A dozen years ago, I helped a major financial services company classify the skills and expertise of their employees. Skills and competencies were identified, and employees had a rating for each and every one. Those ratings could also change over time as additional education and experience kicked in. A big database that was supposed to help managers, executives and peers identify the “right” expert for every occasion.
But it was hard to maintain.
And it was just cold facts.
The problem? John wondered what Anne REALLY knew. Could she apply her knowledge to his problem?
Samantha reached out to Bert, but never got a return call from Bert. Did he not like to share? Was he just out for himself? Or was he away or busy?
Today, the database we developed all those years ago has been bolstered with numerous social media tools, and now employees actually USE IT! With wikis in place to drive cooperative conversations across and up-and-down the hierarchy, an individual’s willingness to help and his/her knowledge becomes apparent.
Discussions on an employee forum and ratings of the value of answers and comments further spotlight those employees with both the knowledge and the willingness to share the knowledge.
17 months ago, an eon in social media time, The Wall Street Journal published a special report on finding in-house experts. It’s still relevant.
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