Protocol

At Corporate Communications, we handle visits from overseas. One person in our department is very experienced. We always go to her for protocol issues. She’s very helpful. If she leaves, we’ll have issues. She‘s been doing this for 5 years.

Experts mean the rest can relax

This example is about expertise being embedded in processes. We have process owners in our organisation. They write the policies and dictate the process and procedures. They are very valuable people, they know the whole business in detail and they give guidance and direction. When we need to understand a process, the systems, even the connections between systems, we know which process owner we should approach - they are identified according to business function.

Now we're trying to centralise this system and make it easier to identify who to go to for what.

There are good and bad aspects to this practice - once we identify them as process owner, then nobody else will spend the time to know the process as well as they do. Then there is a risk if/when they leave. We just hope our documentation will help in this case.

The process owners have usually got to that position through deep experience in the process previously. We don't have a system for bringing up new people with that level of experience and knowledge.

People go, knowledge goes

There’re people you always ask for information, like Mrs Y______ from HR who’s been around for 25-30 years. When these people leave, there’ll be no continuity. People will eventually figure things out, but that’s quite inefficient. But who has the time to go through 30 volumes of stuff?

Knowledge handover

We get a replacement only after staff have left, so the knowledge is lost. Timely replacement is important especially for heads of department. Once you know someone’s going to be transferred, you have to find a replacement. You can’t ask someone to share after she has moved to another department and learning to do a new job. The incumbent staff struggle to do two persons’ job until the replacement is in. Sometimes they leave. When the new head comes in, it’s tough to find out what has happened in the past.