Tag: Financial Institutions and Market notes

Knowledge management is an activity practised by enterprises all over the world. In the process of knowledge management, these enterprises comprehensively gather information using many methods and tools.

The Knowledge Management Process

The process of knowledge management is universal for any enterprise. Sometimes, the resources used, such as tools and techniques, can be unique to the organizational environment.

The Knowledge Management process has six basic steps assisted by different tools and techniques. When these steps are followed sequentially, the data transforms into knowledge.

Knowledge Management Process

Step 1: Collecting

This is the most important step of the knowledge management process. If you collect the incorrect or irrelevant data, the resulting knowledge may not be the most accurate. Therefore, the decisions made based on such knowledge could be inaccurate as well.

There are many methods and tools used for data collection. First of all, data collection should be a procedure in knowledge management process. These procedures should be properly documented and followed by people involved in data collection process.

The data collection procedure defines certain data collection points. Some points may be the summary of certain routine reports. As an example, monthly sales report and daily attendance reports may be two good resources for data collection.

With data collection points, the data extraction techniques and tools are also defined. As an example, the sales report may be a paper-based report where a data entry operator needs to feed the data manually to a database whereas, the daily attendance report may be an online report where it is directly stored in the database.

In addition to data collecting points and extraction mechanism, data storage is also defined in this step. Most of the organizations now use a software database application for this purpose.

Step 2: Organizing

The data collected need to be organized. This organization usually happens based on certain rules. These rules are defined by the organization.

As an example, all sales-related data can be filed together and all staff-related data could be stored in the same database table. This type of organization helps to maintain data accurately within a database.

If there is much data in the database, techniques such as ‘normalization’ can be used for organizing and reducing the duplication.

This way, data is logically arranged and related to one another for easy retrieval. When data passes step 2, it becomes information.

Step 3: Summarizing

In this step, the information is summarized in order to take the essence of it. The lengthy information is presented in tabular or graphical format and stored appropriately.

For summarizing, there are many tools that can be used such as software packages, charts (Pareto, cause-and-effect), and different techniques.

Step 4: Analyzing

At this stage, the information is analyzed in order to find the relationships, redundancies and patterns.

An expert or an expert team should be assigned for this purpose as the experience of the person/team plays a vital role. Usually, there are reports created after analysis of information.

Step 5: Synthesizing

At this point, information becomes knowledge. The results of analysis (usually the reports) are combined together to derive various concepts and artefacts.

A pattern or behavior of one entity can be applied to explain another, and collectively, the organization will have a set of knowledge elements that can be used across the organization.

This knowledge is then stored in the organizational knowledge base for further use.

Usually, the knowledge base is a software implementation that can be accessed from anywhere through the Internet.

One can also buy such knowledge base software or download an open-source implementation of the same for free.

Step 6: Decision Making

At this stage, the knowledge is used for decision making. As an example, when estimating a specific type of a project or a task, the knowledge related to previous estimates can be used.

This accelerates the estimation process and adds high accuracy. This is how the organizational knowledge management adds value and saves money in the long run.

Knowledge Management is the methodology, tools and techniques to gather, integrate and disseminate knowledge. It involves processes involving management of knowledge creation, acquisition, storage, organization, distribution, sharing and application. These can be further classified into organization and technology components.

The organization component consists of organization-wide strategy, standard and guidelines, policies, and socio-cultural environment.

The technology component consists of tools and techniques to implement effective knowledge management practice which provides values to its business, employees, customers and partners. The tools can furthers be classified into knowledge creation, knowledge integration, knowledge sharing and knowledge utilization.

1. Knowledge Creation: Knowledge is created either as explicit or tacit knowledge. Explicit knowledge is put in paper or electronic format. It is recorded and made accessible to others. Tacit knowledge is created in minds of people. This knowledge resides within individuals. This knowledge needs to be transformed into explicit knowledge so that it can recorded and shared with others in the organization.
2. Knowledge Storage: Knowledge is stored and organized in a repository. The decision on how and where lies with the organization. But the objective of this phase to enable organization to be able to contribute, organize and share knowledge with.
3. Knowledge Sharing: Knowledge is shared and accessed by people. They can either search or navigate to the knowledge items.
4. Knowledge Utilization: This is end goal of knowledge practice. The knowledge management does not have any value if knowledge created is not utilized to its potential. The more knowledge is created as knowledge is applied and utilized.

At Personal level

• Share and Learn: The sharing of knowledge in order to facilitate learning is the first step in knowledge management life-cycle. Sharing of knowledge is one in which people exchange their views and ideas on a particular domain.
• Create: Knowledge is created by sharing of ideas by people working in an organization. Better sharing leads to better ideas thereby creating a valuable knowledge repository.
• Capture and Acquire: Capture and acquisition of knowledge is one in which the knowledge created is collected in huge numbers and stored in a repository.
• Organize: Organizing is the next step to capturing of knowledge. The captured content is organized using a framework or knowledge model. The model reflects the elements of knowledge and flows that are embedded inherently in the specific processes and culture of organization.
• Access, Search and Disseminate: The organized knowledge is put in such a way that it could be accessed, searched and disseminated by the users working in the organization.
• Use and Discover: The last step is to make use of the knowledge acquired in solving problems in real time.

Primary Components

Now, it’s time to break down the primary components of Knowledge Management and how they work to optimize the storage and sharing of information in your business.

An effective Knowledge Management strategy involves several layers in order to fix the information bottlenecks in your business. From collecting information to using that information to make informed decisions, you need the process to be as streamlined as possible.

Primary components of Knowledge Management:

• Collecting
• Organizing
• Summarizing
• Analyzing
• Synthesizing
• Decision Making

KM is not information management, document management, data warehousing, data mining, imaging, yellow pages, content management, bulletin boards, ERM, CRM, BPM or any other form or application of information technology (IT). Nor is it library management, library science, business intelligence, best practices management, social network analysis, quality management, training, or e-learning.

What KM is is a management discipline aimed at enhancing organizational knowledge processing, and as such it is a social (management) science. Its purpose is to enhance an organization’s capacity to detect problems (i.e., epistemic gaps), solve or dispose of them, share or present the solutions to others, mitigate risks as a result, and adapt. It does this by enhancing organizational learning and innovation processes.

Everything else belongs to some other disciplines. KMCI’s research, training, and consulting programs are oriented accordingly.

People often equate knowledge management with other information systems or processes, such as CRM, document management, content management, or sales force automation. There’s no question that knowledge management works hand in hand with all of these, but it focuses on a different function. Simply put, knowledge management is really about retrieving, acquiring, and adapting corporate knowledge. By retrieving I mean the act of finding an answer to a user’s question, not unlike looking up something in a phone book, just a bit more complex. But what if it’s a question for which no answer exists? That’s where acquiring comes in. True knowledge management allows users not only to define the problem and find an answer as part of the search-and-retrieval process, but also to create a new answer when no answer is available, and make it available for others to use again and again. And finally, there’s adapting knowledge, which respects the vastly different approaches that people and organizations use to answer questions. Knowledge management should be able to adapt and mold to the business requirements of the organization, even as those requirements change. When you put all this together–acquiring, retrieving, adapting it becomes clear that through knowledge management, support organizations can answer questions and resolve problems using, reusing, and adding to, information that exists all over the company, which in turn improves the bottom line.

“Management development includes the process by which managers and management acquire not only skills and competency in their present jobs but also capabilities for future managerial tasks of increasing difficulty and scope.”: Flippo

In words of S. B. Budhiraja, former director of Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), “Any activity designed to improve the performance of existing managers and to provide for a planned growth of managers to meet future organisational requirements is called management development.”

Stakeholders are:

(a) The individual

(b) The management team

(c) Environment factors

(d) The organisation

Issues are:

1. Clarifying what is management development.
2. Defining business needs and requirements.
3. What do managers want from developers?
4. Evolving and changing individual develop­ment needs.
5. The need for different managerial styles.
6. Selecting the most appropriate method of development
7. Measuring and evaluating the benefits. Organising and Implementing Management Development Programmes.

The important assumptions and concerns behind management development are as follows:

• There always exists a gap between ‘required performance level’ and the ‘capacity’ of an individual. Management must fill in the gap to provide an opportunity for improvement.
• An executive needs development throughout his work life and his professional career. Thus, management development is an on-going activity.
• Some personal variables (such as age, habits, level of motivation, state of mind, etc.,) retard the growth of an individual.
• Involvement and participation are inescapable for growth.
• In work situation, growth involves stresses and strains. Development can seldom take place in a completely peaceful atmosphere.
• Shortcomings must be identified. Feedback and counseling to junior colleagues mentioning the shortcomings and applying suitable HRD instruments to overcome the shortcomings are essentially required.
• In addition to the methodology of achievement, there must be defined objectives and goals required to be achieved.

Process

• Learning process: Development is a learning process. Through this process executives learn to use their capabilities for organisational goals and they learn to handle future managerial tasks of increasing difficulty.
• Planned process: Development is a planned process. It does not happen by chance.
• Behavioural change: Management development is a learning process which is designed to change the behaviour, attitude of executives towards the job and organisation.
• Conceptual and human skills: There are three kinds of skills conceptual, human and technical. In executive development, conceptual and human skills are emphasised.
• Continuous process: Development is not a onetime process; it is a continuous process which goes on forever. It is a long-term process.
• Self-development: Personality of executives improves by development. They become more capable and their value also increases.

Steps in MS Process

Organisational Planning:

This step is concerned with ascertaining development needs that calls for organisational planning and forecast of its needs for present and future growth. This is generally based upon a comprehensive programme of job description, job specification and job analysis.

The management should ascertain well in advance the future course of organisational development, the kind of executives needed and kind of education, experience, training, special knowledge, skill, personal traits, etc., required for each work. Most companies train their own executives except when they experience a critical shortage of specialised high-level talent. In the later case, executives are hired from outside.

Assessment of Present Management Talent:

It is made with a view to determine qualitatively the type of personnel that is available within an organisation itself. The performance of a management individual is compared with the standard expected of him. His personal traits are also analyzed so that a value judgement may be made of his potential for advancement.

Preparation of Management Manpower Inventory:

It is, prepared for the purpose of getting complete information about each management individual’s biodata and educational qualifications, the result of tests and performance appraisal. The information is generally maintained on cards, one for each individual. It may also be maintained on replacement tables or charts. From these, it can be known that several capable executives are available for training for higher positions.

MD Programme Planning:

It is undertaken to meet the needs of different individuals keeping in view the differences in their attitudes and behaviour and in their physical, intellectual and emotional qualities. The weak and strong points of an individual are known from his performance appraisal reports and on the basis of these tailor-made programmes are framed and launched. Such programmes give due attention to the interests and goals of the subordinates as well as the training and development opportunities which exist within an organisation.

Implementation of Development Programme:

This job is done by the personnel department. A comprehensive and well conceived programme is generally prepared containing concentrated brief courses. Such courses may be in the field of human relations, time and motion study, creative thinking, memory training, decision making, leadership courses and courses in profession and the time and the cost involved.

Evaluation of Development Programme:

The evaluation of training has been defined by Hamblin as “Any attempt to obtain information on the effects of training programme and to assess the value of training in the light of that information”. According to him, the objectives of evaluation training are assessing the reactions of trainees, job behaviour, improvement in performance, contribution to organisational objectives, etc. The means of evaluating development programmes may include observation ratings, surveys, interviews, etc.

If these steps are followed meticulously, the objective of MD programme will be accomplished effectively. The managers and organisation both would be benefitted by management development programme.

According to Keith Davis “Employee counselling involves a discussion of an emotional problem with an employee with the general objective of decreasing it.”

HR counselling has become very important responsibility of HR managers as counselling plays vital role in different aspects of managing human resources like career planning and development, performance management, stress management, and other areas which may affect employees emotionally. Counselling has very wide application both within and without organizational context.

The need of the hour is to remove the problem and help the individual to regain his or her self-confidence and esteem and put his strength in work. Counselling can do the magic and help an individual to overcome his lost confidence and self respect because of the problem. So counselling is the process of helping an individual facing a problem and to regain his lost confidence and self esteem and put his mind in his job.

according to Keith Davis: Employee counselling involves a discussion of an emotional problem with an employee with the general objective of decreasing it.

This definition has three concepts:

(i) Counselling deals with emotional problems.

(ii) Counselling involves discussion i.e., it is an act of communication. Successful counselling depends on communication skills, primarily face- to-face, by which one person’s emotions can be shared with another.

(iii) The general objective of counselling is to understand and/or decrease an employee’s emotional disorder. If two individuals merely discuss an emotional problem of either of them, a social relationship may be established, but hardly a counselling one, because intent is not there. For counselling to exist, an employee must be seeking an understanding or help and/or the other (known as counsellor) must be offering it.

Need

• The employees need to know as to how much the employer care for the employee.
• There is a need for the employees to come out from the problems, gives a new way to deal with the problems.
• There is a need to increase the productivity of employee and the confidence about the work.
• There is also a need to identify the work related problems and the poor performance.

Objectives

• Understand his behaviour and reasons for such behaviour.
• Provide an opportunity for the employee to discuss his frustration, tension, conflicts, concerns and problems.
• Help the employee to realise his potential.
• Understanding the work environment.
• Help him to understand his strengths and areas for development.
• Improve his personal and interpersonal effectiveness.

Types of Counselling:

Directive Counselling:

Under directive counselling the counsellor issues certain instructions to the counsellee or he is directed to do certain things e.g.: he is asked to behave in a particular manner, asked to abstain from alcohol or drug, asked to respect his colleagues and superiors.

Non-Directive Counselling:

Under non directive counselling counsellor does not issue directions but observe the behaviour and attitude of the counsellee towards his work and his colleagues and superiors and subordinates. If he errs then counsellor comes to his rescue and corrects him realizing him that he was wrong. He will not issue him any instructions or will not direct him.

Cooperative Counselling:

This is a kind of counselling that can be done through extending full cooperation to the counsellee and makes him realize his mistakes relating to his behaviour and attitudes so that he himself will be back on the track and improve himself. It is winning the heart of the counsellee through cooperation. His confidence will be won by the counsellee and he in turn will extend his cooperation and become self disciplined.

Marital and Family Counselling:

Employees need counselling in respect of marriage and family problems. The troubled employees can discuss out their problems with the counsellor who can take them into confidence and prescribe solutions for their ills.

Developing the New Patterns:

Developing new patterns becomes very often necessary when other methods to deal with weak spots remain ineffective. In order to develop new, more satisfying emotional reactions, the individual needs to expose himself to situations where he can experience positive feelings. The manager who deals with such individuals may motivate or instigate them to put themselves into such situations, so that their self-confidence may increase.

Every counsellor must concentrate his/her full attention on two aspects viz., using of assessment tools, and utilizing counselling methods, choice of which differs from person to person, situation to situation, and from case to case.

Participative Counselling:

Both directive and non-directive methods suffer from limitations. While the former is often not accepted by independent employees, the latter needs professionals to operate and hence is costly. Hence, the counselling used in most situations is in between these two. This middle path is known as participative counselling.

Participative is a counsellor-counselee relationship that establishes a cooperative exchange of ideas to help solve an employee’s problems. It is neither wholly counsellor centered nor wholly counselee-centered. Counsellor and counselee mutually apply their different knowledge, perceptions, skills, perspectives and values to problem into the problems and find solutions.

Insight:

Founded by Sigmund Freud, psychoanalysis or insight delves deep into an employee’s past and brings to light past experiences and current unconscious thoughts and behaviours of the employee, that are believed to be the cause of their current problems. Specifically, it targets how inner drives such as the id, superego, and ego conflict with outside pressures such as cultural or religious obligations.

Insight is the ability to acquire a new accurate awareness or comprehension about a thing or person. Insight therapy is a type of therapy that helps the employee to understand how events in the past are negatively influencing the current thoughts, emotions, and behaviours. This type of treatment can be quite empowering for employees, because it is identifying the source of their problems. Identifying the reasons for low self-esteem, insecurity, depression, anxiety, etc., is the first step towards resolving those conflicts and issues.

Desensitization:

According to Desensitization, once an individual is shocked in a particular situation, he/she gives himself/herself no chance for the situation to recur. This method can be used to overcome avoidance reactions, so as to improve the emotional weak spots. If an employee is once shocked by the behavior, approach or action of his superior, he would continue to avoid that superior.

Catharsis:

Discharge of emotional tensions can be called catharsis. A Catharsis is an emotional discharge through which one can achieve a state of moral or spiritual renewal or achieve a state of liberation from anxiety and stress.

Counselling process has three important phases:

(1) Rapport building

(2) Exploration, and

(3) Action planning.

1. Rapport Building:

Rapport building is essential for any effective counselling outcome. In this phase, a good counsellor attempts to establish a climate of acceptance, warmth, support, openness, and mutuality. He/she does this by listening to the employees’ problems and feeling, by communicating his/her understanding to the employees, and by expressing a genuineness of interest in them.

2. Exploration:

In the exploration phase, besides accepting the employees, listening to them, and establishing a climate of openness, the counsellor attempts to understand as well as help the employees understand their own situational strengths, weak­nesses, problems, and needs. Counselling skills lie in this.

3. Action Planning:

In the action planning stage, the counsellor and the employee jointly workout or plan specific action steps for the development of the employee.

Self-confidence is the critical factor in everything you accomplish because, with the appropriate amount, you will try almost anything.

Personal Development is the process of improving oneself through conscious habits and activities. It is the pursuit of personal growth to enhance the quality of life and to achieve one’s dreams and aspirations.

personal development plan helps you know where you’re headed and how to get there, with specifics. First, this will bring clarity to your thinking and you’ll know exactly where you want to be. What’s more, it will give you peace of mind that you’re going in the right direction on a daily basis. Efforts will feel more deliberate and decisions will be easier, as you will have a clear benchmark.

Personal development expert Jim Rohn said: “When you look at successful people, you will almost always discover a plan behind their success. It is the foundation for success.” I couldn’t agree more.

Set Yourself Goals

Search for the things you really want in life, these are your long-term goals. As a twenty-something, you’re in one of the scariest phases of life. Everything feels chaotic, and there are many frustrations. Figuring out what you want is not only the first step in planning, it’s also the hardest. Once you’ve figured out what you want to do, that dream acts an emotional anchor; it provides stability and structure in a time of chaos.

Prioritising Your Goals

Next, you need to consider all the little steps that will help you achieve your big goals. And you’ll need to prioritise these short-term goals. Remember that you can’t do everything at once and trying to will lead to failure.

Set Yourself Deadlines

Knowing when you want to achieve a goal is crucial and picturing your future is an important source of motivation and inspiration.

Day-dreaming is a vital motivation mechanism, and you should harness it to set a deadline on your goals. When you picture yourself buying your first home, how old are you? When you walk up on that graduation stage and get your doctorate, when will that be?

Recognise threats and opportunities

There are going to be certain things they could be external things or an element of yourself that, if you let them, will prevent you from achieving your goals or delay you on your way.

These are your threats.

For example, a lack of motivation could be detrimental to applying for that PhD. But once you’ve identified your tendency to procrastinate or lose focus you can put in place methods that will keep you motivated on your dreams.

But dreams cannot be the only way to set deadlines; you need to make your dreams realistic. Otherwise, you could become discouraged.

Develop yourself

Once you have an idea of what could hinder you and what could help you, this is when you can capitalise on those opportunities you recognised. Make an action plan about how you’ll make that progress.

So, take that course, cut down on unnecessary spending or figure out a way to make sure you stay motivated.

Use your support network

You don’t have to do everything by yourself. And you shouldn’t. The support network around you is a valuable asset, so use it and don’t underestimate it.

Measure progress

Whether it’s big or small, after you’ve achieved some progress take time to reflect on how far you’ve come. Recognising what has gone well is a way to bolster your motivation and remain dedicated.

Build a Support System

It’s much easier to achieve your goals when there are people in your corner. To ensure you make the most of your self-development plan, surround yourself with positive supportive people.

Friends and family members are always more than willing to be your sideline cheerleaders. Your support system should also include an authoritative voice.

A training needs assessment lays the necessary groundwork for determining your organization’s true need and how your employees will best receive the required training.

A training needs assessment (TNA) is an assessment process that companies and other organizations use to determine performance requirements and the knowledge, abilities and skills that their employees need to achieve the requirements. There are three key areas that are considered accurate assessors of those needs:

• Skill proficiency of employees
• Employees’ frequency of skill usage
• Level of employees’ skills crucial to job performance

Reasons

• Why conduct the training: Organizations typically conducts training to tie the performance problem to a working need and make sure that the benefits of carrying out the training are greater than the problems. To answer this question, you have to conduct two types of analysis: feasibility analysis and needs versus wants analysis.
• Who is involved in the training: A training typically involves appropriate parties to solve the performance problem. To determine the target participants for the training, you have to conduct a target population analysis. This type of analysis allows you to learn as much as possible about the people who are involved in the deficiency and how to tailor a training program to engage them.
• How to fix the performance problem: Conducting training can help fix the performance problem. But you have to look for another remediation if training is not appropriate. To identify what skill deficiency to address, you must conduct a performance analysis. This type of analysis investigates how your company or department is performing as a whole.
• What is the best way to perform: There is a preferred or better way to do a task to get the best results. To identify the best way to perform, you must conduct a task analysis. This type of analysis gets down to the fine details of exactly what your employees are doing in their individual roles.
• When to conduct the training: Because holidays, work cycles, etc. affect the participants’ attendance at the training, you must determine the best timing to deliver training. You may conduct a context analysis to answer logistics questions. Context analysis is a method to examine the environment in which a business operates.