Best Practice - Jaidev Majumdar
Mining Value From Managing Knowledge
Tata Steel has cut costs and connected 8,000 employees to share knowledge that will benefit the organization. Now it wants to involve the entire 40,000 employees in this program.
Sample this: Like all major steelmakers, Tata Steel faced difficulty in getting rid of the boulders ('burden' in mining parlance) that invariably crop up while extracting coal from the mines. Disposing of these burdens continued to be an expensive proposition for the company until Tata Steel's engineering department suggested that they be used for constructing drain walls, for instance. The suggestion was immediately embraced and implemented.
Tata Steel claims that inter-department knowledge-sharing initiatives like this one have helped the company save Rs 10 lakh during 2003-04.
As the company strives to advance its Knowledge Management initiative, it faces one problem: how to involve all 40,000-odd Tata Steel employees in this effort. Ravi Arora, the head of Knowledge Management at Tata Steel, says, "So far, we have been able to connect about 8,000 employees under this Knowledge Management program. The biggest challenge facing us now is to connect the shop-floor level workers who have difficulty interacting in the English language."
Knowledge Management was initiated at Tata Steel in July 1999 with the objective of shifting the basis of growth from natural resources and physical assets to intellectual capital, which has become a source of innovation, growth, and value today. Knowledge Management was brought under the more ambitious change management initiative called ASPirational Initiatives to Retain Excellence, or ASPIRE, across Tata organizations in 2000. But now, it is increasingly gaining critical mass.
While the Tatas are also looking for a vernacular computer interface to connect the employees and thereby broaden the initiative, efforts are also underway to interconnect other Tata Group companies with Tata Steel.
According to Arora, Tata Steel has saved Rs 30 crore from knowledge-sharing initiatives in 2003-04, up from Rs 14.80 crore during 2002-03.
New Task
While knowledge sharing has so far paid rich dividends within the company, Tata Steel is pushing for bigger bottom-line savings during the current fiscal. As a first step, Tata Steel will connect its subsidiaries.
Tata Steel is planning to connect about 20,000 group employees within a year by extending the initiative to other group companies. Currently, the Tata Group has about 2,10,000 employees on its rolls. The Knowledge Management framework at Tata Steel rests on a Knowledge Repository, which was created as per guidelines laid down by consulting firm McKinsey. The repository was initially built with voluntary contributions from officers working in various departments who shared their work experiences, which included best practices, learning from failures, improved and new practices adopted, customer and supplier knowledge, etc.
Sharing Knowledge
The Knowledge Repository was followed by creating Knowledge Communities, which are groups of like-minded people who come together to share what they know and learn from one another. "There are 29 such communities in existence today. They exchange emails providing valuable information that can be adopted by others," says Mr. Arora.
He also adds that writing emails did not come easily to many employees; therefore, the company waited for two years to acclimatize them with writing before making it a mandatory practice.
"For example, the Tata Steel maintenance department may have discovered a particular brand of grease that significantly reduces the wear-out of rotating equipment. A maintenance knowledge community may recommend the use of this grease to their counterpart in Tata Tinplate," explains Arora.
Another significant development of the Knowledge Management initiative has been the formation of an "Ask Expert" system. Under this system, any employee facing a particular job-related problem may seek advice from experts who are available online. Currently, there are about 250 such experts at Tata Steel who provide expert assistance to the employees.
However, Tata Steel's claims of knowledge sharing paying rich dividends have been discounted by other steelmakers. "Many of their practices are common and have been in existence for years in other organizations," says a spokesperson of Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL), the country's largest steelmaker.
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Mining Value From Managing Knowledge
Tata Steel has cut costs and connected 8,000 employees to share knowledge that will benefit the organization. Now it wants to involve the entire 40,000 employees in this program.
Sample this: Like all major steelmakers, Tata Steel faced difficulty in getting rid of the boulders ('burden' in mining parlance) that invariably crop up while extracting coal from the mines. Disposing of these burdens continued to be an expensive proposition for the company until Tata Steel's engineering department suggested that they be used for constructing drain walls, for instance. The suggestion was immediately embraced and implemented.
Tata Steel claims that inter-department knowledge-sharing initiatives like this one have helped the company save Rs 10 lakh during 2003-04.
As the company strives to advance its Knowledge Management initiative, it faces one problem: how to involve all 40,000-odd Tata Steel employees in this effort. Ravi Arora, the head of Knowledge Management at Tata Steel, says, "So far, we have been able to connect about 8,000 employees under this Knowledge Management program. The biggest challenge facing us now is to connect the shop-floor level workers who have difficulty interacting in the English language."
Knowledge Management was initiated at Tata Steel in July 1999 with the objective of shifting the basis of growth from natural resources and physical assets to intellectual capital, which has become a source of innovation, growth, and value today. Knowledge Management was brought under the more ambitious change management initiative called ASPirational Initiatives to Retain Excellence, or ASPIRE, across Tata organizations in 2000. But now, it is increasingly gaining critical mass.
While the Tatas are also looking for a vernacular computer interface to connect the employees and thereby broaden the initiative, efforts are also underway to interconnect other Tata Group companies with Tata Steel.
According to Arora, Tata Steel has saved Rs 30 crore from knowledge-sharing initiatives in 2003-04, up from Rs 14.80 crore during 2002-03.
New Task
While knowledge sharing has so far paid rich dividends within the company, Tata Steel is pushing for bigger bottom-line savings during the current fiscal. As a first step, Tata Steel will connect its subsidiaries.
Tata Steel is planning to connect about 20,000 group employees within a year by extending the initiative to other group companies. Currently, the Tata Group has about 2,10,000 employees on its rolls. The Knowledge Management framework at Tata Steel rests on a Knowledge Repository, which was created as per guidelines laid down by consulting firm McKinsey. The repository was initially built with voluntary contributions from officers working in various departments who shared their work experiences, which included best practices, learning from failures, improved and new practices adopted, customer and supplier knowledge, etc.
Sharing Knowledge
The Knowledge Repository was followed by creating Knowledge Communities, which are groups of like-minded people who come together to share what they know and learn from one another. "There are 29 such communities in existence today. They exchange emails providing valuable information that can be adopted by others," says Mr. Arora.
He also adds that writing emails did not come easily to many employees; therefore, the company waited for two years to acclimatize them with writing before making it a mandatory practice.
"For example, the Tata Steel maintenance department may have discovered a particular brand of grease that significantly reduces the wear-out of rotating equipment. A maintenance knowledge community may recommend the use of this grease to their counterpart in Tata Tinplate," explains Arora.
Another significant development of the Knowledge Management initiative has been the formation of an "Ask Expert" system. Under this system, any employee facing a particular job-related problem may seek advice from experts who are available online. Currently, there are about 250 such experts at Tata Steel who provide expert assistance to the employees.
However, Tata Steel's claims of knowledge sharing paying rich dividends have been discounted by other steelmakers. "Many of their practices are common and have been in existence for years in other organizations," says a spokesperson of Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL), the country's largest steelmaker.
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Dear Robinhood,
If I may add to the TATA experience, Knowledge Management seems to have always been with us, but the issue is how do we maximize its benefits. Basically, I believe a company's management should be part of it, if not initiated by it.
Identifying Talent at Recruitment
At the point of recruitment or entry, HR should, through analysis, identify personnel who have a flair for different things—data collection, brainstorming, repairs, correcting as opposed to criticizing, reading, etc. This can be tapped into when the need arises.
Workplace Culture and Intellectual Expression
Another point is the workplace culture—are staff allowed to express themselves, especially intellectually? Are they shot down or looked at scornfully when expressing a different opinion or taking an opposite position?
To buttress the above, I would reference David Hill, who in his book "Getting Heard" said, "there is no such thing as a stupid idea."
In addition, note that even a stopped timepiece is correct twice a day—at a.m. and p.m.
Gathering and Utilizing Knowledge
In light of the above, management should gather information, allow intellectual expressions, collate the readily useful ones for its use, and others for future adaptation when the need arises.
Encouraging Knowledge Management Through Workshops
Another angle of encouraging a Knowledge Management environment is to schedule in-house workshops to be led by heads of departments or officers who have attended seminars or training to share their experiences with colleagues. In this way, human capital quality is reinforced via knowledge sharing.
Broadening Employee Knowledge
Employees should be encouraged to read widely beyond their fields, broadening their faculties to the point where they can contribute to issues outside their core area of specialization. For example, a lawyer should be able to define simple terms in human resources, and an accountant should be able to identify a beacon on a piece of land.
Creating a Knowledge-Friendly Workplace
The workplace should be knowledge-friendly, with book usage encouraged, library availability, and brainstorming beneficial. Above all, it should avoid stereotyping the seemingly intelligent individuals around. Others are expected to learn from them.
Hope I have shared some insights with my colleagues via this medium.
Cheers,
Afolabi Ajayi
From Nigeria, Lagos
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7If I may add to the TATA experience, Knowledge Management seems to have always been with us, but the issue is how do we maximize its benefits. Basically, I believe a company's management should be part of it, if not initiated by it.
Identifying Talent at Recruitment
At the point of recruitment or entry, HR should, through analysis, identify personnel who have a flair for different things—data collection, brainstorming, repairs, correcting as opposed to criticizing, reading, etc. This can be tapped into when the need arises.
Workplace Culture and Intellectual Expression
Another point is the workplace culture—are staff allowed to express themselves, especially intellectually? Are they shot down or looked at scornfully when expressing a different opinion or taking an opposite position?
To buttress the above, I would reference David Hill, who in his book "Getting Heard" said, "there is no such thing as a stupid idea."
In addition, note that even a stopped timepiece is correct twice a day—at a.m. and p.m.
Gathering and Utilizing Knowledge
In light of the above, management should gather information, allow intellectual expressions, collate the readily useful ones for its use, and others for future adaptation when the need arises.
Encouraging Knowledge Management Through Workshops
Another angle of encouraging a Knowledge Management environment is to schedule in-house workshops to be led by heads of departments or officers who have attended seminars or training to share their experiences with colleagues. In this way, human capital quality is reinforced via knowledge sharing.
Broadening Employee Knowledge
Employees should be encouraged to read widely beyond their fields, broadening their faculties to the point where they can contribute to issues outside their core area of specialization. For example, a lawyer should be able to define simple terms in human resources, and an accountant should be able to identify a beacon on a piece of land.
Creating a Knowledge-Friendly Workplace
The workplace should be knowledge-friendly, with book usage encouraged, library availability, and brainstorming beneficial. Above all, it should avoid stereotyping the seemingly intelligent individuals around. Others are expected to learn from them.
Hope I have shared some insights with my colleagues via this medium.
Cheers,
Afolabi Ajayi
From Nigeria, Lagos
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Knowledge Management.PPT
Knowledge management.pdf
Questionnaire in Knowledge Management.doc