What are the Top Challenges Facing Knowledge Officers in Large Organizations

[Transcript from video interview with Jean-Luc Abelin, Director, Knowledge Management Group, Lafarge at the KMWorld 2015 conference]

Q: What are the top challenges facing knowledge officers in large organizations?

A: We have two big challenges in a big, international company like Lafarge. First, to prove that a platform of management is very important. We have to convince all the top management level that it will be important for the company. We have to find all the topics and all the solutions to convince them to put money on the table and authorize us to deploy that kind of platform. It ís a huge task to display that kind of platform. We have to prove that it ís useful for the company.

That ís the first challenge. The second one is to convince people to share. When I say share, I mean both givers and takers.

The givers are generally experts and specialists. They give because sharing is part of their job position, but for the transfer of best practices, we address 90% of the company. A lot of them are very hesitant when we ask them to a best practice and transfer it to their country. At first, they don't know if the person will be congratulated; will be the giver or the taker. Don't forget that that at school, their teachers told them, "Don't copy your neighborís work."

Today, we do advise our clients to share work and to copy from others. It's very difficult to convince people. We use individual levers and instead to say, "If you share that best practice within your team, in your country, in your plant, it will be good for your company or for your country."

If you share best practices, you will reach your objective and reduce the time required to achieve it. You will evolve in the company. Step by step, we try to make people proud to transfer best practices, but we have a very, very long way to go.

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