We use our knowledge
so much that we do not even realize it.
That means that we are not thinking of how we could be using it
better. Bill Kaplan of Working Knowledge says that "Knowledge Management is a process of continuous
renewal". This renewal mindset
welcomes a culture of innovation, unexpected benefits, and trust. Organizations need to be embracing continuous
renewal to manage their knowledge transfer.
This series details a knowledge transfer framework for organization
success.
Provide knowledge to new staff
Whenever someone
starts working at a job the first thing they need to do is figure out how to be
successful. They need to know how things are done, the rules imposed by the
organization, and the expectations of the job.
The quicker they figure these things out, the better it will be for the
new person, their department, and the organization as a whole.
This is why the
organization must invest in the resources to provide new staff with critical
information on how to perform the job they were hired for. Often "New Hire" notebooks are
given to new staff, or even better, an intranet site tailored to new
staff. In addition to an up-to-date
resource about the organization and job, organizations must set aside staff
time for coaching, explanations, and conversation. Each onboarding session is
an opportunity for reviewing and improving the processes being explained. Providing knowledge to new staff members
renews the knowledge because new staff will now be using it, referring to it, improving
it, and taking it to the next level.
Having a comprehensive Onboarding
program to orient new staff is a basic necessity for success.
In Part 2, Don't let knowledge walk out the door!
3 comments:
Tara,
Two thought...
First, on-boarding and off-boarding are often the responsibility of the HR department. When that is the case, it may lack a strong KM angle. These are great connection points for a KM office or single KM officer to connect with the HR function for a joint process.
Second, on-boarding is often designed as a rather short time period during which the new hire is bombarded with information that he/she can't possibly absorb. I'd like to see on-boarding programs that are 12-months long with a logical sequence of support, including things like getting introduced to Communities of Practice (if there are any), mentors, etc... so that the new hire becomes part of the learning culture of the organization. It's a good way to help build and sustain a learning culture.
Barbara Fillip is right in that HR departments often don't consider the KM aspects of onboarding. In fact, there are many aspects of HR that could benefit from KM. Hoping that Tara next tackles the value of KM in the talent development function of HR.
Looking forward to reading Part 2 - Don't let the knowledge walk out of the door.
From my experience, capturing this event effectively is more challenging than the onboarding piece. The conditions in which the "dearly departed" is leaving contribute tremendously to the quality of the information captured. Often times, priorities are misaligned; the departing person just doesn't have time for this event. Or, if the departing person is leaving under less than honorable conditions, the quality of the knowledge is then suspect. The largest challenge is changing the culture of the organization to routinize knowledge capture upon departure.
Looking forward to reading your next.
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