Transfer of knowledge in business? Knowledge transfer is an essential lever for maintaining a company's achievements through vocational training. Here's how to optimize knowledge sharing to safeguard knowledge and corporate culture.
The transfer of knowledge in business makes it possible to maintain and share the achievements of employees for the benefit of the work team. This dynamic process involves all activities and interaction mechanisms that promote the dissemination, adoption and appropriation of new knowledge.
A good strategy makes it possible to avoid wasting a lot of time looking for the information necessary for sustainable performance in the follow-up of the files of an absent or leaving the company.
What is knowledge capital?
The knowledge capital of a company includes All of skills and knowledge held by employees, as well as “general” knowledge, specific to the organization. In particular, we find values, processes, the mastery of the various tools, work habits, managerial culture, all the know-how adapted internally or even the culture of customers.
Maintaining this knowledge capital is essential because promotes the sharing of skills, to maintain a certain level of productivity and potentially to contribute to the development of the company. This knowledge capital cannot be sustainable without effective knowledge transfer in business.
Promoting knowledge transfer with collective intelligence
When an employee leaves a company, it is potentially a skill that disappears. It is therefore important to carry out a transfer of knowledge and to enrich it through processes ofOnboarding and effective off-boarding. This will give new hires a strong sense of belonging to the company. This intangible heritage is invaluable for an organization and to forget to make this transfer would be a loss for the company.
The steps for successful knowledge transfer
Knowledge transfer is a structured process that requires dissecting all aspects of a position and prioritizing them over time so that the collaborator who will take over has an overview of the position.
So here are the main steps leading to a complete and successful knowledge transfer in business:
- Set up the knowledge transfer schedule: over 6 months, one year, two years, etc. This schedule depends largely on the date selected for the departure of an employee.
- Review the current responsibilities of the employee upon departure.
- Develop a list of all tasks performed by the outgoing collaborator.
- List tasks by field of activity.
- Identify the skills required for each task, including soft skills.
- Identify the priority of the transfer time for each task by aiming for a logical sequence and according to the operational cycle.
- Assess the skills of the next generation by taking into account differences.
- Identify the required means of knowledge transfer: training, coaching, etc.
- Identify the due date for each of the tasks to be transferred.
- Develop the knowledge transfer plan and inform the next generation.
- Identify follow-up dates.
Business knowledge transfer may require the use of a specialized resource who will be able to gain perspective, plan, and monitor the process to ensure that the transfer goes off without a hitch.
