Share For Growth

Knowledge assumes value only when it is disseminated across the board.

- Zarin Bhathena

Like human beings, organisations too learn as they grow. As a company progresses along the trajectory of its life cycle, it gathers information on all fronts—business, technology, operations, human resources, the market, the industry, and the political and regulatory environment, to name a few. But what do they do with this plethora of information? It would do well for an organisation to know how to assimilate, manage, and disseminate knowledge. The aim of effective knowledge management is to improve organisation-wide efficiencies as well as widen its opportunities for growth. This knowledge is not the prerogative of the HR function or only the senior management. Knowledge is meant to percolate across hierarchies and be of use to every employee.

There is a need for a knowledge repository for every company, irrespective of its size and the industry in which it operates. Knowledge management helps create assets that are of use perpetually, without having to scramble for data/information when it is needed, or being dependent on a few individuals. One may argue that knowledge management is just another fancy way of saying that people in the company should know of internal and external developments, and that every company does it in some way or the other. So is it that important?

Indeed, it is. An organised process of getting together insights and experiences and managing them comprises knowledge management. This is of much more use than unsystematic bits of information that one has to piece together as per one’s need. It saves a large amount of time and brings together relevant and contextual data to one place. The most important thing is to build a culture of knowledge management and knowledge sharing. Employees should understand and imbibe that most information must and should be shared with coworkers, that it will not lead to unhealthy competition, and that they will not be at a disadvantage by sharing what they know.