One of the most dreadful comments you can make to a person is, 'You should know this.' Followed by the question, 'How long have you been here?' That's like telling your son or daughter they should know something, because of the age they are. It presupposes that in some way, the information was taught. Subsequently, it makes the listener (son, daughter or employee) feel like in some way 'they' missed the vital information. They missed the opportunity to snag the nugget of information that would have saved them from what is now a defeated moment. It also puts them on the defense.
Length of employment does not always equate into wealth of knowledge. Nor does it equate into being effective. While the opposite assumption is made, what is missed is the application of the knowledge. That which is unapplied is lost. My client has often experienced this.
In the general sense knowledge is present, but it is dormant. What is remembered is the idea of how something was suppose to work. The problem is that the information has not been applied in years and new processes have totally taken the place of what was known from before. The statement, 'I forgot' has replaced it. It was not forgotten on purpose; it was lost as part of a natural transition to a new process.
On those occasions where there is no loss, it has been because my client has been able to build upon the knowledge that was present. The full process was not lost; only a portion of it became obsolete. It was replaced with a more powerful function. In this the employee has seen the link between the two portions, the old and the new and possibly found an additional application. This is were the happy thoughts stopped. If the new application is not presented in way that generates buy in those listening (usually managment), or in some case if the planets are not aligned, no further application is allowed. That is until some time later, like maybe years.
I have witnessed people leave because they could know grow with my client, the way they had hoped. I have also watched people agonize over the decision of whether to go or to remain. They remained, but did so begrudgingly. Their staying was for reasons differing from the growth potential. Staying required patience for change and hope for more growth opportunities to make the staying worthwhile.
The sad part is departures were not discouraged; even though the person was a valuable asset, their worth was not consider reason enough to persuade them to stay.
The processes of my client are very cut and dry; black and white; very concrete. It is the methods of running these processes which allow for growth. It is with the introduction of wikis, writeboard, google docs etc. that will help my client to explode with possibilities on communicating with each other and with their customers.
Perhaps there is a wiki in their near future.....
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