In industry sectors where knowledge and know-how is not a highly valued commodity the departure of an employee to a new job in another organization or to retirement is an unremarkable event. But as the pace of competition
accelerates, as markets internationalize, as the product-to-market time line compresses, and as organizations adopt information-intensive operations and processes, know-how or tacit knowledge assume higher and higher value.
When provisions are lacking for the capture of know-how, individual employees become extremely valuable and organizations become vulnerable. Some individuals become adept at using personal expertise and tacit knowledge
related to research directions, social and expert networks, and how to attract funding, for example, to negotiate better, higher paying jobs in a succession of different organizations sometimes take extraordinary measures to retain knowledgeable employees. While the appearance of in-house day care facilities, gyms with
fitness classes, and corporate concierges are all designed to make an organization attractive to new hires, such perks also serve to retain valuable employees who may be highly sought after by competitor companies. At best,
expenditures of enormous resource help retain such employees and the tacit knowledge they possess. At worst, these individuals leave, taking everything with them, perhaps to a competitor in cases where the departure is acrimonious