2025, nearly 21% of the industrialized world will be over the age of 65. In some countries, such as Germany and Japan, the number of people over 65 will climb to about half of the adult population by 2030.

So what can HR professionals do to ease the pain of losing 40 plus years of experience with each retiree? Several strategies can be employed:

1. Get it before it walks out the door. Promote better knowledge sharing while employees are with the company to disperse expertise and ensure that explicit and tacit knowledge assets can be drawn upon and used later. Consider creative ways to retain knowledge, such as setting up learning communities or videotaping aging experts. Partner with your succession planning experts to ensure that knowledge transfer is part of the process. Incoming and outgoing executives should be given the time and space necessary to allow for effective knowledge exchange.
2. Expose the crisis. Gain visibility and senior leadership support by uncovering the areas where you anticipate the largest knowledge drains. This will ensure that you have the support you need to promote knowledge sharing in your company.
3. Bring them back. Many organizations are involving retirees as advisors by offering short-term assignments. This is good for everyone: you can create mentoring opportunities for your more junior employees while you promote knowledge transfer and help retirees feel valuable and productive.