A proposed method for assessing knowledge loss risk with departing personnel
| Published date | 06 May 2014 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/VINE-07-2012-0028 |
| Pages | 185-209 |
| Date | 06 May 2014 |
| Author | Murray Eugene Jennex |
| Subject Matter | Information & knowledge management,Knowledge management,Knowledge management systems |
A proposed method for assessing
knowledge loss risk with
departing personnel
Murray Eugene Jennex
San Diego State University, San Diego, California, USA
Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of the paper is to propose a methodology for organizations to use to assess the
risk of knowledge loss should a specic employee leave. The article also proposes actions that can be
taken by the organization to capture this knowledge before it is lost.
Design/methodology/approach – Applied research based on the systems analysis approach.
Findings – The paper nds that it is possible to create a system for identifying which knowledge is
most likely to be lost and to guide an organization towards the appropriate actions for capturing that
knowledge before it is lost.
Research limitations/implications – The process has only been piloted on a single organization
and with a limited number of subjects. However, the results are promising, and future research is
focused on exploring generalizability.
Practical implications – The paper provides a process that will assist managers in making better
decisions when allocating resources for capturing knowledge from departing individuals.
Social implications – The process introduces a new social dynamic in the assessment of individuals
which may have an impact on organizational dynamics.
Originality/value – This is a very innovative and original application of traditional risk assessment
principles.
Keywords Knowledge, Risk, Knowledge management, Risk assessment
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
Knowledge workers are dened by Davenport (2005) as those who think for a living and
whose main assets are knowledge. Reinhardt et al. (2011) differentiate knowledge work
from other forms of work through the primary task of “non-routine” problem-solving
that requires a combination of convergent, divergent and creative thinking.
Knowledge-based organizations utilize knowledge to produce the goods/services that
generate their income. Knowledge workers are those workers in knowledge-based
organizations who hold, access, create and/or apply knowledge to the generation of
value/income. Knowledge workers, while a valuable resource, also exhibit high
transience Yigitcanlar et al. (2007). Additionally, by 2010, ⬎25 per cent of the US
workforce became eligible for retirement that would have resulted in a potential worker
shortage of 10 million, signifying a tremendous loss of organizational knowledge had
not the world economy went into recession (Federal Interagency Forum on
Aging-Related Statistics, 2008). Organizational knowledge loss is an unfortunate fact
and one that will become a large problem for organizations as the economy improves.
Organizations lose knowledge through the loss of knowledge holders (i.e. experts and
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at
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Method for
assessing
knowledge loss
risk
185
Received 25 July 2012
Revised 26 October 2013
Accepted 30 October 2013
VINE: The journal of information
and knowledge management systems
Vol. 44 No. 2, 2014
pp. 185-209
© Emerald Group Publishing Limited
0305-5728
DOI 10.1108/VINE-07-2012-0028
knowledge workers), failure to capture critical knowledge, failure of knowledge
repositories (this can be failure of electronic, paper or human storage media) and just
plain forgetting (either forgetting the actual knowledge or forgetting where captured
knowledge is stored). As examples, Jennex (2006) discusses how NASA, the US National
Aeronautics and Space Administration, was unable to return to the moon (had they
wanted to) because they had lost the knowledge of how to build Saturn V rockets and
Apollo spacecraft through loss of knowledge workers (retirement and death) and loss of
knowledge kept in their repositories. Jennex (2005a,2008) discuss the improvements to
productivity through knowledge use in an engineering organization and how that
organization was impacted through reduced organizational capability by a reduction in
force caused by the 2001/2002 energy crisis in California.
There is much literature associated with attracting and retaining employees, as it is
understood that there are costs associated with replacing workers. Drucker (1999)
discusses the high cost of replacing knowledge workers, while TBORG (2011) estimates
that it costs the yearly salary of a knowledge worker to replace that knowledge worker;
this paper considers this low but can accept it if this cost does not include the cost of
initially educating a knowledge worker. For example pilots, technicians, military
ofcers, engineers and managers (just to name a few positions) all have higher training
costs than what they will earn in a year. Additionally, neither Drucker (1999) nor
TBORG (2011) take into account the cost of replacing the experiential knowledge
possessed by departing knowledge workers. What is the value of 10, 20, 30 or 40 years
of experience or the experience of working on a strategic project? Can this value be
calculated? Do knowledge organizations understand the value of this knowledge? This
paper assumes that there is a high cost to replacing knowledge workers and the
knowledge they possess, and explores how to assess the risk of losing knowledge by
losing experts and/or knowledge workers. The research questions being investigated
are how does an organization assess the value of departing knowledge and how can
knowledge management (KM) be used to mitigate knowledge loss. The paper uses a
risk-based approach to propose a KM-based methodology for doing so. The value to the
reader of this paper is in this proposed methodology and in making knowledge worker
researchers and managers aware of the risk associated with losing a knowledge worker.
The rst part of this paper discusses foundational concepts of knowledge, KM and
risk. The next section discusses the applied research methodology used to conduct the
research presented in the paper. The following sections identify previous work in the
eld and the proposed knowledge loss risk assessment process. This is followed by
sections discussing the ndings, including a pilot project used to evaluate the proposed
process, and the conclusions of the paper. The Appendix of the paper contains
prospective data gathering forms that can be used to implement the proposed risk
assessment methodology.
Foundations
Knowledge
This paper is about assessing the risk of losing knowledge. First, although what is
knowledge and, in particular, organizational knowledge? Davenport and Prusak (1998)
view knowledge as an evolving mix of framed experience, values, contextual
information and expert insight that provides a framework for evaluating and
incorporating new experiences and information. They found that in organizations,
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