by Michelle Geromel | Human Capital
Knowledge Management is something a lot of business owners think about, but don’t really see the value in until a key employee leaves and things become a muddled mess. While I can’t guarantee that a new employee’s transition into the fold won’t be less than smooth, I do know from experience, that a way to help someone succeed and feel good about their job is to give them the tools to do so. And knowledge management is one of those tools. Yes it’s another task for you to manager (unless you have a great training person) but it’s worth it in my opinion. Start by having each employee in the office make a list of what they do on a weekly, monthly and yearly basis. Also ask them to let you know what systems they use. And make sure that you have a way to access their accounts with an Admin override should they leave suddenly. I would suggest that if you have someone handling your AP/AR that you also make sure they leave for you (and you alone) the passwords to all of your accounts. So that you can access them if they are gone. For example, if an employee is receiving your office bills online make sure that you understand where those bills are going to (what email). And also make sure you also have the ability to access the accounts directly online as well. Make sure to communicate why you are doing this. Employees are sometimes wary for sharing knowledge because it is in a way, power. They may worry you are trying to reduce the...
