KM in Talent Management

Talent Management is often referred to Human Capital Management. Many organizations are faced with the problem of retaining talent as well as capturing the knowledge of the talent as it moves in and out of the organization. Knowledge Management (KM) plays an important role in converting individual knowledge into corporate knowledge making it available to be cataloged and shared throughout the organization.

As part of a comprehensive KM strategy applied to Human Capital Management it is vital to establish a program that is executed when staff enters your organization and continues until the time that staff member leaves the organization. How is this accomplished? Initially through employee orientation, establishing a mentor protégé relationship, mapping their roles, responsibilities and their work products to the specific duties that are being performed and executing a comprehensive exit interview. These are all aspects of a KM strategy aimed at moving your human capital to corporate capital.

This strategy does not begin and end here! As staff members evolve in their roles the sharing, and cataloging of knowledge continues through the use of Communities of Practice (Cops), the creation of knowledge repositories, capturing lesson learned, and instituting a culture that values life-long learning and sharing of knowledge. Getting started with a KM strategy entails a collective visioning as to how sharing knowledge can enhance organizational performance, and the reaching of a consensus among the senior management of the organization that the course of action involved in sharing knowledge will in fact be pursued. Implicit in such a process is a set of decisions about the particular variety of knowledge management activities that the organization intends to pursue, including how the knowledge assets of the organization will be leveraged and the execution of the process and tools that will enable sharing and innovation to occur.

Here are a couple of links to additional information to kick start the process of effectively managing your human capital: Human Capital Management – Capturing Worker Knowledge, The Case for Human Capital Management, Human Capital Institute, The Benefits of Effective Human Capital Management.

I look forward to your comments and understanding how your organization is tackling this Human Capital Management Challenge!

Leveraging KM for M&A Transactions - Part 3: Human Capital Management

People are at the core of Knowledge Management (KM). Mergers and Acquisitions thrive and survive on the strength of how corporate cultures and its people can be meshed together. A sound Human Capital Management strategy will be an integral part of an overall KM strategy to be leveraged in an M&A transaction. Understanding who are the critical knowledge holders and there relationships through Knowledge Mapping is the beginning of understanding roles, responsibilities and work products that the various employees perform throhghout the organization.

This understanding will lead to determining which positions and personnel perform duplicate functions, which will lead to knowing the employees that should be terminated (better yet receive a package and convinced to leave!). Not only do you have to determine which personnel perform duplicate functions, but also who is more valuable through his/her experience, education, and importance to the organization going forward. The Human Capital Management Strategy is also an investment in employee selection and development. This contributes to the organization meeting its goals and objectives of not only the merger but for the organization on an on going basis.
Another aspect to Human Capital Management that we must keep in mind is that it can be the catalyst to increased adaptability, enhanced worker performance and with the current economic climate, having the ability to do more with your existing personnel resources.

The Case for Knowledge Management

The following was a previous post from the "Process Waterhole". In this time of massive job loss and when employers are asking more for less from their employees I believe this is worth mentioning again:

If your organization is either loosing valuable knowledge due to staff retirement, staff moving to other departments, or dismissed for a variety of reasons, then your organization has a strong case for Knowledge Management (KM). Managing your human capital when staff enters your organization through employee orientation, mapping their roles, responsibilities and their work products as they perform their duties and executing a comprehensive exit interview are all aspects of a KM strategy aimed at moving your human capital to corporate capital.

Take a careful examination of your organization and determine if this situation is something you are dealing with and take the necessary steps to keep your organization viable by instituting a comprehensive KM Strategy.

I look forward to your comments.