Harnessing Institutional Knowledge to Enhance Employee Learning

Institutional knowledge loss erodes an organization’s effectiveness by neglecting critical collective wisdom and work previously produced by others. It is a challenge that is cumulative in its effect. The more time that goes by where an organization fails to protect its institutional knowledge, the more diminished it becomes. If a company ignores this problem long enough, they risk losing the building blocks that led to their success in the first place. Because employee makeup constantly changes—new employees join while existing employees exit or move to new roles and teams—companies must find ways to successfully sustain and share institutional knowledge during these routine employee development processes.