Municipalities are dealing with a labor market that is constantly changing. New colleagues start, employees flow internally or leave the organization. This is part of the equation, but it also involves risks: loss of knowledge, delays in service and greater dependence on external hiring.
The 2023 Personnel Monitor by A&O fonds Gemeenten offers insight into these movements - and thus points to the sore spot. Because as a municipality, how do you ensure that the organization continues to run and that knowledge is retained, no matter who comes or goes? In this article, we dive into the numbers, outline the challenges and show how SelfGuide helps municipalities to keep a grip on knowledge and processes and thus ensures organizational continuity.
In 2023, the influx rate among municipalities was 18.1%. That means that almost one out of five employees started new. It is remarkable that 42% of these entrants are under 35 years old. This influx offers opportunities for rejuvenation and innovation, but also places demands on the onboarding process.
One effective onboarding helps new colleagues quickly become familiar with the organization, processes and systems. In practice, it appears that this phase is often fragmented. New employees are therefore dependent on colleagues or find their own way through various sources. This takes time, inhibits productivity and leads to many recurring questions at help desks.
By already providing accessible, task-oriented instructions in the onboarding phase, municipalities can accelerate the independence of new employees. SelfGuide supports this process by offering work instructions in a clear, process-oriented and immediately applicable way. This reduces the pressure on internal support and helps new colleagues to participate effectively more quickly.
In addition to the high inflow, the internal flow within municipalities is also substantial. In 2023, more than 11.2% of employees changed their position, team or department. This often involves employees who are continuing to grow, but reorganizations and job shifts also play a role.
This flow is of course positive and desirable, but it also involves risks. Because: what happens to the knowledge and experience that someone brings from the previous position? This transfer is often still ad hoc - via a short consultation, a separate document or oral explanation. As a result, valuable context or information disappears and the successor has to figure out exactly how processes, systems or work agreements work.
A structural approach to knowledge transfer prevents important information from falling between shore and ship. By to record work instructions and process information centrally and clearly - for example per task or application - municipalities support internal mobility without loss of quality. This makes it easier for employees to take over new responsibilities and ensures continuity in implementation.
Although municipalities have a relatively high retention rate (90.65%), almost one in ten employees leaves the organization every year. Voluntary departure is increasing, especially among people over 60. This means that colleagues regularly leave with in-depth knowledge of processes, systems and local practices.
Without clear agreements about knowledge transfer, that knowledge easily disappears from the organization. In practice, there is often little time for a good transfer when leaving. Sometimes something is still put on paper quickly, but that is rarely enough. The successor then has to figure it out again, leading to delays, errors, or inconsistency in performance.
That is precisely why it is important not only to start with knowledge assurance when you leave, but to focus on it structurally. By record critical processes and tasks in accessible instructions, knowledge remains retained for the organization - even if the person who worked with it has already left. This way, you ensure that the departure of one employee does not lead to a loss of quality or continuity.
Municipalities spend a significant part of their staff budget on external hiring. In 2023, an average of 18.1% of the wage bill went to temporary workers. This is understandable: external professionals offer flexibility in the event of peak pressure, illness or when specific expertise is needed that is (temporarily) missing internally.
It is valuable to look at the circumstances in which external personnel are deployed. In some situations, it is a planned addition, but external deployment is sometimes necessary due to insufficient transferable knowledge after, for example, a departure or internal flow. Especially when temporary workers are needed for operational tasks for a long time, it is important to check whether that knowledge is also secured internally.
In addition, well-defined instructions and process information not only make the organization more agile, but also ensure that external parties can participate effectively more quickly. By making knowledge accessible and accessible, you reduce the induction time - and external deployment is used more efficiently. For example, knowledge assurance not only contributes to internal continuity, but also to the efficiency of temporary support.
An additional advantage of structural knowledge sharing is that the number of support requests is significantly decreasing. Employees who have independent access to clear instructions and answers to common questions are less likely to contact the help desk or colleagues. This not only saves time, but also reduces the pressure on support departments such as I&A or functional management. More and more municipalities are therefore focusing on unlocking knowledge through smart tooling — so that user problems are solved faster and often independently.
The figures from the Personnel Monitor underline a clear pattern: staff turnover cannot be stopped, but its impact can be limited. Especially in a continuously changing labor market, it is important not to link knowledge to individuals, but to the organization as a whole.
This requires a structural approach to knowledge assurance. Not upon departure or transfer, but during each phase. Think of recording work instructions, process steps and application usage in an accessible way, and making them available to every colleague who works with them. This is how you ensure a future-proof organization, where knowledge remains available at all times.
Go to selfguide.com/municipalities for more information and practical examples. This creates a knowledge structure that moves with your organization, instead of keeping you behind the facts.
