Build a platform for knowledge sharing

Headquartered in Northern Virginia, USA, CSC is a leading technology consulting firm. With the help of a corporate knowledge/learning system, the company made $5 billion in sales last year. CSC's knowledge system is mainly composed of three parts: knowledge team: develop and share knowledge in customer service; knowledge base: store all the core technologies of CSC as a guide to understand the company's professional knowledge; a collaborative enterprise Environment: Encouraging and promoting the application of the knowledge base and the knowledge team.

CSC's knowledge system encourages employees to make full use of the knowledge base and use the technical tools and products in it to serve customers. Employees can download more than 1,500 computer training courses from the knowledge base to enrich their theoretical knowledge and practical business level. In addition, they can freely enter the learning program of their colleagues to improve their own learning efficiency.

As demonstrated by CSC, successful transformation of today's e-commerce environment depends on several key factors, two of which are "Learning" and "Knowledge". The third factor is "collaboration". Implementing effective change requires collaboration across departments, functions and levels. You cannot implement reforms in only one sector of the business without touching other related sectors.

Putting all knowledge at your fingertips

Aggregating all information To achieve a planned innovation, it is first necessary to put together all the information about the past and present situation of the enterprise. At the same time, it is necessary to aim at the future development of the enterprise, and avoid fussing over and entangled in the problems of the past. This information is then translated into knowledge that guides change and innovation, providing resources for learning and skills advancement for individuals and businesses. Most importantly, use a corporate culture of collaboration to facilitate knowledge exchange and learning.

How to integrate corporate knowledge and employee development?

Let's go back to the CSC example. The core of the enterprise knowledge system is business innovation technology, and employees can access key skills, ideas and practical experience at any time. The six innovation areas of the system include: operating procedures, organization, distribution, applications, data and technology.

"Operation Procedures" introduces the business scope and management methods of the enterprise. Innovation in this part will lead to change in all other areas. "Organization" mainly includes people-related issues in the enterprise, such as corporate culture, personnel quality, tasks, team composition and support systems. "Distribution" describes the distribution of enterprise facilities and the requirements for cargo transportation capacity. "Application" mainly involves the relevant human factors required for technical structure, design, and software capabilities. "Data" includes the content, structure, relationship and function of the information required by the enterprise. "Technology" refers to the hardware, system software and network support necessary for the enterprise.

Collectively, these fields contain all the information needed to meet client requirements. These interacting factors combine to form a complete business approach that gives CSC a huge competitive advantage. The company evaluates the value of "knowledge planning" projects in five aspects: employee retention rate, employee efficiency, return on investment, enterprise flexibility and business success rate.

The combination of knowledge and learning mechanism The final decisive issue is how to make "knowledge" and "learning mechanism" combine and work together. If a business lacks sufficient qualified personnel to take on existing and proposed responsibilities and roles, the business will need to work to improve the skills of its existing personnel. Through the combination of "knowledge" and "learning", and making full use of the advantages of electronic networks, enterprises can establish an excellent ability training system and stand out in the competition of similar enterprises.

The exchange of experience is a central element of all knowledge planning. CSC's knowledge teams are created specifically to meet the general interests and expertise of the company's personnel. People are very willing to exchange experiences and new ideas with colleagues who are professionals. A team of experts is responsible for ideological guidance, consultation and training for employees. People can access a network of experts and participate in exchanges on issues of interest to them. CSC has cultivated a culture that encourages and rewards collaboration in a way that most knowledge sharing programs don't.

Let all employees learn effectively

Turn data into effective information The so-called knowledge, first of all, comes from the relevant data of the company's experience and the company's position in the market and industry. However, these data are incessant and huge, and it is difficult for enterprises to fully grasp and fully absorb them. Therefore, the first task is to first determine the principles of data collection management. Here are some basic questions about the data:

What is the general state of the field? What about the internal situation of the company?

What types of information will be most useful to the business now and in the future?

When do we need this information? Do we often need this information?

How do we turn data into information and lessons to guide practice?

Once the business has this information, who should get it? Who should be able to receive information on a regular basis?

How can businesses encourage employees to take advantage of information and request the information they need?

It must be remembered that if the data cannot be transformed into valuable information intelligence, the mere collection of data is bound to be futile. Recognizing this is important for maintaining the correct direction of study and research.

Clarify what and how to learn Next comes the need to clarify what and how to learn. The following are basic questions about employee development:

What knowledge is required of people at various positions and levels in the organization?

Which mediums can effectively promote knowledge learning at all positions and levels?

How can I make employees realize that the importance of organizational learning is an integral part of work?

There is a basic solution to the above problem. If you want people to do something, you have to make them aware of the benefits they can get. The first instinct of human beings is survival, the second is comfort, and the third is development and growth. Whenever and wherever you instill an idea in people, keep these three simple principles in mind, and you can go anywhere.

Today's business leaders must learn to address these unpredictable and unmanageable issues of people development and knowledge sharing. These problems cannot be simply pushed to the human resources department to deal with, and all employees of the enterprise must be actively involved. People are willing to communicate with those who share the same interests and difficulties. People want to keep learning and developing. Training is a good way, but it is more effective to establish a platform for experience exchange and business-specific learning. In conclusion, business knowledge and learning are crucial for companies to succeed in the E era.

Originally adapted from The E-Aligned Enterprise: How to Map and Measure Your Company's Course in the New Economy by Dr. Jac Fitz-Enz with permission. The author registered copyright in 2001. Published by AMACOM, a subsidiary of American Management Association, International, New York. Translated by Zhu Xiaofan. The English version of this book is distributed by McGraw-Hill Book Co. (Singapore).

Dr. Jac Fitz-Enz has an international reputation for his work and research on business and people performance assessment and improvement. In the past 30 years, he has authored a large number of monographs, research reports and papers. His main works include The ROI of Human Capital, The 8 Practices of Exceptional Companies, Human Value Management and Benchmarking Staff Performance, etc. In addition, Fitz-Enz is the founder and director of the Saratoga Institute, a world-renowned quantitative performance data and training research organization.