Key Employees & their Key Knowledge

Many of you have key employees. Maybe the sysadmin or the installer or the guy that can keep all the systems humming or the woman who handles all the billing/bookkeeping/filing. What would you do if he/she left, became terminally ill, was in an accident, or died? Much critical knowledge for your business is either in your own head or the brains of your key people. That doesn't help if they fall ill, die, leave, etc. (Or if you do!)

"Of course, if you're suddenly realizing that you do rely too much on a key employee, you're probably wondering, "How do I fix that?" Pam Holloway asks, "Do you reward key employees for sharing knowledge and helping others? Or do you reward them for getting things done?" She points out, however, that your staff might see sharing techniques with colleagues as a way of taking themselves out of contention for a future corner office. She also adds that it takes time for one employee to teach another without their own performance suffering, so you have to make it as easy as possible for them." [from aol.com]

Pam has a follow up article about knowledge capture here.