Can Knowledge Management Tools Reduce Employee Turnover?

Knowledge management tools enable knowledge accumulation and transfer, as well as kindle engagement and retention.

Increasing employee retention is a key method to improving profitability. In addition, you retain experts who are crucial to honing your organization’s competitive edge. Below are several ways that adopting knowledge management tools can accomplish lower turnover.

1. Automating knowledge transfer. Continual staff turnover can disrupt long-term employees. This presents a challenge to experts who must transfer knowledge to the newcomers repeatedly. You can surmount this challenge by creating a dedicated knowledge center for new employees to study. You may even choose to add relevant tests right in the knowledge management system.

2. Store team knowledge within collaboration sites. The value of collaboration quickly becomes visible when it positively impacts employee turnover. New team members are onboarded and engaged quickly, become knowledgeable about collaboration history, obtain teammate consultations, access project-related documents, and become immersed much more quickly.

3. Reduce mistakes resulting from knowledge gaps. To reduce mistakes made by newcomers, you can utilize a central knowledge base with detailed instructions to guide them through the work process. You can also design a knowledge map to pinpoint knowledge owners, making it more streamlined to access the correct expert advice.

4. Recognize staff contributions and stimulate personal growth. Knowledge management tools may contain a system of points for employees who regularly contribute to organizational knowledge. These points may be integrated into a personal development plan that guides professional advancement, as well as providing quantifiable data for line managers to reward consistent contributors.

5. Enable a supportive work environment. Employees will experience less stress when they have the knowledge necessary for better decision-making. Knowledge management tools can offer robust search capabilities and make relevant information easy to consume. With greater access to experts and team members, your staff will feel more secure at work, thereby increasing employee confidence and satisfaction.

6. Create additional opportunities. Your company can offer additional opportunities through knowledge management tools. For instance, your staff members may share ideas for storage in an idea bank within the knowledge management system. Experts and line managers may discuss insights, and employees may have the opportunity to advance their career.

If your organization is struggling with high staff turnover, you may spend considerable time on replacing them and maintaining your business processes. Even one or two knowledge management tools can provide a measurable impact on retention rates. Frequently, a single tool can produce multiple outcomes. For instance, a knowledge map streamlines the connection between experts and newcomers, and collaboration sites promote uninterrupted teamwork, knowledge transfer, and introducing newcomers to the organization.