Epic Think Tank
Blending Learning and Knowledge Management
6. Reward systems in the culture club
There is a perhaps a further reason why tacit knowledge resists
becoming explicit. And it is a fairly obvious one.
The tacit knowledge in an employee's head is a powerful bargaining
chip - perhaps the most powerful one they have to play in their
relationship with the organisation. Employees who have a perception
of their own value (i.e. the most knowledgeable ones) might well
need a powerful inducement to want to share that knowledge, particularly
if, by delivering it up to the organisation (in so far as that is
possible) they reduce their own irreplacability.
We have to ask ourselves to what extent the tacit knowledge owned
by employees will submit to being 'captured' without their willing
participation. Not at all, is probably the answer. And if the organisation
can't capture it, under what circumstances will employees volunteer
it?
The reality is that very few people will share knowledge unprompted,
or without feeling that there will be some sort of payback at the
end of the rainbow.
Examples were discussed during this Think Tank of companies where
the culture encouraged sharing. In major consultancies, for instance,
where the dependence on knowledge is obvious and well-acknowledged,
employees are often judged by their contribution to knowledge management.
They might have to make a certain number of submissions of case
studies, for instance. In one particular example this was a formalised
process: an identified expert would judge the submissions and choose
the best one out of ten. There was considerable kudos to be gained
within the firm from your case study being chosen. Recognition is
a powerful motivator.
Other examples include Shell, where employees are required to spend
a percentage of their time helping other employees. At Shell this
is a formalised process, but other organisations have less formalised
processes for recognising knowledge sharing.
These are good practice examples; however, a pre-condition for
knowledge sharing occurring at all, on even the most basic level,
was strongly felt by our delegates to be a climate of trust between
the employee and employer - the relationship contract that goes
beyond the transactional contract.
It also takes peer trust. Learning is about social interaction
as well as time spent in self-study, and it is widely recognised
that many people learn best in communities. Think of our book-under-the-counter
example: one of the greatest values of collaboration lies in the
insight it gives you into how other people have solved the same
problem you have.
Even where a culture of trust and co-operation exists, however,
it continues to be the truth that individuals do learning for one
reason and the company does it for another.
To aid effective knowledge sharing, a culture has to be achieved
which satisfies both sets of requirements. Unless the culture is
right for sharing and learning, experience shows that you don't
get either.
Next>>
Intro: Sven, VBM and the book under
the counter
1. The personality of knowledge
2. Making the tacit explicit
3. Learning from war stories
4. The book under the counter
5. The convergence of learning and
knowledge management
6. Modelling the tall poppy
7. Value based management and Sven's
men
8. The Odyssey as quality manual
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