Business ops: Hiding knowledge management practices in plain sight

Abstract

On the front-line, it is notoriously difficult to get employees to engage in knowledge management activities. It cannot be explained away as mere resistance; a complex range of organisational factors are at play which create obstacles to knowledge sharing and disenfranchise the workforce. Successful knowledge management ultimately hinges on employee participation. The mindset of ‘hiding knowledge management practices in plain sight’ is presented as an intervention strategy to boost employee engagement in knowledge management. This should appeal to knowledge management practitioners working in organisations who present lower levels of readiness, resistance, limited resources or imperatives to rapidly leverage critical knowledge. This article highlights opportunities to kick-start behavioural, procedural and technological changes that are conducive to deploying knowledge management practices in the organisation.