Knowledge management is an effective means of measuring and understanding the skills of your workforce. Mary Clarke explains how L&D should be taking advantage of this undervalued assett.
In today’s business world, knowledge is a marketable commodity. It is the most valuable attribute for workers to promote when job hunting, and thus the most highly valued characteristic sought after by employers.
Competent and knowledgeable employees are the base on which a successful business is built, regardless of industry or sector. With the current state of the economy, it is now more important than ever for executives to have a clear view of where knowledge lies within their employee base and to put an increased emphasis on developing that knowledge.
So how can executives ensure that they clearly understand their employees’ knowledge levels? One effective and widely used approach is to implement a knowledge development programme that revolves around consistently administered employee assessments. These assessments are customised to fit specific industry and job role needs. They are administered regularly and measure not only employees’ knowledge and competence, but also their confidence.
"Understanding of your employees’ knowledge and competence will not only improve business processes and productivity, but will also save money."The incorporation of a confidence measurement is critical because it provides a deeper insight into specific individuals and their performances. If employees lack confidence in their knowledge they are less likely to perform to their highest ability. Conversely, if they have complete confidence in incorrect knowledge, they are more likely to pose a risk to the company.
Consistently administered employee assessments provide numerous benefits, both to the employee and the company. For the employee they offer an opportunity to showcase their skills and prove themselves as indispensible assets. This is always desirable in a competitive marketplace, but in dire economic times, when layoffs are increasing, it is even more critical. In addition to the employee benefits, assessment based knowledge development programmes offer a range of benefits to the company. They help reduce costs in terms of both training expenses and expenses resulting from employee misunderstanding, and they also provide increased insight into the employee base and help improve overall productivity.
One of the main company advantages from employee assessment programmes is that they serve as an essential component of a targeted training programme. Traditionally, basic training programmes are often broadly based in order to cover all aspects of the subject matter for all levels of employee, but they do not address the specific needs of every individual. Regularly administered assessments provide insight into which aspects of the training content or coaching and mentoring is required by person, by team, by division, by company.
"With the current state of the economy, it is now more important than ever for executives to have a clear view of where knowledge lies within their employee base"
Additionally it will highlight any misunderstanding or lack of competence and confidence. In short, the assessment results provide feedback on the effectiveness of training programmes and allow managers to target and tailor them so as to improve them for the future. Without this type of insight, training programs can easily become counterproductive.
Another clear benefit of employee assessment programmes is the depth of insight they provide into the employee knowledge base. Whilst this information is beneficial in any business climate, it is especially useful during challenging economic times, when managers are forced to make difficult decisions regarding redundancies. By possessing a complete view of employees’ knowledge and competence, managers will not only be able to make informed and fair decisions about layoffs, but they will also ensure that they are not losing their most knowledgeable employees. In this sense, assessments are also helpful in identifying the “knowledge custodians” within a company. These are the go-to people that can serve as resources for other employees and are increasingly valuable during a recession, when budgets are tight and they may be called upon to lead, mentor and teach others.
Employees of this nature also often possess a range of transferable skills. Once these skilled employees are identified, managers can easily see who is capable of utilising those skills in other, often more senior, positions. They can also identify which employees are most likely to effectively transfer their skills to new recruits through teaching and training when the company starts hiring again.
"Possessing a complete view of employees’ knowledge and competence means managers will not only be able to make informed and fair decisions about layoffs, but will also ensure that they are not losing their most valuable staff."
Teaching others is different from understanding concepts and utilising them as an individual. Just because someone understands something it does not mean that he or she can effectively teach it. Employee assessments will help managers identify who among their knowledgeable employees is up to that task, which can in turn help reduce training costs, improve training results, and increase productivity.
Another benefit of customised employee assessments is that they help develop a standard for the company. By administering these assessments to current employees, managers will develop a benchmark for talented and effective employees in their organisation. These standards will prove useful when the company begins to hire again and they are required to determine who out of many possible candidates shows the most promise. Once again, assessments offer a cost saving option because they help companies choose the best candidates for new positions and reduce the chance of a wasted investment in an under-qualified or poorly matched candidate. They also enable internal promotion before external recruitment as appropriate.
Customised employee assessments offer a wide range of benefits to both the individual employees and to the company as a whole. They are valuable in any business climate, but in difficult economic times, when budgets are decreasing and layoffs are increasing, they provide extremely valuable insight for managers who are faced with the challenge of running a profitable business with reduced resources.
Having a complete understanding of your employees’ knowledge and competence will not only improve business processes and productivity, but it will also result in significant monetary savings - two essential goals for any successful business executive.
Mary J Clarke is chief executive of Cognisco. Prior to this, Mary spent over twenty years in the IT and telecommunications industry and served as vice president for Lucent Technologies, formerly AT&T Network Systems.
