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Employers that disregard the importance of knowledge transfer risk losing expertise, client relationships and sales. They should have processes to cope with employees leaving, as well as to help co-workers share insight and skills they've gained from professional development opportunities, experts say.
A one-size-fits-all approach does not necessarily work for knowledge transfer, experts add. Some firms find mentoring the best way, while others use technology that captures detailed histories of customer interactions and other valuable data.
A halfhearted effort could have long-lasting effects, says Frank Cania, president of Driven HR LLC in Pittsford and immediate past president of the Genesee Valley Chapter of the Society for Human Resource Management.
"In theory, an organization can plan for the eventual retirement of employees, but the sudden death, disability or departure of one or more employees can be devastating if important knowledge and information die or leave with an employee," he says.
A framework is critical, but it should not overlook the issue's human side.
"There are two key components to effective knowledge transfer and retention. The first and most obvious is capturing the information in some written format," Cania says. "This generally documents what needs to be done and why, but cold, hard documentation does not fully communicate the how.
"The second component is the tacit knowledge: the experience, expertise, learned nuances and workarounds that make everything work," he adds. "This is the person-to-person transfer that is often overlooked. This type of knowledge transfer should bean ongoing process at every level of the organization."
Sigmund VanDamme, chief customer officer and founder of Pittsford-based NimbleUser, says knowledge transfer occurs in various ways at his company. New hires, for instance, attend NimbleU, a one-hour...