Training Costs Are on the Rise: How Knowledge Sharing Can Help

In 2017, the average training budgets for large organizations were approximately $17 million, while small companies’ budgets rose from $367,251 in 2016 to $1 million in 2017. With training costs on the rise, it is essential to leverage the knowledge that already exists within your organization rather than recreating the wheel for each new hire.

The most effective training programs include learning strategies that go beyond the classroom to promote learning in the flow of work. By leveraging your knowledge sharing strategy to strengthen your training program, you can more effectively capitalize on the implicit and explicit knowledge of your tenured team.

The Cost of Building an Employee Training Program

When hiring new employees, it is accepted and expected that your business will incur costs associated with training that employee, even if your new hire is a seasoned professional. No matter their level of experience, there is always a learning curve to orient to the company culture, tasks, and processes. Whether you are hiring or up-leveling your current team’s skill set, the training costs associated will indirectly impact your bottom line.

What Is Implicit Knowledge & Why Does It Matter?

When implementing your knowledge-sharing-driven training program, it’s important to address both implicit and explicit knowledge within your organization. Most training programs primarily focus on the transfer of explicit knowledge, teaching employees the most basic form of company information, processes, and data. Explicit knowledge is easily processed, organized, and communicated, but does not necessarily reflect the practice of using this information.

In contrast, implicit knowledge is learned through practicing, planning, and implementing the explicit knowledge. Training programs that focus training time on implicit knowledge help employees ramp faster by focusing on critical thinking and open dialogue with tenured team members.

How to Leverage Your Team’s Implicit Knowledge

By using the resources your company already has and, by relying on internal knowledge experts, your organization can drastically cut training costs while building the most effective program possible.

When onboarding new employees, many new hires are reluctant to share their ideas and ask questions. To help these employees benefit from the implicit knowledge of the current team, match them with a mentor who has showcased successful implementation of company processes based on the implicit knowledge they’ve gathered and applied over their tenure at the organization. This will encourage new hires to speak up and ask questions while learning the best ways to put the explicit knowledge they have learned into action.

In addition to mentorship opportunities, look for ways to provide practical training and opportunities for implicit knowledge transfer. For example, Raymond James and been able to drastically reduce the time spent training their financial advisors by incorporating knowledge sharing. As part of their onboarding program, Raymond James has new hires record themselves giving presentations and upload them to their knowledge sharing platform so that trainers and peers can provide feedback. This has allowed them to use their classroom time more effectively.

Make Training Easier With Knowledge Sharing Software

Capturing the implicit knowledge of your team can not only expedite onboard, but it can also benefit the company long-term as employees leave or retire. Having an effective system for sharing knowledge across departments will ensure that the knowledge remains an asset to the company.

A knowledge sharing platform is essential when building an employee training program, allowing you to centralize knowledge, encourage collaboration and conversation, and provide easy access for everyone. With a knowledge sharing platform, your team can transfer knowledge to one another at any time, ask and answer questions, provide insights, and ultimately ensure the valuable implicit knowledge that is floating around your offices doesn’t get lost or hoarded. It streamlines your training processes and encourages everyone to share their thoughts and information.