Knowledge transfer in the case of people moving up or out

Somebody mailed me asking how we could ensure that appropriate knowledge transfer takes place during succession planning.

That set me thinking (not often, but once in a while I do that ;-)) !)

People do not transfer knowledge, specially the 'tacit' high value variety, unless they have a sense of ownership of that process. To help that succession planning needs to be transparent and collaborative. The current employee and the person who is replacing him/her need to work as a team to develop a bonding.

Culture of the organization needs to be sufficiently collegial to allow time and space to nurture this relationship.