Companies Leverage Their In-House Experts

With technology and business markets constantly shifting, organizations recognize that they must do a better job of developing in-house experts on IT and other scientific, technical, engineering and math (STEM) disciplines, according to a recent survey from APQC. The accompanying report, "How Smart Leaders Leverage Their Experts," reveals a growing concern over the lack of internal programs to leverage existing, advanced-level knowledge among staffers through mentoring and information-sharing programs. To address this, companies are seeking to capture the accumulated insights of senior team members who are approaching retirement, while giving younger employees more opportunities to develop as professionals on the job. "A large percentage of firms need to rethink, redesign or re-emphasize the techniques they are using to bridge the expertise gap," write Carla O'Dell and Lauren Trees, the report's authors. "In addition, technical leaders are still grappling with ways to address rapid change and build the knowledge and expertise needed for the future." APQC, which stands for the American Productivity and Quality Center, is a nonprofit organization specializing in benchmarking and best-practices research. More than 750 professionals took part in the research.