Role of HR in Knowledge Management

Agenda
What is Knowledge? Types of Knowledge What is Knowledge Management? The Essence of Knowledge Management Why Knowledge Management? What does leveraging "collective knowledge" involve? An overview of Knowledge Processes

Benefits of Knowledge to Enterprise

HUL's Packaging Network What are the barriers for implementing Knowledge Management The role of HR in institutionalizing KM in an organization

HR processes and practices impact the knowledge sharing in a firm How do we create a knowledge sharing culture? HR should be the catalyst for culture change

What Is Knowledge?

Data
A Record of a Change of State

Information
Data organized with a purpose. A message

Knowledge
Literally what people know

Types of Knowledge

Explicit knowledge
Formal knowledge (Visible) Available in the form of books, reports, audio tapes, video tapes etc. Can be articulated

Tacit knowledge
Informal knowledge (Highly Invisible) Confined in the mind of a person Difficult to articulate

Knowledge Management
Knowledge Driven Organization

Fully leverage the "collective knowledge" in an organization

Creation and sharing of knowledge

KM processes provide a framework for connecting people to people and people to information

KM helps the Organization to:

Build competitive advantage
Improve organizational effectiveness and Returns See the opportunities and exploit them

Create greater value

The Essence of Knowledge Management

The central theme of Knowledge Management is to leverage and reuse knowledge resources that already exist in the organization so that people will seek out best practices rather than reinvent the wheel.

Why Knowledge Management?

Marketplaces are increasingly competitive and the rate of innovation is rising

Reductions in staffing create a need to replace informal knowledge with formal methods

Knowledge management
The amount of time available to experience and acquire knowledge has diminished Early retirements and increasing mobility of the work force lead to loss of knowledge

What does leveraging "collective knowledge" involve?

Working in collaborative teams, capturing and sharing knowledge and delivering business excellence. Developing and sharing "best practices." Faster replication of innovations through faster movement of knowledge through the organization. Acquisition and sharing of "new knowledge." Creating an environment that is comfortable to the idea of openness, knowledge sharing, risk of failure as well as rewards for success. Managing organizational learning.

Knowledge Management Process

Identify stage Collect stage Select stage Store stage Share stage Apply stage Customer Acceptance Create stage

Benefits of Knowledge to Enterprise

Unleash new Ideas and Creativity. Improve and accelerate Learning. Enhance Team Collaboration & Coordination.

Improve the Flow of knowledge.

Attract, and retain motivated, loyal, and committed talent.

Knowledge Management Initiatives

HUL's Packaging Network
Opportunities / Challenges: Packaging in our company is very important, both for providing protection to the product in transit and storage as well as its contribution to pack presentation / brand image. How do we make sure that the collective knowledge of the packaging professionals in the company is fully leveraged by the packaging professionals in each business, to add value to his business, through problem solving as well as innovations to reduce cost and or improve functionality? HULs response: Formed a knowledge community. The team meets once in two months for structured knowledge sharing and monitoring progress of implementation of the charter.

The basic approach and methodology adopted by the team: Develop clarity on business expectations Appointed sub-teams to specialize / lead in each of the knowledge blocks. Knowledge workshops" with the core team and the extended team to generate new ideas and opportunities. Intranet application with collaborative working tools, to facilitate knowledge sharing on a continuous basis, in between the face to face meetings. Results achieved: The Packaging community has been consistently delivering as per their charter. To strengthening knowledge sharing behaviour through facilitation, training and leadership.

The barriers for implementing Knowledge Management?

Conceptual / mindset related issues: We should move from hoarding of knowledge to gain power" to "sharing of knowledge to gain power."

Operational issues: KM should not be seen as a separate initiative, but should be integrated into current workflow as a more effective way to achieve business results.

The role of HR in institutionalizing KM in an organization

Focus on strengthening collaborative team effort to leverage collective knowledge of the enterprise. Corporate Education. Performance Management and nurturing (sharing, doing and caring) culture. Talent management. Recruitment, training, skill and competency development. New HRM roles are those of human capital steward, knowledge facilitator, relationship builder, and rapid deployment specialist.

New HRM Roles

Human capital steward Creates an environment and culture in which employees voluntarily contribute skills, ideas, and energy Human capital is not owned by organization Knowledge facilitator Procures necessary employee knowledge and skill sets that allow information to be acquired, developed, and disseminated Provides a competitive advantage Must be part of strategically designed employee development plan

Relationship builder Develops structure, work practices, and culture that allow individuals to work together Develops networks that focus on strategic objectives Rapid deployment specialist Creates fluid and adaptable structure and systems Global, knowledge-based economy mandates flexibility and culture that embraces change

How then do HR processes and practices impact the knowledge sharing in a firm?

Job rotations Networked organization Training Knowledge communities (Teams) E- Learning Culture change

How do we create a knowledge sharing culture?

Realign incentive and reward program: The best KM practitioners reward employees for learning, sharing and collaborating. Step HR could implement are: Institute Team awards Xerox: Eureka Hall of Fame" Hewlett Packard Consulting: in their "vision" statement: "Our consultants feel and act as if they have the knowledge of the entire organization at their fingertips when they consult with customers. We will recognize those consultants that share and those that leverage other's knowledge and experience as most valuable members of the HP team."

HR should be the catalyst for culture change

HR will also be a key facilitator in implementing a companywide communication of value behaviours. Team excellence workshops and process improvement (speed, simplicity and excellence) workouts are among the key initiatives that will soon be launched by HR to support the culture change. These culture change initiatives will strongly support our efforts to become a stronger knowledge driven company, committed to business excellence. Develop "Knowledge Pull.

Some of the steps that HR could take for cultural change :

Performance Development Planning (PDP); 1.Learning from experience 2.Team commitment 3.Developing others Develop a mechanism to communicate effectively. Collaborative effort and knowledge. Make KM part of the Company training modules. Hold visible knowledge sharing events.

Conclusion:

Transformation into knowledge driven organization HR has a key role to play in nurturing and strengthening knowledge management through "learning initiatives" and "culture change initiatives. HR is best placed to play the role of an effective facilitator, and give positive reinforcements for Knowledge Management . Knowledge management has already been embraced as a source of solutions to the problems of todays business.