One of the failures of Capitalism is in its extreme levels of competition. In some other organizational cultures and societies, collaboration and an organization’s ability to capture, promote and disseminate organizational knowledge to its employees and partners is of extreme importance. Today, a large part of the loss of institutional knowledge is caused by competition rather than collaboration. Many organizations do an abysmal job of mentoring and succession planning, which is necessary to ensure the stability of an organization when those with expert knowledge end their relationship through retirement or premature death.
One American motorcycle manufacturing company with an inordinate portion of the American motorcycle market is foundering simply because it has failed to achieve an organizational culture based on innovation, the acquisition of information as data, its analysis and creation of knowledge. Instead, it has depended on customer loyalty, which can be a particular problem, when a company needs to transition its technology, research and development.
European companies, like BMW, for example, spend substantive resources developing the skills, expertise, and communications skills of their employees, particularly concerning those positions that revolve around research, knowledge acquisition, engineering, and design. It is one reason why BMW retains its stature within motorcycle production. People trust the product and those who created it.
Twenty-one years ago, I became the leader of a quasi-military organization, and the CEO was a young, well-educated, and forward-thinking individual. Before I was hired, we met no less than eight times so that he could ascertain my rationale for wanting the position. I was young for the job, considering that in many organizations within the public sector, seniority was considered the standard method of promotion.
He required me to go to a very respected academic institution to have my management and leadership skills determined. Two days of exams, that required sixteen hours of testing in total determined my faculties, abilities, and limitations. A report was provided to the CAO, CFO, and Council members, before the approval of my hiring.
What it accomplished was important, for it told those individuals who had to trust my judgment, that they could do so. The report provided them with a basis to do just that. I stayed with that organization for four years, moving on to what I thought was a better future within a larger urban department, with higher compensation and more opportunity.
I was dead wrong. The grass is not greener on the other side.
Instead, I encountered an organization mired in extreme distrust, backstabbing, misrepresentations, and outright lies. Had I the mental acuity to see it for what it was, I would never have taken the position. In that particular organization, knowledge was considered irrelevant. The acquisition of power and its use were all that mattered. Positions in the department were meted out by seniority without any consideration for ability, aptitude, education, or talent, and it became immediately evident once I arrived.
Leadership matters. Intelligent, cogent, rational, and unemotional decision-making is requisite. Unfortunately, this was not to be the case, and within a year, I moved on.
Seniority has a place, but only if the knowledge that has been acquired by those who lead can be retained and integrated into organizational memory to the greatest extent possible. Reinvention without knowledge takes time, energy, and discipline, which many organizations state publicly is what is wanted, while in private they do or allow everything possible to discourage it from happening.
So How Do We Retain Expert Organizational Knowledge?
- Identify and document key knowledge.
- Encourage knowledge sharing and collaboration, rather than organizational silos that create competition and distrust.
- Implement mentoring and coaching programs.
- Conduct exit interviews and debriefings.
- Build a strong organizational alumni network.
- Invest in continuous learning and development.
- Create the position of Knowledge Officer whose job is to not only research external information but to identify, document and disseminate expert knowledge within the organization.
- When hiring, look for the most capable person and pay them accordingly. Talent, expertise, skill, intelligence and someone with the capacity for emotional intelligence and maturity matters.
Innovation comes from information retained organizationally as knowledge. It is a valuable asset that can give your organization, big or small, a competitive edge that fosters innovation and improves customer satisfaction. Honda Corporation is famous for fostering a corporate climate of collaboration and education.
I was pleased to be included in the selection of my successor when I left that initial organization that I led. It allowed me to impart what I had learned, and to evaluate the person replacing me. I, in turn, required the same skills assessment of that individual, that my former CAO had required of me.
I also created a new title for the position of Director/Chief Officer, which included Knowledge Officer. When combined with the minimum educational requirements I had recommended, the department succeeded in finding a very skilled individual with a balance of intellect, experience, skill, and high (EQ) or emotional quotient.
He was quite young when hired, and proved to be both astute and highly effective. Twenty-one years later, he is still in that position.
The message I have is clear and simple. Don’t leave succession and knowledge acquisition to chance. Engage it within the organization and provide every opportunity to further educate those through research and technology. When combined with great organizational communications, the organization will thrive without you.
https://www.linkedin.com/advice/3/how-do-you-retain-institutional-knowledge-when
Ciao…
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