Knowledge is only useful if you do something with it. – Jeffrey Pfeffer***
Renee attends monthly conference calls, quarterly training sessions and annual conferences to enhance her professional skills in the IT department. She has learned a great deal and enjoys interacting with experts from around the world on topics from trouble shooting to new programming and AI. She uses whatever new knowledge she can at work but the opportunities do not always present themselves. Her supervisor is good about sending her to these events but there is little or no follow up.
Does an organization benefit from spending thousands of dollars sending a leader to conferences and trainings to meet with and glean from experts on key topics but the company makes no attempt to receive a direct, documented benefit of that learning for future advantage of the company?
Let’s explore the idea of intellectual capital and how it can be of benefit to an organization.
Intellectual capital is knowledge that can be converted into value. It consists of all the intangible assets of an organization or person. For an organization it may be broken down into three components: (1) human capital (to include skills, competencies and knowledge of people in the organization); (2) relational capital (e.g., relationships with customers and other stakeholders); and (3) structural or organizational capital (organizational culture, policies and procedures and intellectual property, like things created under the umbrella of the company like books, inventions etc).
For an individual, intellectual capital can be further thought of as the knowledge, understanding, wisdom, training and refinement that one achieves over time as they gain experience and insight in a specific field, profession or craft. It boils down to the stuff we take with us in our heads when we leave a job or company.
Each of us has been trained and developed by someone over the years. The longer we work and the wiser we get, if we continue to work in an industry or profession, the more depth and value we add to what we already have. This improves our intellectual capital as well as our individual value. Two key thoughts I want to point out,
1. One, it is, essential that we recognize our own worth even if others don’t.
Unfortunately, the average company may be lacking in their ability to identify their most valuable assets but we as individuals must not allow this to interfere in our input or output in a particular organization. As we continue making contributions, the company will continue to make resources available for further advancement. This can be a win-win for most of us, most of the time because, we continue to learn and grow.
It is at the point of ongoing stagnation or lack of appreciation for the contributions you bring that it might become apparent that it is time to move on and find greater opportunities and appreciation for sharing our knowledge. We should always be learning and growing. Even if the move is to build a company of our own with the knowledge that we have, we should continue to learn and grow.
2. Aside from the perspective of the individual, in looking at intellectual capital from the leadership perspective, we have to consider how we help to retain, maintain and grow the intellectual capital that others hold in the organization.
Whether it is our own, or that of others, the question is, how does leadership guarantee the continued growth of their organization’s intellectual capital, and keep it from depreciating?
The following are 5 ideas that can be considered for accomplishing this mission:
1. Monitor the Strength of Your Team
Replace the less-qualified, lower performing individuals with people who are more qualified and more committed to quality work. This is not an easy task, nor is it something that can happen overnight but it can be done. Do so in accordance with proper procedures, of course, and coach those who are borderline. If this is done in an ethical manner, it should have a positive impact and not the opposite effect. If done too quickly and unethically, it may create fear and panic among those who remain and were in no danger of being removed. This can be detrimental to the work or service you provide. Always treat people with respect. Always be thoughtful of how you make others feel.
2. Invest in Learning Opportunities
Budget and utilize these dollars for your employees, committed volunteers and leadership to strengthen current and introduce new technical and leadership skills that will increase the organization’s intellectual capital.
3. Knowledge sharing
It is quite valuable and rewarding for individuals who are vested in a particular area of expertise, to sit down and discuss that content with others who share the same passion and expertise. The desire to learn more and share their learnings with one another for the improvement of all matters of concern is the ultimate goal. One can find such exchanges in various forms of national, international councils, committees, societies or think tanks. Encouraging members of your team to participate in such organizations adds to their knowledge and to the advantage held by your organization. It only benefits the individual if they are not allowed to utilize that information for the benefit of the organization as a whole. There has to be opportunity and methods developed within the organization, to share and utilize the learnings gained from this type of group participation.
4. Internal Information and Collaboration
Utilize internal means of sharing information old and new, such as online chats, collaborative software, meeting summaries and dissemination or group presentations etc. This allows individuals who have acquired new information that can benefit others, to share it with those individuals. It also enables those who are familiar with the information or who have a different perspective or additional information, to share with the group. In doing this, the entire group gains insight and growth.
5. Track and Record Intellectual Capital In Your Organization
Record individuals’ training, development and other opportunities, internally and externally so there is a record of what information is housed within and among your people. Record individuals’ education and training in their records but also maintain an organization wide listing, database or repository on key areas that matter to the strength of your organization.
Closing Thoughts
I have spent many hours in meetings, seminars, on councils, committees and more. At one point I felt I was taking in more information than I could ever utilize. While my intent was to learn more and to do a better job, I don’t think the leadership around me thought much about it. They wanted me to learn more and develop my skills and expertise. I thoroughly appreciated this, then and now. It was most definitely invaluable to me personally. The sad part is that the organizations that I was a part of did not get the maximum benefit from what I learned. I was not the only one. There were others. In my opinion those organizations could have gone farther and achieved greater had they garnered all of that intellectual capital, shared it and utilized it more intentionally. Again, it was of benefit to the individuals but maybe we can all work a little harder and a lot smarter and maximizing the intellectual capital that develops under our leadership. It is then that we can make more progress in the work we have ahead of us.