Why an Organization Needs Knowledge Management and Talent
by Melisa Joeleo It Consulting ServicesKnowledge management (KM) is the process of capturing, developing,
sharing, and effectively using organizational knowledge. It refers to a
multi-disciplinary approach to achieving organizational objectives by
making the best use of knowledge. Talent management is the anticipation of required human capital for an organization and the planning to meet those needs.
Enhancing and supporting the concept of knowledge management as a strategic contributor to an organization
Talent
is capability and knowledge is ability.’ Talent is intangible and
embedded within people. Knowledge can be tangible and explicit if it is
planned, controlled, facilitated and monitored, as is standard with
other assets or processes in an organization. The management of
knowledge adds strategic value.
Knowledge is the tacit constituent that comes about when applying information to a decision-making process.
In
any economy, the aim is to maximize the advantage from a source of
competition. If knowledge is a basis for the economy, then this economy
has to be formed around maximizing the use and the management of
knowledge in businesses.
The knowledge, as currently exists within an
organization, is already a major contributor to success, in
conjunction with the obvious contributors of the 9 Ms, which include
money, machinery, materials, manpower, makeup, MIS, management,
machinery, methods and markets.
THE ORGANISATION, ITS COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE, AND KNOWLEDGE
The
basis of competition is shifting from having a unique raw material or
production system in manufacturing, to differentiation though the
building of knowledge. ‘Having knowledge can be regarded as even more
important than possessing the other means of production – land,
buildings, labour, and capital – because all the other sources are
readily available in an advanced global society, while the right
leading-edge knowledge is distinctly hard to obtain.’ Companies have
already moved from being labour intensive to process intensive, to carry
out tasks most efficiently, effectively, economically and productively
as possible while all the time introducing new techniques or elements
to the process, product or service.
company’s success is
dependent on adding value. This requires creativity based on the
current knowledge position of the company. Organizations should not
have to relearn on a regular basis but should be in a position to
retain the knowledge they already have in their possession. They should
then reinforce the use of this knowledge in processes and approach to
the management of this knowledge. This can be achieved by maintaining
what is already known and then continue to maintain their position
based on this unique knowledge, and renew and update the knowledge
continuously.
This is a transparent approach to the handling of
knowledge, which is the approach needed across the entire organization
so everyone can contribute.
Knowledge management is important in any
organizations because it’s important in economics and business.
Economics and business theorists have alluded to or identified
knowledge as the ultimate competitive advantage for the modern firm.
With
reference to knowledge management, the challenge in the context of
adding value is that organizations should reorganize themselves around
the scarce resource of talented human capital and manage the
constraining elements and strategic resources of information, knowledge
and expertise. Obtaining this talented human capital is another task
that requires human resource management and the involvement of the wider organization.
HUMAN RESOURCES / KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT
As
organizations have changed, downsized or expanded, there has been an
increase in technology and in redundancies. In knowledge management
terms, a reduction in employee numbers implies that those remaining have
to demonstrate their value. Employee turnover of, or the rise of the
free agent implies that long-term contracts are on the way out. Loyalty
is much reduced or, as suggested, ‘loyalty is dead commitment and drive
are lost, on the way out or gone’ both from the organizational and
employee perspective, as neither can afford loyalty in rapid dynamic
markets. Organizations affected by such changes, through the loss of
people and then talent, can’t keep relearning all the knowledge lost
when people leave the company.
One such approach, which considers the
individual rather than the process, is social network analysis. This
helps identify and manage the hidden networks within an organization.
According
to Karen Stephenson, social network analysis is increasingly
recognized as a means of leveraging organizational learning, retaining
key workers, planning succession, harvesting innovative ideas, and
managing both the rate and quality of change. This collective
capability, Stephenson argues, depends on trusted relationships between
individuals and has more power to influence the success or failure of
an organization than any managerial hierarchy .
In this
approach, employees are a key consideration, with individual
requirements which should be acknowledged. Employees want freedom,
autonomy, space, and flexibility enables intellectual capital to be
assessed. By offering these, the opportunity for knowledge growth and
retention can be developed.
TECHNOLOGY
Other components of the knowledge management environment
include computing systems. With these systems, knowledge can be
gathered by monitoring the phases or steps that creative workers go
through in their daily work, and by identifying the information and
decisionmaking methods they use and follow.
There are both manual
methods of knowledge collection, and systems that can manage the
collection and dissemination of that knowledge.
Some applied business
samples demonstrate where these existing IT systems become
knowledge-based systems. Internet-based systems have reduced control
over information distribution and intellectual capital, and have an
effect on information formation.
The internet infrastructure, as a
tool to access information, is the key and has value as an access route.
However, the value lies not in having access to privileged
information, but rather in the way the internet by offering new
opportunities for those with the knowledge to start new businesses and
share new ideas.
Companies implementing effective knowledge
management systems expect to incorporate a variety of technologies,
supported by a leadership approach that values learning. They also need
an organizational structure that supports communication and
information sharing, which in turn facilitates the processes for
managing knowledge and change.
TOWARDS KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT
The
core issue when considering knowledge management is how to get people
to share their knowledge. The easiest methods are through traditional
rewards, such as pay, incentives, benefits, stocks, profits, and
commissions or alternatively, through learning opportunities, additional
issue is to examine why we want people to share their knowledge, and
to explain the value derived from the sharing. The primary reason for
knowledge sharing is that customers are looking for value and companies
have to provide value propositions. They need to provide what the
customer actually wants, not what the company thinks the customer
requires, offering improved value and thereby creating new markets.
With
this value proposition perspective, a number of large companies have
incorporated and embedded the management of knowledge within their
systems, thereby increasing the value it can make for the organization
and, therefore, the customer. Not all knowledge management requires
technology.
To derive the best value, it requires management of the
knowledge, the managers, and the employees in combination. Examples of
value innovation occurring without new technology have happened in a
number of places. high performance relationships – building leadership,
using experience to build relationships, encourage mutual respect) by
building on the knowledge they already have.
They are in traditional businesses, but each is able to offer new and superior value through innovative ideas and knowledge.
CREATIVE ORGANISATION AND KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT
The
organizational cultural change required to facilitate the focus,
development and application of organizational knowledge should include
the development of an environment where innovation and creativity
operate together.
While these two are somewhat intangible, recent
illustration of culture development is the way creativity is part of
the culture at Google: ‘Is creativity fun or should it be? … fun works
and work is more productive when it is fun … as a result, companies that
integrate fun, creativity, and work are best able to attract and
retain peak performers in an economy that promotes and rewards the
rapid and constant changing of jobs.
Innovation is important to
organizations because it fosters new ideas for products and services,
gives staff members a sense of job satisfaction, encourages teamwork and
allows organizations to find competitive advantages in the
marketplace.
Companies are driving towards creativity and
innovation. Trends suggest that the knowledge economy is rapidly being
transformed into the creativity economy. As more high-level knowledge
work is outsourced to less developed countries, companies in the US,
Europe, and Japan are at the next level of generating economic value
from creativity, imagination, and innovation.
Organizations are
facing the need to change quickly and dramatically in order to survive,
recognizing ‘the need for greater product and service innovation to
keep pace with technological, societal advances and compete with the
growing power of companies in China and other developing countries,
rather than focusing on ways to improve efficiency and cut costs,
today’s companies are rewiring for creativity.
The
characteristics of creative organizations correspond to those of
individuals. Creative organizations are loosely structured. People find
themselves in a situation of ambiguity, where assignments are vague,
jobs and roles overlap, tasks can be poorly defined, and much work is
done through teams.
Variety is important, and managers strive to
involve employees in a varied range of projects, so that people are not
wedged in the beat of routine jobs, and they drive out the fear of
making mistakes that can inhibit creative thinking.
Creative
organizations have an internal culture of playfulness, freedom,
challenge, and grassroots participation. They harness all potential
sources of new ideas as sources for knowledge management. These
strategies allow the freedom to discuss ideas, and as projects are seen
as long term, resources are allocated without immediate payoff.
This
creative approach, as with any other policy around new product
development, has to be incorporated into the overall company/business
strategy. It must also be aligned with a knowledge management strategy,
which a company should have in order to gain the value evolving within
the idea generating process, as well as the knowledge that emerges.
This allows creativity to lead to innovation and, in addition, to
product or service development and delivery.
In terms of the
value to be gained, the strategy also needs to include the process of
valuation, and the valuation methods and perspectives used to evaluate
need to be considered.
Knowledge Management Strategy. To develop
an effective knowledge management (KM) program, your organization
needs a systematic strategy, not just a general plan to help employees
share knowledge. APQC has the best practices, tools, and insight to
guide you toward the best approach.
Management need to
understand that knowledge its management, optimization and valuation –
requires focus if it is to be the basis of market success or failure. It
is already an area that is being measured in terms of its contribution
to the existence of an organization, and it is therefore a critical
success factor, if not already an unrecognized core competence. Talent
and knowledge are an organization’s capabilities and abilities. Talent
as capability and knowledge as ability, requires management. However,
the primary challenge of project management is to achieve all of the
project goals and objectives while honoring the preconceived
constraints. The primary constraints are scope, time, quality and
budget.
This Article Source is From : http://thenewsnigeria.com.ng/2018/01/why-an-organization-needs-knowledge-management-and-talent/
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Created on Jan 19th 2018 01:49. Viewed 658 times.