You spend so much time and money hiring and training employees. What happens to all that knowledge when they transfer...or leave?

Have you ever had a really critical employee transfer to another part of your business, or simply walk out the door...and everyone is left wondering how they did their job, or how to access what they knew?

When a Key Employee transfers within your company, or prepares to leave to pursue other opportunities, it is critical that you find a way to “capture” the knowledge that the employee has accumulated, and which is critical to the performance of that role in the business.

Often during such a transition, specific knowledge about a role’s needs and expectations falls through the cracks. Failure to capture this knowledge can have disastrous consequences for your business.

There are two kinds of knowledge that must be captured; explicit and tacit. 'Explicit' knowledge is the “what”…the new sales strategy, the work process, the partnership agreement. 'Tacit' knowledge is the "how"…what was the rationale and the history behind that sales strategy, how is work actually done within that process, how does that partnership really work?

Key Employee Knowledge Capture is a process whereby business critical Intellectual Capital can be rapidly secured and re-assimilated into your business. Knowledge that should be retained generally falls into the following categories:

Relational / Network Knowledge — “Social Capital”: The how, why, and who to work with to be effective; how to build strong relationships; how to create credibility, and how to develop the ability to influence decisions

Organizational Knowledge — Operational and cultural knowledge of “how to get things done”

Technical / Scientific Knowledge — Particular tactical or strategic expertise and know-how in a functional or scientific area

Industry / Business Knowledge — Particularly relevant or strategic knowledge of business / industry environment

The Key Employee Knowledge Capture process will help you “deconstruct” the role of the employee. This will enable you to quickly determine the essential knowledge that will be critical for the new person as he / she assumes the position.