Knowledge management: from lifelong employment to lifelong learning: May 6, 2002 issue of New Thinking

May 6, 2002 New Thinking:
Knowledge management: from lifelong employment to lifelong learning

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May 6, 2002

Knowledge management: from lifelong employment to lifelong learning

By Gerry McGovern

Knowledge management is often thought of as a process by which an organization gets its staff to share their knowledge for the benefit of the organization. Of equal importance to the success of knowledge management is how an organization shares knowledge for the benefit of staff.

The traditional organization made a promise to its staff: Work hard, show talent, and you will have a long and progressive career with us. Downsizing, outsourcing, and a general environment of rapid change, has meant that this promise is less common.

The response of many staff is to no longer expect lifelong employment. In fact, to stay a long time with a particular organization is now seen in a negative light by many people. They want to stay fresh and move on before they are moved out.

The increase in interest in the discipline of knowledge management finds some of its roots in the decline of the lifelong employment promise. The organization sees itself in danger of becoming a knowledge sieve, with knowledgeable staff continuously leaving, bringing their knowledge with them. A key question of knowledge management is: How do we tap this knowledge before it flows away.

Naturally, many staff have taken a cynical view. It looks to them that knowledge management initiatives are a way of draining knowledge from them. Some believe that once their best knowledge has been sucked out, they become even more dispensable.

The way to create a positive and realistic environment is to answer the question: What's in it for me? If you take away the promise of lifelong employment, what do you replace it with? Lifelong learning.

Lifelong learning is a direct response to the decline in lifelong employment. The age of lifelong employment was reflected by gradual change and a formal education for a fixed period that, by and large, lasted you through your career.

The age of lifelong learning is reflected by rapid change and the need to constantly update your skills. Rapid change has brought with it a tremendous rise in complexity. The emergence of the Internet combines access to vast quantities of information with powerful communication and collaboration tools.

Knowledge workers—those who get paid to think—live in a giant network that is constantly in flux. The opposite of a network is an individual. Hoarding of information is a natural defensive reaction, but it doesn't work if you want to succeed in a network.

In an Internet-driven economy, it simply pays to share. Getting connected and sharing is one of the surest ways to become a lifelong learner.

The organization can offer a new set of promises to the knowledge worker:

Our intranet will be full of useful things that will help you learn smarter and faster.
We reward those who share and collaborate. The more quality knowledge you share the more your career will progress.
Because everyone in this organization shares, our collective knowledge is a powerful resource.
We offer you opportunities to publish and promote your best ideas. This will enhance your reputation.
In essence, we offer you a lifelong learning university. We provide you will the tools, content and environment that makes learning a form of sharing and sharing a form of learning.

Gerry McGovern

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In an Internet-driven economy, it simply pays to share. Getting connected and sharing is one of the surest ways to become a lifelong learner.

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