In an interview with HR Daily Advisor, Ari Bixhorn, Vice President of Marketing, at Panopto delved into insights gained from its research about the loss of company knowledge when employees leave an organization.
Turnover and Knowledge Loss are a real problem
Bixhorn starts by confirming that the average turnover at organizations is 16%, with an average 2-year turnover time. He claims that every time employees walk out the door, they’re taking their institutional knowledge with them. And in an era where everyone is a subject matter expert in something, that puts most businesses in a precarious position. Panopto's own research found that on average, 42% of the skills and expertise required to capably perform in a given position will be known only by the person currently in that position.
In other words, should that person leave, their remaining colleagues won't be able to do 42% of their work, and someone hired into that role will need to learn 42% from scratch.
Resulting inefficiencies
Knowledge loss has real consequences, most of which are rooted in inefficiencies which result from the loss in the first place. Panopto's research reveals that new employees will spend 200 working hours "working inefficiently". That is, asking colleagues for information and waiting for responses, forging ahead by trial and error, and/or “reinventing the wheel” to duplicate the work of their predecessor.
These inefficiencies lead to employee frustration, unnecessary delays in work products, and an overall loss of productivity that can significantly impact a company’s bottom line.
Financial Impact
Bixhorn claims that losses from inefficiences might seem small but they add up quickly. According to their resear, a firm with 1,000 employees can expect to lose $2.4 million in productivity annually due to these day-to-day inefficiencies, and a firm with 30,000 employees might expect to lose $72 million annually.
...a firm with 1,000 employees can expect to lose $2.4 million in productivity annually due to these day-to-day inefficiencies, and a firm with 30,000 employees might expect to lose $72 million annually.
Impact on employee engagement
Beyond repercussions on producitivity and finances, Bixhorn also acknowledges the impact on team morale. As he puts it, "we’ve all had those moments when something we’re working on gets stuck waiting for input from another team member. Or worse, those moments when a project stalled because a key member of the team took a new position and was no longer available to contribute. When faced with challenges like these, 81% of respondents report feeling frustrated, and 25% report feeling overwhelmed. That wouldn’t be a problem if it happened only occasionally. But delays like these are actually quite common."
Worryingly, Panopto's survey reveals that 60% of respondents find it difficult, very difficult, or nearly impossible to obtain information vital to their job from their colleagues. Employees in the survey spend an average of 5 hours per week waiting to get in touch with people who have the unique knowledge they need. For 1 in 10 workers, it’s not unusual to wait twice that long. During that time, work may be delayed, suspended, or even canceled altogether, further fueling employee frustrations.
Bixhorn's recommendations on retaining knowledge
Bixhorn advocates a proactive approach to retaining knowledge. Instead of waiting for frustration to set in, organizations should seek to create what he calls a "culture of teaching". In practice, this refers to a plethora of measures such as encouraging employees' contribution to wikis, holding brown-bag meetings, hosting Slack channel discussions and using video to document employee expertise. This should go hand-in-hand with reviewing the company's formal training initiatives, searching for new ways to cultivate the unique knowledge needed for particular jobs and getting new employees up to speed.
Knowledge Fabric's refinement of Panopto's approach to retaining knowledge
We here at Knowledge Fabric agree wholeheartedly with Bixhorn's advocation for a proactive approach to retaining knowledge within the company. However, one needs to be strategic about which knowledge to target in such activities. Ideally it should be knowledge that is critical to the organization, with knowledge that is a risk of being lost given priority in such activities. This is where Knowledge Fabric can help. Knowledge Fabric can pinpoint knowledge which could be at risk should specific employees in your organization decide to leave. With this knowledge, managers can organize remedial interventions such as the ones mentioned by Bixhorn to target this knowledge and reduce the risk associated it with it.
Talk to us today
Are you interested in learning more about how Knowledge Fabric can protect and enhance the tacit knowledge within your organization? We’re here to help you unlock the full potential of your team’s expertise. Talk to us today, and let’s start a conversation about how we can deliver lasting value to your business. Email us on letstalk@knowledgefabric.io.