HRD Knowledge Management Towards improved service delivery 17

HRD & Knowledge Management: Towards improved service delivery 17 October 2017 Brent Simons DPSA

Why Knowledge matters!!

Why a Knowledge Management Strategy for Government? Our current socio-political reality: violent community service delivery protests!

Why a Knowledge Management Strategy for Government? Yusuf and Ismail (2009), Dikotla (et al 2014) Identifies poor knowledge management as a contributor to poor service delivery

As we start… lets remove some misnomers… • KM is not about ICT! It is about people… • People create information! People interpret information & give it meaning! People decide how to store and when to use it wisely. This is wisdom • ICT provides the base and networks through which we manage information • KM is also about recording relevant practical experiences to the benefit of all

Knowledge Management is… “… simply the practice of capturing, storing and sharing knowledge so that we can learn lessons from the past (the present) and apply them in the future”

Practically KM involves … • Identifying • Documenting / capturing • Storing • Sharing • Learning • Reflecting

The NDP and KM • identifies the establishment of communities of practice to enhance public knowledge. • the public service must develop the skills and knowledge to “meet the present and future needs of the economy and society” • calls for the adoption of “a framework to coordinate the production of knowledge and guide the investment of public funds” • Linking public purse with knowledge & meeting performance targets (Value added by KM)

Managing government knowledge • Governments are increasingly required to determine, define, develop and set service delivery targets to meet the needs of their citizens. • Managing information provides us with the ability to develop, modify and adjust service delivery mechanism to meet these targets.

Where do we start… • We start with individuals within our departments (know what). • We acknowledge what they know! (Know who) • We identify best practices and problems and weaknesses (know what and how) • Create ICT platforms, virtual KM societies within our departments (using Share. Point, Alfresco, etc. ) • We start with establishing Communities of Practice (Co. P)

Why the need for Knowledge Management(KM)? • The modern South African public service has an obligation to develop skills and knowledge in order to meet its economic and societal needs(NDP) • Today's knowledge and networked economy requires that people, organisations & GOVERNMENTS share knowledge and build together. In learning by doing we build our own capacity thus the need to adapt & change rapidly so that we are not left behind…. Why? * Knowledge is about power/empowerment.

… the need for Knowledge Management(KM)? • If government knows what it wants to achieve & information is pro-actively shared/communicated amongst staff and with citizens it ‘may’ contribute towards them not taking to the streets! • Therefore KM is a powerful tool to ensure an effective, efficient professional, highly productive and capable public service (Internally) and a satisfied community (Externally).

All of this means a changing/changed public service where • Staff experiences and input are acknowledged. . • People have become more knowledgeable, more independent minded, more interdependent and more accessible. • Technology has become more present, more pervasive, and more unavoidable • Space has become more virtual, more instantaneous, and increasingly borderless • Information has become more available and easily accessible • Communication has become convenient, more informal and much more effective.

KM is part of the solution: KM is a critical HRD tool to address the aspects of organisational behaviour, structure & strategy - which if managed strategically will lead to improved of service delivery

…. Part of the solution • Human Resources development practitioners have an important role in assisting in transforming the organization to be a learning organization for its success (Ping Yu Wang: 2006) • The development of people as government resources entails amongst other, development of skills through training, observation , mentoring and couching which has to do with knowledge transfer • The aim of staff development is to assist the people to acquire relevant and innovative skills and knowledge for the organization to remain effective and competitive. • This re-emphasizes the role of HRD in the public service.

KM encourages Innovation

HRD - Facilitating the generation of government knowledge • Employees are major generators of data and information. • Innovation: developing new and more effective approaches and modalities towards improving service delivery; • Piloting and Testing: pioneering new approaches for replication purposes; • Skills-transfer/Address Capacity Gaps: ensuring that South African institutional capacity is enhanced for sustained, long term implementation; • Encourage information sharing through Communities of Practice at the workplace and between departments and provinces (This HRD forum is a Co. P) • Strategic use of intranets

WHY HRD? • KM is people-oriented, retention of knowledge and preservation of institutional memory and the training of new staff • HRD and KM are part of Strategic planning/management • Harvesting and improving skills • Critical wellness/skills/organisational management tool • Effective and efficient organisations are learning organisations • HRD facilitates access to knowledge through sourcing and sharing information to improve services • HRD must harness, optimally use and prevent knowledge assets (our people and information) from flowing out of the organisation

Benefits of KM…

Leadership: Political & Administrative • KM is not an end in itself! • For departments, provinces and municipalities to buy into the strategic value of KM… • …. Both Political & Administrative LEADERSHIP are CRITICAL!

KM leads to…. Wisdom….

Knowledge Management Process

Knowledge Management Mainstreaming • Regular sharing and sustainable exchange of Knowledge amongst members of an organisation ensures mainstreaming • Knowledge sharing assist in fostering continuous learning to achieve business goals. • Mutual trust and benefit help foster a culture of sharing. • Technology can be used to enhance sharing. • Coaching and mentoring are other means of sharing. • Knowledge sharing platforms can be used to enhance KM in the organisation through the utilization of Communities of Practices , Peer Assist , Twinning and others as a knowledge sharing platform

Mainstreaming through Learning Platforms • Knowledge exchange is essential to achieve continual learning from. experience and apply that learning to improve the manner in which work is performed within organisations. • Purpose of Learning Platforms • Collaborative learning for better understanding and clarity on challenges and expected outcomes. • Sharing knowledge as well as generating new knowledge and unleashing innovation • Serves as think tanks, training platforms and support structures • Assist in finding solutions to challenges in respective work areas in a cost effective manner

Finally…. Don’t be afraid to try new things…