The Art and Practice of Knowledge Transfer,Four Generations of Learning Styles,The Process,Methods of Transferring Knowledge,Barriers to Knowledge Transfer,Incentives to Knowledge Transfer and Benefits of Knowledge Transfer

1. KNOWLEDGE TRANSFER IN TODAY’S
MULTIGENERATIONAL WORKPLACE:
What it takes to do it best
HR Learning Session
by
O. M. Babatunde-Lawal

2. AN OVERVIEW
 Introduction
 Knowledge Transfer: Definitions
 The Art and Practice of Knowledge Transfer
 Four Generations of Learning Styles
 The Process
 Methods of Transferring Knowledge
 Barriers to Knowledge Transfer
 Incentives to Knowledge Transfer
 Benefits of Knowledge Transfer
 Conclusion

3. Introduction
Most organizations hope that their retiring employees will
act as stewards of the organization and the future.
In effect, employers say “Give us sufficient warning so that
we can line up a replacement and capture and also pass
along what you know to those who will remain”

4. Knowledge Transfer: A Definition
What is Knowledge?
It is information or understanding gained through experience and
education.
What is Knowledge transfer?
It is literally the transfer of knowledge from one brain to another.
It is the act of conveying knowledge of one source to another, one group to
another or one unit to another.
Knowledge transfer is not about transferring knowledge alone, it involves
the willingness of the other party or recipient to absorb the knowledge to
his/her own benefits.

5. Like Knowledge Management, Knowledge transfer seeks to
organize, create, capture or distribute knowledge and ensure
its availability for future users.
It is considered to be more than just a communication problem.
If it were merely that, then a memorandum, an e-mail or a
meeting would accomplish the knowledge transfer.
It is more of minimizing the act of hoarding information (i.e.
facts and details known about something or somebody),
encouraging sharing of knowledge and storing it.

6. The Art and Practice of Knowledge Transfer
In our private lives, often we transfer knowledge so easily
and efficiently we don’t know we’re doing it. Example:
asking directions.
However, in organizations, effective and sustainable
knowledge transfer is more complex because :
 knowledge resides in organizational members, tools,
tasks and their subnetworks and
 much knowledge is tacit or hard to articulate

7. Knowledge Transfer Life Cycle
Identify and value
Validate and
Learn and capture
document
Transfer and
Publish and share
apply

8. Four Generations of Learning Styles
There is a need to identify the dynamics of knowledge transfer, paying
special attention to differences in learning styles between generations.
Matures or Veterans Baby Boomers
(born 1925 – 1945) (born 1946 – 1964 after World War II)
Age Range 86 – 66years Age range 65 – 47years
 Reflects “cultural values”  Competitive
 Loyal  Believe in ability to change things
 Respect authority  Idealistic realize that loyalty is dead
 Command & control  Understand their organization
leadership  Enjoy leadership roles
 Sacrifice to get a job done  Good team players
 Like recognition for their
They are still a power force in some contribution
organizations.

9. How Boomers and Matures learn:
Boomers and their predecessors were educated through
formal classroom instruction and texts and remain
comfortable with both.
They are “digital immigrants” who did not grow up with
computers. They like hard copy, and may actually read a
company manual from beginning to end. When learning,
they generally prefer material be verbal and text-driven,
formal, and deductive.

10. Gen Xers Gen Yers
(born 1965 – 1982) (born 1983 – 1995)
Age Range 46 – 29years Age range 28 – 16years
 Trust themselves not institution  Technically savvy
 Skeptical  Value diversity
 Independent  Have global perspective
 Seek work life balance  Lots of feedback & communication
 Dislike rule and red tape  Desire professional growth
 Dislike corporate politics  Do not stay in one job for long
 Like to find solution to problem  Want information quick and concise
 Prefers incidental learning  Love connectivity e.g. Social media
A Caveat: When making generalizations about any group, caution is
warranted. One will still find many differences within the generations, in
addition to differences between them.

11. How Gen Xers (business casuals) Learn:
This generations adapts easily to both formal and informal learning. Their
highest priority is action learning in the workplace.
They like to find real solutions to real problems.
Having adopted technology in the adolescence, these employees are
more visual than verbal.
How Gen Yers (digital natives) learn:
This group, comprised of employees who were born into the computer
world, learns by inductive discovery and exploration.
They want to do, not to be told. Jumping right in is their modus operandi,
trial and error their preference.
Connectivity is a hallmark of this generation. Gen Y loves to connect via
IMs, blogs, wikis, and podcasts. They love social media e.g. facebook,
twitter etc.

12. Methods of Knowledge Transfer
 Formal education and training
 Mentorship
 Paired work
 Apprenticeship (expert and novice)
 Work shadowing
 Narrative Transfer (or story telling)
 Communities of practice (CoPs)
 Job rotation
 Knowledge elicitation interviews
 Guided experimentation
 Blogs
 Instant messaging (IM)

13. Four factors that influence knowledge Transfer
Relational Channel
Relational channel provide the human-to-human connection necessary to
support the transfer of tacit knowledge.
Partner similarity
This refers to the similarity that exists between knowledge giver and
receiver. People with similar backgrounds, levels and experiences.
Organizational self knowledge
Individual know what they know and also what other people know.
Divergence of interest
The divergence of interest between sender and receiver can inhibit
knowledge transfer.

14. Barriers to Knowledge Transfer
 Lack of Trust
 Motivational Issues
 Generational differences
 Organizational Culture non-conducive to knowledge sharing (Knowledge is power)
 Misconceptions
 Lack of interest
 Bad interpersonal relationship
 Lack of incentives
 Language
 Limitations of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs)
 Lack of time
 Pride or low self esteem

15. Incentives to Knowledge Transfer
According to the literature on knowledge transfer and experience of the
authors, three key incentives come into play:
 Reciprocity
 Recognition
 Altruism
What enables Knowledge Transfer?
Variety of technologies including database collaboration of tools, content
management, search engines and portals.

16. Benefits of Knowledge Transfer
The potential benefits typically resulting from knowledge transfer
range from tactical to strategic, and include:
 acceleration of development and on-boarding for new hires
 capturing of knowledge before it leaves
 step-change in productivity
 speed and agility
 transformation of organization’s bottom line (new profit)
 building of relationships and creation of conducive workplace and
 risk reduction
 saving of time and costs

17. Conclusion
Is the sky falling because Boomer Knowledge and business
wisdom are leaving organizations at an unprecedented rate?
Probably not. After all, people have been retiring from workforce
ever since people began working.
But there is significant opportunity in strategic and targeted
knowledge transfer.
Technology has created a larger gap between outgoing and
incoming workforces than employers have ever experienced,
increasing the demand for knowledge transfer at the
organizational level.

18. Conclusion (contd:-)
One of IITA’s workforce planning strategy should be to retain critical
knowledge in order to perform its core business processes seamlessly as
its workforce transitions in and out of the organization.
IITA should embrace knowledge transfer by:
 selecting knowledge transfer methods that suits its workplace
 ensuring that people with high team playing abilities are employed by
conducting behavioral and emotional intelligence tests at interviews
 ensuring flexibility on hierarchical structure and respect for individual
values
 encouraging a two-way communication model
 having a knowledge management database
 providing policy manuals on knowledge transfer
 rewarding and recognizing best behaviour

19. In today’s environment, hoarding knowledge ultimately
erodes your power. If you know something very
important, the way to get power (i.e. access to
opportunity & advancement) is by actually sharing it.
Sharing knowledge occurs when people are genuinely
interested in helping one another develop new capacities
for action; it is about creating a learning process.
So, share! Share! and continue to acquire knowledge.
I rest my case.

21. Questions???