Why is the transfer of knowledge so important when changing employees?

An employee leaves the company – an everyday process. However, can have far-reaching effects when valuable knowledge is lost.

A structured knowledge transfer for employee change is so not an optional extra. However, a decisive factor for the sustainable success of a company.

In this post, you will learn why an orderly knowledge transfer is so important.

This risks threatening its neglect and how to ensure with a practical checklist that no valuable know-how is lost.

An effective knowledge transfer is an investment in the future and stability of your company. This will pay off in the long term.

Every employee and every employee collects a wealth of knowledge over time. This knowledge can be roughly divided into two categories.

Explicit and implicit knowledge. Explicites knowledge is formalized and recorded. It includes manuals, process descriptions, databases and other written information. This knowledge is relatively easy to transfer.

The far greater challenge is the implicity knowledge. These are knowledge of experience resulting from long-term practice. It includes intuition, unwritten rules, personal networks to colleagues and customers.

This also covers creative solutions for unexpected problems.

This valuable knowledge is in the minds of the employees and is often lost irreplaceably if there is no systematic handover.

A well-organized knowledge transfer aims to capture both types of knowledge and to obtain them for the company. It not only ensures continuity of work processes.

However, also prevents the emergence of knowledge monopolies of custom persons and promotes a culture of continuous learning and exchange across the team.

The risks of neglected knowledge transfer

Short: The effects of insufficient knowledge transfer are manifold and can a company get expensive.

The effects of insufficient knowledge transfer are manifold and can a company get expensive. The direct and indirect costs arising from the loss of know-how are often underestimated.

The most common and serious problems include:

• Productivity loss: One of the most obvious effects. New employees need significantly longer to get involved and achieve the same productivity level as their predecessors. Projects delay and the efficiency of the entire team can suffer.
• Increased error susceptibility: If important details, experience values and solution strategies are lost for specific problems, the probability of errors increases. This can lead to quality problems, refurbishment needs and in the worst case to dissatisfied customers.
• Loss of customer and supplier relationships: Often there are custom employees who are about Jah.

References and further reading

An employee leaves the company – an everyday process, but can have far-reaching effects when valuable knowledge is lost.

For Why is the transfer of knowledge so important when changing employees? , AI & Machine Learning, Cost Calculator: AI Knowledge Base sowie Discover solutions help you align rollout, scope and budget before you commit.

The following separate references complement the topics in this article:

• Bitkom – German digital industry association.
• German Federal Office for Information Security (BSI).
• European Commission – Digital strategy.
• MDN Web Docs (Mozilla)
• W3C – World Wide Web Consortium.

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An employee leaves the company – an everyday process. However, can have far-reaching effects when valuable knowledge is lost.

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