January 2023
Passing it On
Why the Public Sector Should Consider New Knowledge Transfer Approaches
Recent retirees and risk managers agree that the current methods of knowledge transfer between retirees and their organizations have opportunity for improvement.
In 2021, I partnered with the Enterprise Risk Management Initiative at North Carolina State University to survey risk managers about the current knowledge transfer practices of organizations.
We selected this group because knowledge loss is a risk to organizations. Through the survey, we were able to access 119 risk professionals representing private and public organizations. We also partnered with Osher Lifelong Learning Institutes (OLLI) to access recent retirees to learn about their impressions of the knowledge transfer practices attempted in recent years. With this survey, we were able to reach a national group of 200 OLLI members who retired in the last five years.
When respondents were asked to gauge the effectiveness of their organization’s processes for helping to transfer critical knowledge from retiring employees to their remaining colleagues, the responses were quite telling. Thirty-seven percent of the risk manager respondents indicated processes were minimally effective, and 42% indicated processes were somewhat effective.
Of note, 63% of government respondents said that their efforts were “minimally effective,” and 21% indicated their work in this area was “somewhat effective.” Added to this, respondents were asked to gauge the extent to which their organization faces a risk of significant loss of knowledge due to an aging segment of the workforce that will be retiring in the next five years or so.
Government agencies had the most extreme response to the question, with the risk being extensive or mostly extensive for 73.7% of respondents. Last, recent retirees shared that they were not often asked to formally transfer knowledge, with one of three retirees indicating that they’ve been asked to do so.
Summarizing these survey highlights, respondents indicated extensive risk in the next three to five years due to the potential loss of knowledge from retirements, they indicated that current processes are minimally or somewhat effective for knowledge transfer and we learned that retirees are not being asked to transfer their knowledge. These beliefs create a compelling reason for organizations to rethink the current processes in use for knowledge transfer between retirees and those remaining in their organizations.
What Approaches Should You Consider?
We identified 11 approaches to knowledge transfer, including doing nothing, and we asked retirees and risk professionals to indicate which practices were utilized. The public sector respondents indicated the top three methods to be on-the-job training (OJT) by shadowing the experienced worker, instructor-led training and doing nothing. Our survey responses indicate that those approaches are not yielding the desired results. So let’s consider what might improve the results.
In 2001, Roy Lubrit shared that tacit knowledge is the “know-how” or ways of solving problems and the knowledge that is embedded in individuals. Additional research has summarized tacit knowledge as the “know why,” the “know when” and the “know with” knowledge.
Explicit knowledge may be documented job aids and workflows, while tacit knowledge may be required to interpret the explicit knowledge. Research indicates that working with a coach or expert to learn tacit knowledge is most effective when the receiver of the knowledge can actually problem-solve with the expert or learn their decision-making process flow experientially.
To increase the numbers of people gaining this experience, Lubrit has offered the idea that structured group discussions may be effective. Interestingly, our survey responses indicate that three of our least-used practices, coming in at eight, nine and 10 in terms of frequency of use, could allow for such group interactions. These are conducting after-action reviews (10), implementing collaborative software (nine) and forming communities of practice (eight). So, considering new approaches that allow for more frequent and extensive group learning with the retiree is recommended. Retirees, when asked how to improve knowledge sharing practices, indicated that more time and formality would prove helpful.
HR’s Role in Effective Knowledge Transfer
When one considers how an organization might implement after-action reviews, communities of practice and/or collaborative software, one quickly realizes this is about culture and structure. Human resource professionals can enable the organization to tackle these changes and to embrace a culture of knowledge transfer. Let’s consider each approach.
After-Action Reviews. The reviews have a tradition in the Army and are reflective exercises where a series of questions are asked and answered after a key activity to assess achievement and to consider ways to improve for the future. Post-event reviews and documentation preserve the process or knowledge for others to learn. HR professionals can lead efforts to train the organization on this process, they can facilitate the after-action reviews and they can assure that leadership understands and supports the value of these efforts.
Communities of Practice. These are often cross-functional and cross-unit groups that gather different hierarchical levels of participants to focus on a discipline or competency. These groups of employees regularly share best practices. They often allow professional development and allow work to occur across silos in organizations. HR professionals can knit these groups into the structure of the organization by determining which critical knowledge areas justify a community and by advocating for budgets and other resources to support these practice groups.
Collaborative Software. Technology can enable group interactions and knowledge sharing by allowing data to be available in real time for multiple sources, and by allowing connection and communication to occur virtually across geographies and even generations. Implementing collaborative software solutions such as wikis, blogs, instant messaging tools and project management tools could be very productive. These are tools where employees can record, share, exchange and enhance information about key aspects of the critical knowledge area and could enhance successful knowledge transfer. HR professionals can ensure employees are trained in the software and model the behaviors to use the software.
All these approaches require change management planning and leadership, which may be where HR professionals can shine. They can identify potential retirees and knowledge transfer needs, secure executive sponsorship, offer training and education, initiate governance, structure defined roles and responsibilities for implementation and ongoing operations, and measure for accountability to embed these new behaviors and actions into the culture of the unit.
01 January 2023
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February 2023 Issue • HR News Article