It all starts with leaders in the business empowering employees

When asked at interviews, most prospective employees will nod furiously at the question about whether they are a team player. The stock response of ‘I am equally good at working on my own initiative and as part of a team’ delivers the response employers want to hear. So why is there an issue in the workplace with employees being reluctant to empower their colleagues with their knowledge? Some people fear losing their position and power if they impart such valuable knowledge to their counterparts but can a knowledge sharing culture be valuable to all?

Capturing tacit knowledge protects businesses and should be rewarding for employees

Highly skilled and knowledgeable employees are gold dust and required for any business to be successful. But more and more industries face issues when people move on or retire. This is particularly true of some manufacturing industries where years of experience and knowledge can be lost overnight. The benefits of developing a knowledge sharing culture in any industry facilitates the transfer of invaluable tacit knowledge from experienced employees and make it available to those who need it before or after they leave. The benefits of knowledge sharing are to effectively leverage your intellectual capital, the biggest asset for any company.

The advantages of having ‘one managed version of the truth’

With one version of the truth available to all, less time is spent searching and more time working, increasing employee productivity and improving employee engagement. Enabling a process, particularly through the use of a knowledge management system, allows employees to provide feedback, suggest edits or request new knowledge, ensuring all employees feel valued. Those with the tacit knowledge can be recognised for their efforts in providing  much needed information to all that require it, empowering them to continue the good work.

We’re all team players after all so now is the time to realise the benefits of knowledge sharing.