KNOWLEDGE-MANAGEMENT IN BANKING INSTITUTIONSLacramioara
RadomirBabes-Bolyai University of Cluj-Napoca
Cluj-Napoca/[email protected]
Mircea ScridonBabes-Bolyai University of Cluj-Napoca
Cluj-Napoca/Romania
[email protected] of the rapid
changes in technology, products and the production process can
nowadays be easily copied. In these circumstances, important assets
for companies become those employees that are capable to add value
to the organizations capital. They are employees that can be
considered not just the companys human capital but also the
intellectual one and which help it differentiate from the
competitors and obtain a sustainable advantage. Bearing in mind the
previously mentioned idea, we assume that a companys intellect
(knowledge) consists of its human knowledge. It is therefore easy
to understand that if losing its human resource, a company loses
its knowledge too. Thus, companies must focus their efforts on
retaining and sharing the knowledge within the
company.KeywordsKnowledge, bank, training programs, human
resources, learning1. INTRODUCTIONThe nowadays economic environment
could be characterized by economic volatility, high employee
turnover, global competition, and rapid change. A long-term
competitive advantage for any country, industry, or company, is now
harder to obtain because of the fact that neither money nor
technology can, for any length of time, offset the growing
imbalances in labor resources. Companies can no longer expect the
products and practices that made them successful in the past to
keep them viable in the future. Nowadays knowledge is considered a
key asset which can provide a sustainable advantage. According to
Davenport and Prusak: Eventually competitors can almost always
match the quality and price of a market leaders current product or
service. By the time that happens though, the knowledge rich,
knowledge-managing company will have moved on to a new level of
quality, creativity, or efficiency. The knowledge advantage is
sustainable because it generates increasing returns and continuing
advantages. Unlike material assets, which decrease as they are
used, knowledge assets increase with use: ideas breed new ideas and
shared knowledge stays with the giver while it enriches the
receiver. The potential of new ideas arising from the stock of
knowledge in any firm is practically limitless particularly if the
people in the firm are given opportunities to think, to learn, and
to talk with another [1].
The only real comparative advantage in developed economies lies
in the implementation of the knowledge management process. This
means continual, systematic work on the productivity of knowledge
and knowledge workers, which is still neglected and abysmally low.
It means that companies store and deliver information through
various systems and activities in order to make it available at the
right time, in the right place and to the right persons.
Furthermore, it means identifying those employees that can be
considered the companys intellectual asset and treat them as
important components of the knowledge management process. The
productivity of knowledge and knowledge workers will not be the
only competitive factor. It is, however, likely to become the
decisive factor, at least for most industries in the developed
countries.
As a result, the modern business organization cant compete
effectively in the marketplace without skilled managers and
employees and without methods for managing their employees
knowledge. Nor can it effectively compete in the marketplace
without implementing the right processes making use of the right
technologies, including information technology. 2. THEORETICAL
FRAMEWORK
2.1 Knowledge
Given the nowadays market conditions, knowledge seems to have
become and considered by many companies one of the factors that
needs to be given attention for the firms long-term success. Those
companies that are aware of the fact that the technological process
can be easily copied and that their available material resources
are no longer an asset if not taking into account the knowledge
factor, are the ones that can hope to obtain a long-term
advantage.
Many attempts have been made to define the term knowledge, all
of them leading to the distinction between its forms: tacit and
explicit knowledge. Thus, knowledge is considered to hide in people
minds and in the companys processes.[2] Amrit Tiwana explains that
this term is neither clear nor simple because part of it may be
structured and thus easy to communicate and stored, while the other
part is a consequence of peoples experience, of their way of
understanding and doing things.[3] The second type of knowledge is
much harder to structure, to communicate or to be expressed using
words or images and needs therefore to be observed during
conversations or while being involved in an activity. In other
papers knowledge is considered to emerge from different
applications and analyses (when data and information are used)
which are interpreted and linked with beliefs. Thus, many authors
make a clear distinction between data, information and knowledge.
Donald Hislop considers that data is represented by raw images,
numbers, words, sounds etc., which result from observation or
measurement while information is represented by data which is
arranged and organized into a meaningful pattern. Unlike data and
information, knowledge is seen as the means to analyze or
understand information or data, belief about causality of events or
actions, and provides the basis to guide meaningful action and
thought.[4] Data and information should be considered important,
but knowledge, experience and skills used at a particular moment
are to differentiate a good decision from a bad one.[5] These two
statements allow us to conclude that persons may differently
interpret data, information and results depending on their
different knowledge bases.
Considering the above mentioned points of view regarding the
term knowledge, we find it proper to present the main differences
between structured (explicit) and unstructured (tacit) knowledge.
Explicit knowledge is very often codified in a written form such as
manuals, brochures, standardized procedures etc.[6], it is that
part of the knowledge which can exist independently of people in a
codifiable form[7] and which is unambiguous, easy to see and to
transfer from one person to another or within a company using
different support materials.[8] Thus, we are able to capture the
explicit knowledge using written manuals, procedures, documents,
books, databases, CD, web pages, diagrams, images etc. and later
transfer it to other persons. There are also authors who claim that
explicit knowledge can be both structured and unstructured. Thus,
procedures, manuals, documents, databases etc. are considered to be
structured because of the way in which the included data and
information are organized for a future revision. On the other hand,
images, training courses, e-mails etc. contain information that
needs to be given attention at a particular moment as it is not
organized for future revision and thus may be considered examples
of unstructured knowledge.[9] Tacit knowledge, on the other hand,
is that part of knowledge that one cannot codify and which more
over stays in the heads of people. Tacit knowledge is somehow a
result of the way that we understand to do things and as a result,
it leads us to evaluating and appreciating things in different
ways. Unlike explicit knowledge which can be preserved in a textual
form and accessed in the future in order to revise or update it,
the tacit knowledge is highly personal and subjective, depending on
the values, assumptions and skills of those persons who possess it.
As Donald Hislop notes, tacit knowledge is inexpressible, it is
difficult to articulate and sometimes it is even subconscious.[10]
While explicit knowledge can be reproduced and internalized with
the purpose to apply it in specific future contexts, tacit
knowledge is immaterial, intangible and needs to be observed in
certain situations (during personal communications, while
performing some actions etc.). Thus, people can learn from past
decisions, be they good or bad, if using explicit knowledge[11]
while an individuals tacit knowledge appears through talents,
abilities, skills, professional knack, insight, wisdom, and shared
behaviors (traditions, communities of practice, collusion).[12] For
a better understanding of the distinction between explicit and
tacit knowledge, we find it necessary to briefly present their
characteristics as follows:
Table 1. The differences between explicit and tacit
knowledge
Explicit KnowledgeTacit Knowledge
Easy to structure and organize
Easy to communicate
It can be codified using databases, words, documents etc. and
thus can be easily seen and used whenever needed It exists on the
companys different supports which makes it impersonal and objective
It can be easily shared within a company using material supports
Unstructured and unorganized
Hard to communicate
It is a consequence of a persons experience or skills and cant
be codified, being necessary to observe it in certain situations It
cannot be stored and exists in peoples heads which makes it
personal and subjective The company needs to encourage its
employees to share their tacit knowledge
Bearing in mind a previously mentioned idea, namely that tacit
knowledge is in peoples mind and therefore cant be stored on
material supports, we assume that a companys intellect (knowledge)
consists of its human knowledge. This being said, it is easy to
understand that if losing its human resource, a company loses its
knowledge too. With regard to this statement Amrit Tiwana offers an
example from the banking sector. She shows that almost half of the
analysts that had been working for ING Baring left the bank and
later on started working for its competitor, Deutsche Morgan
Grenfell (known nowadays as Deutsche Bank). In this way, ING Baring
gave up part of its knowledge in favor of the rival.[13]This
example should be a warning signal for all companies. First of all,
it is recommended to retain the knowledge within the company and
secondly, if not possible to retain it because of different
reasons, a companys efforts must be focused on sharing knowledge
whenever possible and necessary. Knowledge transfer or share could
be devised into explicit knowledge transfer and tacit knowledge
transfer. As one can tell, sharing explicit knowledge refers to
providing employees with the necessary information so that they can
apply it in certain situations. Unlike the process of explicit
knowledge transfer, which seems to be easy to realize, the transfer
of tacit knowledge may raise some issues because of its intangible
form. As Daryl Morey, Mark Maybury and Bhavani Thuraisingham noted,
a companys knowledge consists of two parts: one part stored in
archives, cabinets, and peoples minds, it consists of tangible
components (data, procedures, drawings, models, algorithms,
documents of analysis, and synthesis) and a second one which
consists of intangible components (peoples abilities, professional
knack, private knowledge, routinesthe unwritten logic of individual
and collective action, knowledge of company history, and decisional
contexts).[14] This statement makes us understand that a companys
knowledge depends on the individuals knowledge, on its employees
skills, ability, logic and wisdom. The importance of knowledge
transfer arises out of its contribution to the companys long-term
success. Regarding the knowledge transfer process, many authors,
including Graud Servin, Bhavani Thuraisingham, Daryl Morey and Mark
Maybury, use the phrase knowledge harvesting. Their opinion is that
a company has to cultivate and harvest knowledge transfer in order
to be able to position themselves competitively in an economy which
is nowadays increasingly more focused on knowledge. Whenever a
company employs a new person it has to analyze the employees
behavior. What should be observed is whether that person is opened
to or whether he/she inhibits the process of knowledge transfer.
Actually, an organization must always try to convince its employees
to accept to share the knowledge.
If referring to the explicit knowledge, we may say that sharing
it depends only on the companys interest. It is easier to share
this kind of knowledge because, as we have previously shown, it can
be codified (diagrams, charts, documents, web pages, procedures,
brochures etc.) and thus transferred towards the person that needs
it. The companys effort, in this case, refers to providing its
employees with the necessary material support that sustain and
encourage the knowledge transfer process. But much of a companys
knowledge is rather tacit that explicit, meaning that it is
captured, kept in humans heads. Even when explicit knowledge is
shared, tacit knowledge influences a persons way of acting. Lets
have the example of a written procedure which is addressed to three
employees. The company provides them with exactly the same
information but one of them may not fully understand the new
presented information. Another one may understand everything but
may also find it difficult to apply certain steps needed for an
application because of the lack of experience. And finally, the
third person, reads the same text, follows the same steps in
solving the problem and achieves the desired result. The
differences between the results obtained by the three employees are
a consequence of their tacit knowledge. Thus, the companys main
problem may be to exploit the knowledge that each employee
possesses and cannot be transferred through material supports but
through communication and their owners willingness to take part in
the process of knowledge sharing. The approach through which a
company tries to capture tacit knowledge and make it available for
more persons is known as knowledge harvesting. Actually, a company
interested in transferring knowledge needs to try to transform as
much as possible of the tacit knowledge into an explicit one,
meaning that it has to get it out of peoples mind and show it or
make it available for others. Tacit knowledge transfer is hard to
realize and takes much more time as it requires interaction between
employees so that they may observe and copy each others actions and
behavior or to understand each others way of thinking and
interpreting things. This could only be achieved by organizing
meetings during which the employees are encouraged to explain the
way they judge different aspects, or a workshop where some
employees explain and show step by step the way they manage a
problem. The more time employees spend one with each other and the
more they are engaged in the communication process, the more
efficient the process of knowledge transfer is.
2.2 Knowledge ManagementThe phrase knowledge management has been
increasingly often used lately, either in management and marketing
books, or in economics articles and therefore we are familiar with
lots of definitions that well-known authors have offered in order
to better explain its meaning. This part of the article is intended
to make just a brief presentation of the knowledge management
concept so as to be easier to emphasize the importance of one of
its components, namely the people component.
Knowledge management may be considered the process of knowledge
creation [15] and the strategy of getting the right knowledge to
the right people at the right time [16]. The knowledge management
process implies the development and the use of knowledge within the
firm [17] and finding a way of putting knowledge into action to
improve organizational performance [18], making use of what people
know. The right knowledge as mentioned in the above given
definition, refers to that part of knowledge that one may need for
better solving a problem or understanding and analyzing a piece of
information, etcetera. Thus when a company wants to implement the
knowledge management process, it is necessary to find out who are
the persons that have the capability to create, share, and use the
knowledge so as to obtain the aimed results. Furthermore, it is
imperative to encourage some employees to create and share
knowledge, and others, or even the same persons, to learn and use
the knowledge, making it possible to apply the collective, explicit
and tacit, knowledge to the entire workforce. Jerry Honeycutt
appreciates knowledge management as a discipline that treats
intellectual capital as a managed asset, pointing out that it does
not refer to a database which includes all the information known by
an organization's workers, but to delivering information to
knowledge workers [19]. Based on the above mentioned definitions,
we appreciate knowledge management to be the process through which
a company designs and uses different tools in order to facilitate
the creation, sharing and application of knowledge by the knowledge
workers (meaning those persons, be they managers or employees, that
add value to the company), at the right time and in the right
place.
Some authors try to explain the meaning of the phrase Knowledge
management by underlining what it does not refer to. Thus,
knowledge management may be seen as a process through which the
information available to a company can be stored, sorted and
delivered with the help of various systems and activities to the
right users whenever and wherever needed. It offers the possibility
to integrate information from more sources and offers easily access
to it. Furthermore, knowledge management allows personnel to share
what they know one with each other. Implementing knowledge
management implies making the effort to determine the intellectual
capital of the company through interviews, reports, surveys, group
meetings, workshops and so on. Then, a company has to determine the
best way to store information and the best place to store it so as
to make it available whenever and wherever it is needed. Actually,
it requires the collaboration between employees and even investment
in employees (mentoring, training and development etcetera) in
order to facilitate the share of knowledge.Table 2. What is and
what is not knowledge management about
Knowledge management is notKnowledge management is
the process of capturing and storing the knowledge in the hope
that it will be needed sometimes the process of capturing, storing
and use of the knowledge that is needed, at the right time, at the
right place and with the implication of the right persons
knowledge engineering
the process of melding information systems and people in a
proper way
only about digital networksreferring to activities that can
improve business processes with the use of personnel
a short-time activitya process that needs to be seen as an
investment and requires attention all the time
Source: adapted after Tiwana et al., 2000
Most authors (Amrit Tiwana, Daryl Morey, Graud Servin, Donald
Hislop etc.) consider knowledge management to have three important
components: technology (used to facilitate the communication
process and to enable employees to collaborate one with each
other), processes and people.
Technology is a vital asset for the companies that want to
manage the knowledge. Those organizations that are capable to adapt
to the rapid change in technology and which take advantage of the
possibilities that it offers, are the ones that will be able to
outrun their competitors. Technology makes it easier to store and
organize the knowledge (CDs, databases) and also to distribute the
information and share knowledge (web sites, intranet etcetera). Due
to the use of technology, one employee can communicate with others
even when there isnt possible to meet face to face (e-mails, web
conferences etcetera). Thus, technology makes it possible to reduce
time and effort in the process of sharing knowledge (be it
explicit-with the use of material supports such as CDs, databases-
or implicit-with the use of video conferences for example) and
information.
Processes may be referred to as those specific activities that
need to be done in order to facilitate the creation, organization,
share and the usage of knowledge. The management of knowledge
implies lots of processes that enable the company to identify and
benefit of its knowledge asset. Processes are considered to be the
activities involved in turning a set of inputs into outputs [20]
and Graud Servin offers us several examples of such activities
[21]:
- Conducting knowledge audits to identify knowledge needs,
knowledge resources and knowledge flows;
- Creating knowledge strategies to guide the overall
approach;
- Connecting people with people to share tacit knowledge using
approaches such as communities of practice or learning events;
- Connecting people with information to share explicit knowledge
using approaches such as best practices databases, and using
content management processes to ensure that explicit knowledge is
current, relevant and easily accessible;
- Creating opportunities for people to generate new knowledge,
for example through collaborative working and learning;
- Introducing processes to help people seek and use the
knowledge of others such as peer assists;- Teaching people to share
knowledge in ways that inspire people by using storytelling
techniques;- Encouraging people to prioritize learning as part of
their day-to-day work, by learning before, during and after the
tasks and projects they have performed.
The people component was on purpose left in the end because it
is in our opinion the central or the key element of knowledge
management. If not paying enough attention to the people asset, the
company cannot effectively manage the knowledge. In vain does it
invest in technology and to no end does it try to optimize the
processes if employees are not considered to be an element that
needs to be improved. The company may create an intranet or a
database or may even weekly distribute printed materials and
organize video conferences but no positive results would be
obtained if the people component is ignored or is not given the
proper attention.
As we consider people to be the most important component of
knowledge management and an asset that cannot be ignored, we will
further on concentrate on the people issues, noting that the three
components do not work in isolation.
2.3 The Intellectual AssetDue to the rapid change in technology,
products and the production process can nowadays be easily copied.
In these circumstances, important assets for companies become those
employees that are capable to add value to the organizations
capital. They are those employees that come up with new ideas, that
share what they know with other persons and that can help the
company to achieve its objectives. They are those employees that
can be considered not just the companys human capital but also the
intellectual one and which help it differentiate from the
competitors and obtain a sustainable advantage. If the material
resources lose their value as they are used and must be therefore
replaced, employees are an asset that can be continuously developed
[22]. In order to obtain the aimed results in their activity,
companies have to guide their employees and help them develop the
necessary working skills. They must see in their employees not just
a resource but also a part of its intellectual capital whose main
asset is knowledge. Daryl Morey, Mark Maybury and Bhavani
Thuraisingham appreciate that the intellectual capital of a company
consists of three elements, one of them, namely the social capital,
being most of the time neglected. The social capital is in their
opinion very important as it refers to the ability of groups to
collaborate and work together and is a function of trust. Effective
networks of relationships characterized by high levels of trust are
a valuable and often overlooked resource in the creation and use of
knowledge [23]. The three authors mention in their definition the
word trust as a condition. Indeed, trust is known to play a major
role between relationships. Therefore, a company must inspire trust
to its employees so as to determine them to do their best. In
addition, trust is also necessary between employees. If they do not
trust each other, the company is sure to meet difficulties in
convincing them to share knowledge. Trust is also probable to
determine the level of commitment employees feel towards their
employers and towards the organization they are working for. When
employees do not feel commitment towards the company they work for,
then they are very unlikely to have an open attitude towards the
knowledge process. Thus, the resource based view of the companies
must turn towards the knowledge based view which focuses upon
knowledge as the most strategically important of the firms
resources [24].
To be able to apply knowledge management (considering the people
component), a company must, in our opinion, focus at least on the
following five activities: include knowledge within the employees
responsibilities; explain employees what knowledge refers to;
explain employees the benefits of knowledge; explain employees the
possible ways to create, acquire, adapt, share and use knowledge
within the organization; develop programs that facilitate the
access to knowledge (material supports, either on printed materials
or on digital and web supports, and tools that enable the share and
the acquisition of tacit knowledge like training, mentoring,
coaching, communities of practice and many others).
People represent a factor that can be managed in order to obtain
a lasting success on the market and companies must be aware of this
aspect. Actually, companies must try to turn their workforce into
knowledge workers. In order to make it possible companies must
convince their employees to see knowledge as part of their work or
a part of their every day work. Companies have, therefore, to
include the learning and knowledge processes in the employees
responsibilities and the employees need to realize that besides
providing accurate and complete information, describing a product
or service, attracting and convincing customers to buy, for
example, they also have to allocate enough time for knowledge, for
sharing what they already know and for learning new things that may
help them do their work better. Furthermore, there may be necessary
to explain people what knowledge is about. People usually see
knowledge as an abstract concept and therefore do not know how to
make the best use of it or as it most of the time happens, they
acquire, share and even use their knowledge without realizing it.
Another important issue refers to presenting the benefits of
knowledge. More exactly, the company has to demonstrate that a
knowledge system or process can help employees do their everyday
tasks more easily and effectively or efficiently. It can also lead
to recognition from colleagues and superiors and even from clients
that are provided better services. If employees are shown that the
knowledge management process is benefic both for themselves and for
the organization they are working for, then they are more likely to
have an open attitude towards knowledge (seen as a concept and as a
process as well). In addition, companies may have to teach and help
their employees to create, acquire, adapt, share and use the
knowledge. There are cases when people just dont realize that they
know something that could be shared or they simply do not know with
whom to share the possessed knowledge. Besides, one may not be able
to find the best way to create, share or to acquire knowledge. In
these circumstances, companies need first of all to create
relationships within the organization and develop employees the
necessary skills. One cannot acquire or share knowledge if not
listening to others first. This is an example of a skill that needs
to be developed if willing to be part of the knowledge management
process. Focusing on their own problems and duties or just speaking
without listening to other persons opinion is not the proper
attitude if working in a company with knowledge based view. From
this perspective, the employees must also try to obtain a feedback
whenever possible. Developing such skills is at the same time
important and benefic for the relationships that are developed with
the external clients of the company. Listening skills help
employees to exert a favorable influence upon their relations with
clients. Imagine a bank financial consultant that is concentrated
on presenting a new released financial product when the client is
not interested in such an offer. The relationship between the bank
employee and the client may be endangered if not paying enough
attention to the expectations and to the needs of the client or if
not trying to understand what he or she means by an affirmation or
when asking something. Finally, the company has to develop certain
programs in order to ensure that the employees can effectively
acquire, create and share knowledge. Whether new recruits or old
and experienced personnel, the employees must always learn what
they are expected to do and share what they already know with
colleagues. In this respect, the company must concentrate its
efforts upon sharing both explicit and tacit knowledge. As
previously mentioned, the process of sharing explicit knowledge is
much easier to implement. It actually requires the existence of the
necessary technology so as to make the information accessible in
real time or offline and of course, the existence of printed
materials (documents, procedures and others). An example of such a
printed material that is increasingly more used by banks lately, is
the instruction manual or as Graud Servin calls it, the how to
guideline [25]. Employees at different job positions receive
several how to guidelines meant to help them in their relationships
with clients (we shall refer to these aspects and will offer
examples when talking about banks). These instruction manuals are
in fact a result of a practice observation process. Those practices
that have been proven to lead to the wanted results are recommended
as models and as a guideline to those that may need them given the
job position. The front-line personnel, for example, may be
recommended to read a how to instruction manual in order to better
sell a product. The next step would be to encourage these employees
to share from their experience. The way they managed to convince a
client to buy a product may provide a baseline which could result
in a new how to guideline if continuously improved. As for the
share of tacit knowledge, companies must try to connect people to
people, be it during a training program, a mentoring or a coaching
one. Another way to facilitate the share of tacit knowledge would
be, as we have already mentioned, the retention of those employees
that possess valuable knowledge and participate in knowledge
activities. What we mean is that tacit knowledge is held in peoples
minds and the companies must therefore try to prevent the loss of
knowledge. Then, the tolerance for mistakes (mistakes can be
considered a source of learning how not to try to solve a problem
in the future or a how to solve it), a rewarding policy could also
facilitate the process of knowledge sharing.
Learning and work should be nowadays considered inseparable.
Learning can no longer be considered a one-time process but a
lifelong one as it helps people acquire and create knowledge,
acquire values and develop the necessary skills for the every-day
work. There are companies that invest too much in training
programs, without taking into account that they are one-time
events, and neglect the process of learning which should be a
continuous one and involve besides training on the job, the job
rotation programs, coaching, mentoring and so on. Employee must be
encouraged to learn and gain new knowledge but also to share it,
they have to know and trust each other so that they feel
comfortable to change ideas and experience. The knowledge we
possess (especially the explicit one) is easy to lose and needs
therefore to be shared. That is why we strongly agree to the
assertion that learning and work must now be integrated into a
continuously supportive process [26] that could lead to a
continuously upgrading of employees knowledge, skills and of the
necessary abilities. Zolingen, Streumer and Stooker underline in an
article the link existing between learning, the learning
organization and the knowledge management process as seen by
Marsick and Watkins: If a continuous learning system enables an
organization to build new competencies and capacities among its
members, a knowledge management system enables the organization to
translate that learning into knowledge that adds value. Knowledge
management, by focusing attention on the processes that create
knowledge and which preserve it, enables organizations to grow and
renew themselves. [27] Knowledge does not have an inherent value
and is relevant and helpful just when being used. Given the
existing business environment and the challenges which companies
have to face, it has become imperative to use all the advantages in
order to stay competitive. That is why we believe it is necessary
that companies invest in the people element and start consider
human assets a source of advantage and the knowledge management a
process which can be applied for a better management of peoples
knowledge.
The next two sections focus on job rotation and on the training,
coaching and mentoring programs as these are considered to be,
among others, methods that can be used by companies to facilitate
the process of learning. 2.3.1 Job RotationA job rotation program
assumes the shifting of employees from one job to another or from
one job to others. Increasingly more companies, including banks,
use job rotation programs, either planned or unplanned, as a method
of developing employees. This development technique facilitates the
process of learning within the company and helps employees to
better understand the activities that are conducted within the
company they work for. The main advantages that job rotation offer
may be summarized as follows:
An employee that takes part in a job rotation program can do
different jobs as a result of acquiring new skills and perspectives
and as a result of getting an overview of the entire
organization;
Job rotation can break routine, reduce boredom and motivate or
challenge an employee that has performed the same activities for a
long period of time;
Job rotation prepares an employee for a career advancement but
can also be use in order increase the enthusiasm or to develop new
talents through job variation when there are no promotion
opportunities;
Job rotation allows employees to acquire multifunctional
knowledge as they diversify the information sources. This is an
advantage both for the employee and for the company. The employee
is thereby able to solve different problems that may occur and the
company expands its knowledge creation and share capacity. Due to
the fact that an employee that takes part in a job rotation program
has to face more specific situations and problems which need to be
solved, the knowledge becomes easier to acquire and put in
practice. In addition, such a development technique is probable to
increase the employees interest in learning as a consequence of
tasks diversity. Still, a job rotation program may involve the need
for greater training because of the differences existing between
the activities performed within the different departments of the
company.
2.3.2 Training, coaching and mentoringBefore getting into more
details, we want to mention the two reasons that determined us to
present the training, coaching and mentoring programs within the
same section. First of all, there are persons and companies that
consider the three terms interchangeable although there are
significant differences that mark a line between these development
techniques or learning facilitator programs and should be
emphasized. The main differences between training, coaching and
mentoring are in our opinion as follows:
Training programs are implemented with the view to developing a
particular skill or knowledge on a particular topic and usually
takes place in a formal environment while the coaching program is
implemented on the job and is designed in order to develop a
persons knowledge by using real tasks meant to increase
performance. In addition, the coaching program is a more personal
one;
Mentoring programs imply the existence of a mentor and of
another person called mentee that trusts and is willing to rely on
the mentors knowledge and wisdom. In contrast to a coaching
program, that encourage persons to find their own solutions for
solving different problems that may occur, the mentoring program
supposes that the mentor gives advice and guidance.The second
reason would be the fact that a training program should be, in our
opinion, followed by mentoring and coaching programs to ensure the
transfer of knowledge and learning on the every day job.
a). Training programs - In order to meet success during the
knowledge management process, companies must invest in employees
and in training programs designed to help them with every day work
and responsibilities. Investing in technology without paying much
importance to the people component may lead to inefficiency as well
as to the loss of the most valuable asset, namely knowledge. Thus,
the knowledge management system, that a company implements, should
support training programs. It should either provide information
regarding the training programs (the course start date, conditions
that have to be met by the participants, registration forms and
other information) or deliver a training course (using
technology-intranet for example). Trained people are nowadays
necessary whatever their jobs may be: without trained teachers the
school will not have pupils and without trained financial
consultants the bank may lose important clients. Training could be
considered to be the process by which people acquire new knowledge
and the necessary capabilities for achieving the companys goals. It
provides employees with the knowledge and skills they have to use
on their every day work. Still, in order to obtain the expected
results, companies need to decide upon several aspects before
designing the training program. Such aspects would refer to the
content of the training program, the delivery channel (electronic
or classroom-based training), the size of the group that is to be
trained (sometimes, a small size group is recommended to facilitate
the learning process), the time that should be allotted to each
topic of the training program and so on. The training programs that
a company can choose may be either internal or external. The
internal training programs are those that take place within the
company, or the way others would call them, on-the-job locations.
These type of trainings present the advantage that they imply lower
costs as the employees do not go in other locations to take part in
the training program and most of the times the company does not
have use external trainers (in case it doesnt have its owns).
Computer based trainings are an example of internal training and
are easy to offer due to the intranets. Many banks use this type of
training as complementary to traditional training courses (those
which take place in a classroom). Employees are not gathered in a
specified location to be trained about a new launched product, for
example, but asked to read on their computer all the information
necessary to know when presenting and selling the product. Then,
the employees are informed via e-mail about each change that is
made to a service or product or about new procedures. Other
companies, including banks, have even implemented a so called
learning portal for their employees (we shall discuss about this
kind of portals later, when giving an example), which allows us to
say that intranets have become a growing mean of training, and a
support for knowledge creation, development and share. Due to the
technological infrastructure, the dissemination of information is
nowadays more rapidly done, and the collaboration between employees
easier. There are lots of companies that no longer gather their
employees in a specific location but ask them to take part in a
videoconference to have a face-to-face conversation, to be offered
the needed information or to express their opinions on certain
topics. If well designed, this kind of training programs may also
encourage employees to acquire and share knowledge. Another example
of internal training programs may be the weekly meetings, organized
by some companies, in order to watch a video which highlights
either certain situations or problems that could be met by
employees and the proper solutions for facing or solving them (they
could illustrate the way a machine works, the way a person managed
to change a clients opinion about a product or convinced him to buy
it).
The external training programs, on the other hand, are conducted
outside the company with the help of an outside or inside trainer.
External training programs are a good option when the company hasnt
developed enough internal training materials or when the employees
should be assisted and evaluated by an experienced person. No
matter the design of the external training programs (role playing,
case studies, business games, workshops, brainstorming,
demonstrations made by the trainer or classical courses on specific
topics and so on), they can all facilitate the process of knowledge
transfer. Role playing, for example, is a technique that requires
the trainee to assume a specific role in a specific situation and
as long as the trainer has the ability to coordinate it,
participants can identify the aspects that need to be learned or
they will be able to understand and learn the how to do it and the
how not to do it. The key is after all, to encourage trainees to
take part actively in the training programs, to transform a one-way
training to a participatory one. They should be encouraged to ask
questions, to express their opinions, to try to clarify and discuss
the lecture material (if there is the case) in order to avoid the
passive listening and to offer employees the possibility to share
and acquire knowledge and to develop more skills that they can use
in their every day work.
The training programs can also be classified depending on the
participants: existing employees or new ones. The training programs
designed for the new employees should help them receive the
necessary information about the company (culture, history,
structure, products or services offered, targeted clients), get
familiar with the terms that need to be used in his or her job
position, present the main responsibilities and way of dealing with
them and also to highlight the link between the employees job
positions and the objectives of the company.
Be it internal or external, designed for the existing or for the
new coming employees, a training program should meet at least the
following five requirements:
It should allow the dissemination of knowledge and skills
regarding specific topics as well as capturing new knowledge and
skills around these topics;
It should lead to acquiring the prerequisite skills, abilities
and knowledge for the employees job positions;
It should emphasize the situations in which the new acquired
knowledge, abilities and skills may be used;
It should be followed up by support programs that help employees
implement the acquired knowledge and skills;
It should allow trainees to offer a feed-back opinion about the
selected topic of the training program, about the person or the
support used to deliver the training course, about the training
design etcetera.As we can see, these five requirements suggest that
a training program should support the trainees in transferring the
learning in the workplace. This would mean that if trainees cannot
apply the new acquired knowledge and skills in the workplace, then
the training program was not proper designed. We would also add
that before each training program, employees must be told the
purpose of it so that they can identify the situations that can be
expected to be met on the job. Thus, they would understand that the
training program is intended to teach something and that what they
learn can be used on their jobs.
In order to support the transfer of learning to the workplace,
the employees should be encouraged to practice the techniques
presented and used during the training program. Then, the company
should offer follow-up support, a way of assisting trainees in
applying learning, once they return to the workplace. Examples of
follow-up support are the coaching and mentoring, terms that are
increasingly more used by companies lately. Coaching and mentoring
programs have the purpose to help employees that take part in a
training program to implement and apply the learning in their
jobs.
b). Coaching - The coaching programs suppose developing a
relationship between a coach and a coachee. The first person, the
coach helps the coachee to develop him/herself and offers the
coachee the possibility to assume more responsibilities and to
learn from both their experience. Thereby, the coachee is
encouraged to accept the responsibilities that are assigned to him
and to focus the effort upon achieving a higher performance.
Coaching is a time-limited developing technique which helps the
coachees discover their potential through assessment, analysis and
reflection on their knowledge, personal experience, ambitions and
encourage them to amplify learning and creativity within specific
time-scale. Others appreciate that coaching is a learning technique
that involves observing an individual at work and providing
feedback to enhance performance or correct deficiencies. Coaching
combines observations with suggestions, a natural and easier way of
learning. The coachee usually asks questions, listens to the
answers and observes the behavior, trying to help the coachee to
identify his/her strengths and weaknesses, his/her motivations,
needs and aspirations or communication skills etcetera. In
addition, the coach tries to design a program to help the coachee
in achieving the aspirations, assists him/her in developing a
strategy that leads to a better management of the problems that
occur, and challenges the coachee in order to help him/her
develop.Be it a life coach program (the coachee has to establish
what his needs, expectations and aspirations are so as to be able
to develop and grow), a business coach one (a coaching program
designed in order to help the coachee in the context of the
business, facilitating at the same time the process of knowledge
transfer) or a skill coach program (which helps the coachee to
learn those skills that are not properly transferred through
training courses), the main purpose is to stimulate the employee to
decide upon his/her professional and job objectives and to achieve
them.[28] Coaching is a form of influence that facilitates and
accelerates the career learning process. In order to be efficient
and to have a positive effect upon the coachee motivation, the
relationship that establishes between the two parts must be an
opened and relaxed one, based on shared commitment and mutual
respect. Thus, a coaching program helps achieving the companys
final aim, namely the success in the marketplace, through a
continuous process of learning by doing.
c). Mentoring - Mentoring is nowadays recognized an important
tool that companies can use to develop the employees, to help them
strengthen their ability to learn, to encourage them to develop
their potential for assuming other responsibilities (related to
different job positions) or to retain and prepare an employee for a
new job function. Mentoring can be defined as a formal or informal
relationship between senior and junior employees for the purpose of
supporting learning and development or as a relationship in which
managers or more experienced colleagues aid individuals in the
earlier stages of their careers. The mentoring program is so
designed as to focus on the long-term career objectives and not on
the immediate performance. The relationship that develops within a
mentoring program brings advantages for both of the parts (a more
experienced employee-mentor- and a less experienced one-protg). The
protg is supported in his/her career, is helped to understand
several mechanisms of the company, receives challenging tasks that
have the purpose to increase his/her competences etcetera. The
mentor may enjoy the challenge of sharing his/her knowledge and
wisdom, may feel useful if the mentoring program is successful and
the company would appreciate his/her value. Thus, the role of the
senior employee (mentor) is to provide support and advice in career
direction, to help protgs become leaders in their profession, to
transfer his/her knowledge and the necessary skills to the person
being mentored and so on.
As a conclusion, we would say that job rotation, training,
coaching and mentoring turn out to be some of the best methods that
a company may use in order to increase its performance, and need to
be considered an investment in employees and not costs with
employees. These techniques enable the company to make knowledge
more fluid and to spread the learning concept and process among the
employees which is a premise for obtaining success in the nowadays
existing environment.
3. CASE STUDY
Employees must be considered the most important investment which
adds extra value and can positively influence the progress of a
bank in the Romanian banking system. The employees and the
activities concerning the employees must consolidate the image of a
flexible organization, which is concerned with respecting both
internal and external clients. It is time for banks to realize that
they should focus on investing in their employees if willing to
obtain the retention of staff, the vital and indispensable resource
of any company. They should try to develop certain skills that are
necessary for each position within the company: attention to
details, accuracy and speed of processing for back-office positions
or capacity of persuasion, communication skills for front-office
positions. Nevertheless, each bank that aims to increase its
employees attachment to the company must make considerable efforts
to compile an attractive, incentive-motivation package. Put it
otherwise, in order to gain advantage in the nowadays changing
environment, a bank has to focus on modernizing its organizational
structures and on implementing new training and development systems
that can build a culture among its staff. It has to try to
encourage professionalism, effectiveness, customer vision and last
but not least, it should put emphasis on learning.
3.1 Research methodDespite the growing attention that KM has
gained among financial institutions, there has not been any
interest in observing the evolution of the knowledge-management
process (regarding the personnel component of the process) during a
certain period of time. This article intends to present a banks
interest in designing programs that aim to support its employees
professional development, namely Raiffeisen Bank, over a five year
period of time from 2003 to 2007. This time interval has been
chosen because it reflects the banks first attempts to elaborate
and implement KM procedures. It must be pointed out that 2003 was
the year in which Raiffeisen Bank started to implement a series of
programs focused on human resources development. The information
was collected from reports published on the banks web page and
structured according to a frame that supported our endeavor namely
to highlight the importance of the intellectual asset for the
chosen financial institution. 3.2 Human resources development
activities from 2003 to 2007 We encourage entrepreneurial spirit
and initiative. Entrepreneurial spirit and initiative arekeys to a
better performance, less response time and better quality in
everything we do. These are indicators of how much our employees
identify with the corporative goals and of their devotion work.[29]
The Raiffeisen Bank declares itself as responsible towards
employees. The banks efforts to create an environment that
motivates employees to achieve high performance as well as its
efforts to give employees confidence in themselves, support the
banks statement relating to its care towards the people resource.
Actually, we may say that Raiffeisen is one of those banks that
have already realized the key to success: maintaining a working
environment based on mutual support and trust, which finally leads
to motivated and dedicated employees. A great emphasis is also put
on team work which is considered to be the basis for successful
cooperation and for the Groups future development as well. Indeed,
working in team can add value through discussions, or through
identifying common and different ideas which may result in solving
problems and making better and quicker decisions.3.2.1 The year
2003 Employees are not costs but long-time investments
The suggestive name we thought of for this period is intended to
give an idea of the way Raiffeisen sees its own human resources. As
previously mentioned, Raiffeisen is one of those banks that have
understood the important role that people play within a company. As
a concrete proof, we may refer to the banks efforts to improve the
performances management system and to the banks investments in
employees development through training programs designed in such a
way as to meet the internal clients needs.
The banks interest in employees development could be explained
thorough the fact that the number of employees increased in 2003 by
12% compared to 2002. The banks decision to increase the number of
employees was considered to be necessary for achieving one of the
banks objectives, namely expanding the activity. Still, important
to mention is that the bank did not only decide to have a
quantitative increase in personnel, but also a qualitative one. In
this respect, the focus was on recruiting persons on the basis of
the criteria defined by the job profile. In addition, the
recruitment channels were diversified with emphasis being put on
the banks database, recruitment sites and direct recruitment. Thus,
the number of employees with university degree increased from 1923
to 2417 and the average age of employees declined from 39.2 years
in 2002 to 37.8 years in 2003.
The year 2003 could be seen as a training program that aimed
excellence, three new training programs being designed with the
purpose to contribute to achieving the banks ambitious goals:
The program entitled Vision, Mission, Values (VMV)- January
2003;
The program entitled The employee of the month/year. This second
program aimed to enhance the strategic messages of the VMV program
and to identify and popularize the best employees. February
2003;
Raiffeisen Management Academy, project which takes place on a
three year period and is addressed to the managers of banks
departments and to the banks top management;
The program entitled Superior Customer Service Quality which was
delivered to all employees both from front-office and back-office
and was designed for both business-to-person and
business-to-business, being focused on topics such as sales,
negotiation and necessary abilities in building a long lasting
relationship with clients.
In addition, 2003 is the year that could be named continuity.
The bank did not only decide to introduce two new training programs
but also to continue other two programs that had been introduced in
2002:
The system called Management by Objectives (MBO), which in 2003
was extended to the operational positions and aimed to implement a
uniform a approach as far as individual performance objectives were
concerned. In addition, efforts were made in order to better
evaluate the extent to which these objectives had been
achieved.
The performances management system, also introduced in 2002, was
no longer seen as an annual event but as a continuous one. It was
transformed in a series of regular meetings that aimed to create
stronger connections between supervisors and their direct
subordinates (through monitoring and feedback). Besides, it was
introduced an improved way of defining competencies and management
skills were considered when promoting from one position to
another.
We have emphasized so far the banks concern for its employees
development, but 2003 is a year that needs special attention for
the implementation of another training program, designed not for
the existing employees but for the coming ones. As one can already
tell, Raiffeisen also gave importance to the workforce that had the
profile it was looking for: the students. Introduced in November
2003, the program entitled "Raiffeisen Management Trainee" (lasting
one year), aimed to prepare young graduates to become professionals
in the banking field. The program was thus designed so as to
provide an overview regarding banking activities as well as to
transfer the needed knowledge and the specific skills that were
expected for key functions within the bank. Young graduates were
actually offered the chance to alternate practical experience with
technical and sales training.
Another aspect that has to be mentioned refers to the banks
concern to retain the employees that could add value to the
institution by taking part in the process of learning transfer.
With the view to this objective, the bank adjusted salaries based
on the official rate of inflation, and offered its employees the
possibility to obtain loans in preferential contractual terms.
The investment that Raiffeisen made in its employees development
during the year 2003 was significant (the number of training
programs was greater than double compared to 2002) and stands for
the banks determination and involvement in achieving the aimed
level of professionalism. It also proves the importance that the
bank attaches to all strategic processes and the fact that being a
banker is not just a profession, but a complex one. In order to
better and quicker achieve its goals concerning employees, the bank
did not deliver training programs as single events, without
connection between them, but as integrated programs designed in
such a way so as to improve the staffs required abilities. Thus, we
may say that the banks human resources activities in 2003 aimed at
consolidating and strengthening its image in the employees and
clients mind.
3.2.2 The year 2004 - between continuity and novelty
The banks development strategy continued during the entire year
2004: the number of employees increased by 23% compared to the
previous year and 4700 employees participated to training programs
that were meant to improve their performance and to ease internal
communication. Conducted either by authorized companies or by the
banks trainers, the training programs aimed to improve the
employees professional skills and addressed topics such as: Risk
management; Project Management; Management of the relationship
between bank and customer; Integrated sales programs for
business-to-person, and for business to business; Prevention of
money laundering and banking security management. In 2004, over 500
managers and executives participated in two new modules of the
"Raiffeisen Management Academy", launched in 2003: "Strategic
Management" and "Positive power and influence. Each bank should
consider learning and working as a whole and treat them separately.
Learning is not a one-time process but a lifelong one as it helps
people acquire and create knowledge, acquire values and develop the
necessary skills for the every-day work.
As the name given to this year suggests, employees professional
development was achieved both through existing and new training
programs. Programs such as The employee of the month/year and
Management by Objectives (MBO) continued, while for the first time
over 500 managers participated in an evaluation process. The last
mentioned training program, as well as the establishment of Local
Assessment Centers, were used in order to increase the objectivity
in internal promotions or in the selection of participants in the
"Raiffeisen Trainee program.
3.2.3 The year 2005-the maturity and stabilization stage
Compared to previous years that can be characterized through
increases in the number of employees and efforts to build a team,
this year could be referred to using the words maturity and
stabilization. The number of employees was stabilized (staff
increased by only 3% compared with the end of 2004) and personnel
formed an experienced team. Activities were focused on improving
the processes that had to support the employees professional
development and retention (adequate training programs that aimed to
improve internal communication and the transfer of knowledge as
well as incentive-motivation package and internal recruitments) and
on social responsibility programs. As one can say, the bank tried
to show constant concern for career development opportunities.
The year 2005 could also be named customized development. The
bank tried to leave behind those training topics that aimed to
improve skills which fit everyone and anyone and to introduce
customized models for each position as a base for improving
employees efficiency through proper development. Having qualified
personnel is the greatest advantage in todays economical
environment and thus, banks have to permanently invest in training
programs that are in line with the banks overall strategy.
In addition, given the fact that the bank decided to launch new
products for SMEs, a new series of seminars for this segment of
clients were necessary. Thus, the training programs designed for
this purpose addressed topics such as: selling techniques for SMEs,
new products for SMEs, financial analysis of SMEs, and so on. In
2005 were organized both training programs that aimed to improve
technical knowledge (Knowledge of customers and money laundering,
Credit Bureau, Preventive Management, Project Management etcetera)
and training programs that conducted to improvement in
communication and product presentation skills and to the
development of emotional intelligence.
The year 2005 could also be referred to by using the word
continuity. Again, 560 managers participated in the Raiffeisen
Management Academy program, attending two new modules and the new
managers were offered the possibility to take part to those modules
that has been missed. Important to mention is the fact that the
previously mentioned two training programs addressed topics such as
Coaching and Cooperation and Conflict:
"Coaching - the paradigm of modern management" - employees could
learn what coaching is, when it is useful, how people learn and how
they develop, different work styles that depend on the situation or
person they have to address, etcetera;
"Cooperation and conflict" - employees could learn how to
address meetings and discussions within the meaning of teamwork in
order to maximize the outcome and to constructive handle the
differences in opinions or position, how to build and lead a team
so as to minimize conflict and to increase enable cooperation, how
to recognize and control the reactions in typical conflict
situations, etcetera.
A coaching program has the purpose to make trainees understand
that the easiest way of learning is by combining observations with
suggestions. Moreover, coachees are given support in achieving
their aspirations and are assisted in managing problems that occur.
Above all, coaching programs facilitate and accelerate the career
learning process.
Great importance was also given to credentials and
certifications by international institutions such as: Association
of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA); Certified Internal
Auditors (CIA); Chartered Financial Analysts (CFA) and to programs
concentrated on experience exchange within the Raiffeisen Group
(programs lasting between 2 and 3 months that even enabled trainees
to meet employees from countries with different cultures).
The year 2005 could also be referred to by using the word
innovation as during this particular year the bank implemented
alternative methods of training such as e-learning. This new method
of training offered a faster and easier access to knowledge and
also allowed employees to transfer and acquire knowledge much
easier whenever necessary and reduced time and effort in the
process of sharing knowledge. In this respect, a good example would
be the FOTO program, a new interface for processing orders payment,
which was attended by 2017 employees.
In 2005, Raiffeisen Bank also continued the training programs
targeted to college graduates, activities that emphasized the banks
social responsibility (we shall talk about these programs at the
end of our paper).
3.2.4 The years 2006 and 2007 - improvement
Human resources have a strategic role in achieving the aims of
any financial institution. As the name given to this period
suggests, Raiffeisen Bank concentrated during 2006 and 2007 on
improving the processes for employees professional development, on
designing adequate training programs and on creating improved
motivation packages.
The training programs and the courses organized by the bank
during 2006 and 2007 were better customized so as to answer the
employees professional development needs. Thus, courses packages
were "haute couture" and not delivered in large series. For
example, all new employees who worked had to have direct contact
with customers benefited from a specialized course on service
quality, while managers attended the Raiffeisen Management Academy,
which included 6 modules lasting 2 years.
As a consequence of the decision to extend the network with more
than 150 bank units, Raiffeisen Bank coordinated over 2.300
recruitment and selection processes during 2007 (at the end of
2007, Raiffeisen Bank had 6090 employees, the average age being 35
years). Important to mention is the fact that these recruitment and
selection processes were both internal and external, the first type
increasing significantly compared to previous years.
The bank encouraged this way its employees to develop their
careers within the organization. With the same purpose, Raiffeisen
Bank improved the incentive-motivation package including new
benefits for the employees: insurance in case of accidents and
illnesses, free subscription to a private medical center;
substantial benefits in case of birth or retirement; additional
allowances during maternity, meal tickets etcetera.
E-learning, the electronic channel for learning and testing the
employees professional skills, was still used in more areas of the
banking activity. Technological infrastructure allows a quicker and
easier dissemination of information. In addition, employees get in
touch one with each other much easier, and if well designed, such
infrastructure may also encourage employees to share and acquire
knowledge. The knowledge that banks employees possess is easy to
lose and needs therefore to be shared. That is why we strongly
believe that learning and work must be integrated into a
continuously process that could lead to a continuously upgrading of
employees knowledge, skills and of the necessary abilities and
supports them in their career development.
3.3 Raiffeisen Bank social responsible for higher education
graduates
As we have previously emphasized, Raiffeisen Bank has always
been preoccupied to offer young graduates possibilities to develop
a career in the banking system. For these purpose, the bank
organizes each year development training programs which take place
in the five training centers that the bank set up.
These training programs have goals such as: to identify the
trainees development potential, to encourage young trainees to
acquire knowledge, to develop technical and communication skills
etcetera. Examples of this kind of training programs are:
Raiffeisen Trainee, Corporate Trainee, Raiffeisen Schollarship, SME
Raiffeisen School and Training Practice. The Raiffeisen Trainee
program launched offer young graduates of higher education the
opportunity to create an overview on the banking activities. During
the training program each participant is involved in various
projects of the bank;
Introduced in 2007, the Corporate Trainee Program aims to help
develop young graduates that are willing to work within the banks
Corporate Banking Division;
The program Raiffeisen Schollarship was designed with the
purpose to offer financial support to students with exceptional
academic results and significant extra-curricular experience, who
are admitted to complete studies in prestigious universities from
abroad. After graduation, the bank offers those persons interested
in a banking career the possibility to become part of the
Raiffeisen Group.
The Raiffeisen SME National School is a program that addresses
students, master students graduates from institutions with
technical or economic profile. It is a program that focuses on
small and medium enterprises, aimed at preparing young people in
this segments approach and lending.
The Training Practice program is one of the most popular ways
through which the bank supports students in their professional
development. Thus, students have the opportunity to become
acquainted with the culture of multinational organization and to
know the flow of activities within banking units.
All the above mentioned training programs offer participants the
opportunity to be involved in their colleagues daily activities, in
projects, presentations, or meetings with clients. In addition, the
programs are designed in such a way that they lead to identifying
the participants development potential encouraging them to acquire
and transfer knowledge as well as to develop communication and
technical skills.4. REMARKS
Given the importance of human resources in the process of
knowledge sharing, companies ought to concentrate on retaining
valuable employees. Unfortunately, there still are many companies
(even organizations that act in the banking sector) that do not
make any effort to retain the most experienced and skilled persons
working for them or to encourage these employees to share their
knowledge before leaving the organization. Still, we have to
mention that the process of capturing and integrating knowledge
must not be chaotic, but an organized and permanent one so as to
enable the transfer of the right knowledge, in the right place, at
the right moment and with the participation of the right persons.
It is our belief that it cannot take much time any further till all
companies will realize that managing knowledge is vital to their
success.
Further studies are needed in order to better grasp the
financial institution KM process and it is necessary therefore to
obtain more internal information regarding those processes as well
as the opinion of the internal clients.References
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