Public and private sector output of goods and services, nationally, and internationally, has been steadily rising supported by improvements in the effectiveness and efficiency of an expanding workforce supported by enhanced technology, especially automation and the evolving field of artificial intelligence (AI).
Within this expanding workforce are many highly paid jobs requiring a depth of experience that cannot be replaced by automation or AI. Most of these jobs are experience based and intertwined with necessary expertise around human interactions. As margins become tighter, as competition increases, and the generational nature of the workforce continues to change, these knowledge workers who jobs are hard to automate or duplicate with AI need to be used (leveraged) much more effectively. In addition to leveraging the increasing value of adaptive technology and AI, organizations should not forget the value of leveraging the knowledge their workforce has …what they know about what they do…that will be hard to replace if nothing is done to capture and make sense out of it for future use/reuse.
Technology alone is not the answer. The ability to effectively capture, adapt, transfer, and reuse the critical and relevant knowledge of this knowledge workforce continues to be essential to enable organizations to adapt to change in all its dimensions and to effectively “operate faster than the speed of change.”
The question then is, why aren’t more organizations focusing on their ability to capture, adapt, transfer, and reuse their critical and relevant knowledge in their strategic planning and as part of the strategic focus of their organizations. I know the standard reasons but there is much more to consider. Lots of effort goes into leveraging the financial, technical, and information assets within the organization, why wouldn’t as much or more effort be invested in capturing and leveraging the knowledge of the organization as a strategic asset.
Just doesn’t make sense that “performing and learning” isn’t more broadly a focus.