Find out the importance of a knowledge sharing culture and how to promote knowledge sharing. Check out Juliette's video on the power of a knowledge sharing culture below: https://youtu.be/lmlEXRmhTjQ

1. HOW DO YOU CREATE
A KNOWLEDGE SHARING
CULTURE?
@juliettedenny

2. THE IMPORTANCE OF A
KNOWLEDGE SHARING CULTURE
With the Baby Boomer Brain Drain phenomenon, the millennial job-
hopping trend and employee turnover at a staggering 15% average,
the harmful effects of knowledge loss are becoming more and more
evident. It’s been estimated that this phenomenon is already
resulting in 10,000 departures per day in the US alone.
As employees leave organisations, the fear is that this huge portion
of the workforce will take their knowledge with them when they go.
Why does this matter? Because numerous different research reports
have shown a correlation between intellectual and financial capital.

3. KNOWLEDGE HOARDING
SLOWS GROWTH
On a practical level, knowledge hoarding can
impede organic growth within organisations. In a
culture that doesn’t promote knowledge sharing,
the knowledge hoarder reigns supreme. There
could be any number of reasons for this: perhaps
they enjoy the status of being ‘the go-to guy’, or
maybe there’s simply no mechanism in place
allowing them to share their expertise. So what’s
the answer?
How can you counter this by embedding a
knowledge sharing culture within your
organization?

4. HOW TO PROMOTE
KNOWLEDGE SHARING
#1 PROVIDE A PLATFORM FOR DISCUSSION
Create an online discussion area (or social learning
platform) that will act as the bedrock of your new
knowledge sharing culture. Let users vote on the content
they deem the most useful. On most social learning
platforms, the content can be weighted depending on its
popularity, in much the same way as content on any other
social network. This ensures that the best, most relevant
information is seen by more people.

5. HOW TO PROMOTE
KNOWLEDGE SHARING
#2 GROW MORE EXPERTS
On these social platforms, the content isn’t the only thing that
can be weighted; the users of the system can also rise to
prominence by interacting with fellow employees, submitting
content and rating it. This gives everybody an incentive to
engage with the platform more, but it also lets the
administrators identify who the real experts are in any given
topic. These experts should then be incentivized to share their
knowledge and act as ambassadors for the new culture.

6. #3 GAMIFY THE SOCIAL EXPERIENCE
Insufficient or inefficient reward systems may lead individuals to
believe they are better off hoarding rather than sharing what
they know. One of the main reasons experts have been
reluctant to share their expertise is that they feel undervalued.
They need to understand: ‘what’s in it for me?’
Give these experts an incentive for sharing what they know.
Modern learning management platforms, for example,
incorporate gamification as a method of creating virtual
rewards and some have even developed the ability to convert
these virtual rewards into tangible benefits.
HOW TO PROMOTE
KNOWLEDGE SHARING

7. HOW TO PROMOTE
KNOWLEDGE SHARING
#4 CELEBRATE USER-GENERATED CONTENT
Learning managers and platform administrators are under
constant pressure to keep employees engaged with their
training programme, and providing fresh content on a
regular basis is a big factor.
Incorporating user generated content into your training
programme, can help ease the strain on your training
content creators and administration team. It can also help
to provide additional visibility and recognition for those
who engage most with your training regime and knowledge
sharing culture.

8. HOW TO PROMOTE
KNOWLEDGE SHARING
#5 GET YOUR KEY STAKEHOLDERS INVOLVED
It’s difficult enough to change an organisational culture, but if
your key stakeholders aren’t on the frontlines pushing and
supporting the new agenda, it’s nearly impossible. So, why not
ask your business leaders to share their knowledge in a variety
of formats?
Perhaps they could start a series of videos, or articles? Maybe
they could host a monthly webinar? Even better, why not ask
them to participate regularly across your organisation’s social
streams? Here, they could host Q&A sessions, share their
thoughts and comment on and ‘like’ their team-mate’s posts.

9. HOW TO PROMOTE
KNOWLEDGE SHARING
#6 USE COMPETITIONS & PRIZES
We’ve already talked about how recognition can motivate user
generated content, and even touched on how virtual badges
might be used. But offering more tangible rewards will also
have a huge effect on participation.
You can set a competition where your learners are challenged
to create something specific, with prizes offered for the best
entries. You might just find that your learners will go the extra
mile when some loot is on the line!

10. #7 MAKE MENTORING PART OF THE PROMOTION PROCESS
The best way to make a new initiative succeed is to embed it
in your processes. If your experts need to prove that they’ve
mentored another employee before they can be promoted,
they’ll be much more likely to share their knowledge.
This also means that their position as an expert depends not
only on what they know, but how well they can teach others.
HOW TO PROMOTE
KNOWLEDGE SHARING

11. According to Babcock, Fortune 500 companies lose roughly $31.5bn a
year by failing to share knowledge. Creating a knowledge sharing
culture has real world cost-saving benefits.
As the McKinsey Global Institute note, the average employee spends
an estimated 20% of their time looking for internal information or
tracking down colleagues who can help with specific tasks. On the
flip-side, a searchable record of knowledge can reduce the time that
employees spend searching for company information by as much as
35%.
That will leave them with more time to do the things that really
impact on your bottom line.
THE
BENEFITS