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Knowledge Portfolio® |
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Knowledge Portfolio® can support an
organization in the following areas:
The benefits an organization gets from
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Knowledge Portfolio® truly depend on what the program is
used for. The Return on Investment can be tangible or intangible depending
upon what the software is used for. But no matter the initial reasons for
initiating the use of
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Knowledge Portfolio®, other benefits can be attained as it
becomes apparent that the organization needs them.
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Sveiby, Edvinsson, Stewart et al.
advocate assessing stocks and flows of an organization's knowledge in
order to get a better understanding of what you have and what you may
need. The stocks and flows of knowledge in an organization encompass all
three "Generally Accepted Knowledge Capital Categories"; human,
structural, and customer. There are many different
knowledge indicators in each
category that enable an organization to assess the stocks and flows of its
knowledge. The key here is that the organization is able to identify those
knowledge indicators that are important to it and its industry. It is one
thing to measure the turnover of PhD's in your organization, or the
seniority level of your professionals, but those figures must mean
something to the organization. However, an organization that is able to
identify the knowledge that helps it to remain competitive and strong will
be able to figure out those knowledge
indicators that can be captured to help it manage that crucial
knowledge.
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Knowledge Portfolio® enables an
organization to capture those
knowledge indicators that are best captured from the individual
professionals in the organization. While some indicators can be
generated from financial data, there are a great number that are best
collected individually. Yes, an organization can do centralized counts
and tallies, but a program that collects the data from individuals and
consolidates it into one accessible database, eliminates much of the
administrative overhead that collecting that data manually would
normally entail. From the consolidated database, counting, comparisons,
reports and graphs can be done showing the stocks and flows of knowledge
within the organization. This way, the organization can manage its
knowledge to ensure that it remains competitive within its industry.
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Many organizations have long recognized the
constant need to promote themselves to their stakeholders, their
customers, their employees, their board of directors and the public. Such
an organization needs to show how it is vibrant and alive and able to
continue in today's world of shrinking resources and fast-changing
priorities. Increasingly, the "knowledge" of the organization is promoted
as an asset, for it is the people in the organization and their knowledge
that drives the company. The organizations that will thrive are those
which understand the value of the knowledge and experience they have in
professional staff, and which promote their ability to take advantage of
those assets.
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Knowledge Portfolio® gathers the
knowledge indicators that show
others the value of the knowledge and experience contained in the
organization. The task of gathering data is made easier, and the ability
to extract the information is increased because of the structure and
format of this unique software. Annual reports at every level can be
more robust, with numbers and anecdotal evidence provided by the
consolidated version. Promotional materials can be enhanced with
evidence of the activities and experiences of the people in the
organization.
sum Knowledge Portfolio
enables an organization to promote its most valuable asset: the
knowledge of the people who have the wisdom to use it.
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Professionals work better when empowered to
manage their own careers. Organizations must enable workers to track their
own experiences and performance in a structure that reflects the
organization's values and priorities. In doing so, the individual is able
to be more in touch with what the organization finds important. Of even
greater value is that what the professional chooses to do about it is in
his/her hands. Today's effective knowledge worker is one who is in control
of their career and able to show how they fit with and support the
organization's goals.
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Knowledge Portfolio® hands the
individual knowledge worker the ability to track and manage their
careers in light of the organization's goals. Having a historical
account of their accumulation of knowledge and experience both inside
and outside an organization gives the individual the ability to
demonstrate their contribution to and excellence within, the
organization.
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The team building process is a vital
function in many organizations. The right team needs to be built from
people within and possibly outside the organization. How is team building
normally done? The project manager hopes he or she knows the right people
for the project and if not, speaks to contacts in the organization to find
the best people for the job. This can, and often does provide the correct
results; a good solid team. But it would be much better to have the
ability to accurately search the people you have for the particular skills
and/or experience needed for the project. Any skills or experience needed
that are not found in the organization could be sourced out. In the end,
the proper team has been built with the assurance that the best candidates
were found.
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Knowledge Portfolio® assists in the
team building process by providing the ability to search within the
organization for exactly those people who's skills, experience and
wisdom fit the needs of the project. The software allows complex queries
to be made to find someone with the right qualifications. Because the
individuals themselves input the data, describing what they have
accomplished in the knowledge indicators important to the organization,
the project manager has the evidence at hand that not only says 'that'
the individual has the ability needed, but also 'how' they have that
ability. The anecdotal evidence is at hand to prove to the project
manager that they have found the person they need. In the end, teams can
be built with the best people quickly and easily.
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Performance evaluations of individuals and
teams are a necessary, but often unpleasant, task. The goal of performance
evaluations is to help those being evaluated to become better than they
are, to benefit both themselves and their organization. Numbers are often
used to try to quantify the process in order to simplify the
decision-making. While truly fair evaluations may use numbers, those
numbers must be based on objective facts, as opposed to assumptions,
opinions and memory. If the accomplishments, recognitions and activities
of those evaluated are at hand, a more fair and objective evaluation can
be made.
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Knowledge Portfolio® contributes to
evaluations by collecting, organizing and detailing the accomplishments,
recognitions and activities of an organization's knowledge workers.
Summaries of numbers can be generated by the system, but they are always
ready to be supported by anecdotal evidence. All items recorded in the
system are based on those performance indicators considered important
and relevant by the organization.
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It is often said that you get what you
measure. If an organization can articulate to its employees what it finds
to be important in terms of knowledge and its use, then the organization
will start to get behavior that lends itself to those criteria, indeed,
start to manage its performance.
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Knowledge Portfolio® allows the
organization to define the knowledge indicators (performance indicators,
competencies...) that it finds important and necessary to competing in
its market. Having a structure that reflects the organization's values
ensures that in the long run, employees (recognizing what the
organization finds important), will start to "fill in the blanks", ie.
start to behave in ways that allow them to show what they have
accomplished in regards to those knowledge indicators.
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An organization needs to be able to
identify those resources it needs to get the job done. If new projects are
coming up, or the company has shifted strategic direction, it would be
beneficial to know where you are lacking in knowledge, experience, skills
and wisdom (as well as where you are strong), so that you may act
accordingly. If you need someone to advise you on a given problem and can
find them quickly and easily, you will not waste time following the
network of contacts in the company to find the expert.
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Knowledge Portfolio® hands you the
ability to find the resources you need within your own organization.
Even something as simple as needing to find someone who can answer a
couple of questions to help move a project along can be answered quickly
and easily by searching the enterprise version of the software.
Strategic staffing is also facilitated by the ability to see who has
accumulated what knowledge and experience that would lend itself to a
given position.
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