The previous “On Standards” feature (March/April 2019) focused on the subclause of ISO 41001, Facility management — Management system — with requirements for use, subclause 7.6, Organizational Knowledge. As a reminder, this clause is a requirement for the organization to “determine the knowledge necessary for the operation of its processes and to achieve conformity of products and services.” Given the theme of risk management, let’s consider the loss of Organizational Knowledge in the context of a modern risk to the organization.

A Risk incognito

 

The cost of knowledge loss

Recently, I received a call from a colleague. His company had been asked to submit a proposal for a job. He knew that they had done similar work before and the processes and information needed to write the proposal should have been in the company’s project files. He was unable to find what he needed and was wondering if I had any information or resources for similar work. We discussed the likelihood that the information was on the hard drive of a retired employee.

Our verdict: very likely.

risk incognito 2The competency, skills, knowledge and expertise to do the requested work exists within this company. There is no question about that. But the time spent searching for — and not finding — information to complete an RFP, and the resulting recreation of the work, will impact the net profit of the overall project (should they win the work).

This situation is not uncommon. Just think back over your day or your week and you will probably remember spending time searching for an email, a file, or a policy you needed. Multiply that times the frequency of your activity, then the frequency of your staff who are also doing their own searches.

Knowledge loss can be defined as a failure to retain organizational knowledge.

Knowledge waste is the failure to use organizational knowledge when it would be useful. (For this purpose, I consider knowledge loss or waste as interchangeable since unused knowledge is of no value to the organization).

I’m sure many would agree there is a cost to their organization when knowledge walks out the door, but for most, that cost is vague and intangible. Few organizations quantify the impact of knowledge loss to the business.

As a facility manager, you must take measures to ensure the health, safety and security of facility occupants; protect physical assets; guard against threats from weather, fire, theft, building systems failures, cyberattacks — the list goes on and on. Have you also considered how your organization might be at risk if key personnel who manage these threats were not present? If the knowledge to address the risk doesn’t exist beyond one individual’s “know-how” — and it is not documented and retrievable when it is needed — it should be considered potential lost knowledge.

You might use a risk assessment tool such as the table on the following page to determine a threat ranking index for various events. If we modify it with a fifth factor — unavailable knowledge to correct the situation — we begin to understand the impact of knowledge loss or waste. In the example, the index value has at least doubled. Now consider this in context. The assessment here is for an accounting department, but what if this were a hospital facility?

Consider building a knowledge management (KM) strategy around the mission-essential functions and supporting functions you’ve identified in your emergency preparedness plans. The APQC defines KM as a collection of systematic of approaches to help information and knowledge flow to and between the right people at the right time (in the right format at the right cost) so they can act more efficiently and effectively to create value for the organization.

Identify the key employees supporting these functions and begin to capture their knowledge. Remember, it’s not enough to capture and store this knowledge. Your overarching KM goal is to get the right information to the right people at the right time so they can act. Unused knowledge is of no more use to your organization than lost knowledge.

Are we too late?

During an IFMA World Workplace networking event, a facility manager shared with me that he was planning to retire in two years and asked me when he should begin to start his knowledge transfer program. My answer to him (and to you) was, “Yesterday. Last week. Last year.” But of course, there is no time machine to capture the knowledge already out of our reach. Instead, in your efforts to manage your risk more effectively and to have a positive impact on productivity, you should consider knowledge loss within the facility management function a significant risk to the organization and begin to implement a knowledge management strategy to address this risk and to complement your overall risk management plans.