Tacit knowledge is that which is gained through personal experience. On a job site, tacit knowledge might refer to procedures and processes that can only be learned through practical experience – making it challenging to pass on to others, especially new hires. Therefore, on-the-job training and experiential learning have traditionally been the most effective method to improve tacit knowledge. Tacit knowledge often appears as insight, inspiration, or intuition. It can also be recognized through innovative problem-solving or good judgment calls based on experience. Long-time employees in an organization have more tacit knowledge than new hires, rendering it a significant competitive advantage in any given industry.
In a corporate environment increasingly defined by the reality of “The Great Resignation,” managers and business owners must address the eventuality of vital tribal knowledge walking out the door. All companies must capture tacit knowledge, which represents the commitment and investment in long-term employees.
The big question is, how can subjective knowledge be documented within your organization? Here are some tips.
- Establish the Right Culture: Executives and management should strive to establish a culture that rewards and incentivizes knowledge-sharing behavior. Companies can achieve this by arranging routine conferences and town halls and providing engaging presentations and interviews with key people. Working to minimize attrition rates and retain long-time employees will help preserve and maintain the company’s tacit knowledge.
- Develop Mentorship Opportunities: Instead of relying on a separate training division, incentivize senior employees to train new employees in their own department. Arrange for new employees to shadow successful colleagues, encourage informal discussions over a weekly catered lunch, or set up a Q & A between your top performers and the rest of the team. Assign mentors who can help new hires to align more quickly with company culture and organizational goals, deliver work as expected, and have questions answered in a timely fashion.
- Create Forums and Informal Chats: Setting up forums on an internal portal can help employees to troubleshoot work problems and processes more efficiently and productively. Employees can ask for – and receive – the advice or documentation they need to perform more efficiently without leaving their posts. While there is a significant benefit to meetings and conference calls, sometimes the need for information is more immediate – and can be quickly resolved. Internal “social media” type networks can also be a comfortable way for employees to share their thoughts, ask questions and disseminate critical information. Think of these internal social sites as a social media profile page that shares pertinent knowledge within your organization.
- Provide Ongoing Training: Since tacit knowledge is primarily experiential, employee training in the form of role-playing, simulations, and participatory demonstrations can be invaluable. But companies should be careful not to waste the valuable knowledge transfer that can take place during these exercises. Be sure to videotape the interactions and produce training videos that can be accessed at any point in the future so that in-person meetings are not always required to pass along the vital lessons.
- Document Everything: Every company understands the pain of losing valuable tacit knowledge when a long-time employee walks out the door. It is vital to utilize available technology to gather, sort, and store knowledge in a structured framework for easy access. User manuals, how-to books, knowledge guides, presentations, and policies should be documented and digitalized – but in a way that allows for feedback, updates, and ongoing improvisations to improve productivity as the company evolves. Encourage employees that hold the knowledge to produce presentations, whitepapers, or video case studies to build a library all future new hires can access.
By its nature, tacit knowledge may be challenging to capture. But the company that successfully finds a way to document and preserve this knowledge is positioned to achieve higher efficiency and profitability, even in the face of employee turnover.
The professionals at KLONE are excited to share their innovative platform with all organizations seeking to capture, digitalize and disseminate their corporate knowledge in a whole new way. Call today to learn more.