The Challenge of a Nonexistent Corporate Knowledge Base

Does your organization lack a corporate knowledge base containing internal education materials for users to consume via self-service?


Is your IT team inundated with repeat questions about technology?


Are your employees discouraged because they cannot easily find the information or support they are looking for? 


Are their co-workers and sometimes customers becoming frustrated because folks are asking the same questions? 


If you answered "yes" to any of those questions, dissatisfaction is likely increasing for your employees, their colleagues, and your customers. The good news is, you're not alone! 


Learn what the real cost of corporate knowledge loss amounts to and some tools to help you create a corporate knowledge base. 



Why An Employee Knowledge Base is Essential 

Lots of organizations have made process documentation a priority to maintain training materials for its employees. Materials related to standard operating procedures and bits of technology. However, much of the management of this framework is executed using cumbersome and inconsistent manual processes.

The larger concern is that the vast majority of institutional, industry, product or business process knowledge, not available through traditional training, resides with the employees performing the day-to-day work. Information about employees' on-the-job workflow is invaluable to the organization. 


Unfortunately, this information can get lost before it's even know when an employee:


  • Changes roles

  • Leaves the organization

  • Can no longer poke their head over the cube wall or walk to a colleague's office to ask a quick question

  • Is furloughed due to a worldwide pandemic

Aside from customers, a corporate knowledge base is a firm’s most important asset.

Management of this soft asset can be difficult, but should not be overlooked. Using Microsoft Teams for knowledge management is a great place to start. Invest the necessary time in your business to organize a collaborative, employee knowledge base – you're already losing money if you don't.


The Cost of Corporate Knowledge Loss

An article published by McKinsey Research indicates that employees are not only moving to a more mobile, virtual environment, but are also expected to frequently engage in more complex, non-routine work. 


Gartner backs McKinsey's research with a prediction indicating that organizations are spending upwards of 40% of their time on non-standardized tasks. Due to the nature of this trend, it is increasingly important for key players to access information, make informed decisions, and share feedback to support the just-in-time demands of stakeholders and customers.


The Social Economy, an article by McKinsey Global Institute, indicates that on average, professionals send and receive over 300 business emails a week and spend an average of 2-hours a day reading and responding to them. By fully implementing technologies capable of social interaction, companies are reporting a productivity gain of 20 to 25 percent across all levels of the organization. 


Forbes magazine reports that firms using social collaboration software see productivity enhancements averaging 12.5%; that’s more than 5 hours per employee per week.


Lastly, 13,427,000 hours is the approximate amount of time represented by the collective knowledge of a 5,000 employee organization, assuming an average organizational tenure of 7 years. That equates to an average of 122 days of lost knowledge each time an employee leaves the organization. 


The cost of corporate knowledge loss is no small number. A recent study by Millennial Branding states that organizations spend between $15,000 and $25,000 replacing the knowledge lost when a single employee leaves. This kind of information is difficult to reproduce and/or replace, and the loss is largely due to inadequate capture and storage of the organizational knowledge.


Can You Afford The Loss of Company Knowledge?

Can afford to lose a valuable, employee knowledge base every time a structural change happens in your organization?

  • Do you have your processes documented? Or do you rely on individual employees to have the answer and know-how?
  • Do you have training materials for the various bits of software your teams are using? Or is one person the "go-to" for all things technical?
  • Is corporate information organized in an centralized location? Or does each employee act like a single company knowledge base?
  • Do employees have a quick and easy way to get in touch with one another when they aren't physically in the same office beyond email jail? Or are personal communication devices used for company purposes? 

Download our Digital Etiquette Boundaries resource to set a standard for how to communicate efficiently and professionally.


Best Internal Knowledge Base Software

Some tools to consider include SharePoint, Microsoft Teams, and Yammer. To learn more about each of these robust tools, like using microsoft teams for knowledge management, read these blogs:

Whether you're just getting started, struggling with where you are or flat out failing at getting some collaboration tools launched, we can help! Create an internal corporate knowledge base today for your company.

Contact C5 Insight at 704-895-2500 to schedule your Complimentary Digital Workplace Assessment and find out more about how to get started on the path to success.