Wednesday, November 11, 2009

KM Asia 2009

http://www.kmasia.com/

employees are not children

Employees are not children so don't treat them like they are and they will be much more productive, and happy.  This is something that has very much been on my mind lately for several reasons that I won't go into.  The eWeek article below looks at how 37Signals goes about getting things done in what appears to me to be a pretty efficient and people friendly way.  http://www.eweek.com/c/a/IT-Management/37Signals-Breaks-Free-of-Rigid-Work-Culture-464279/?kc=EWKNLCSM11102009STR1

Why is it that so many companies think they need to be parents to their employees?  Instructing employees on what to do, where to do it and when to do it.  Some even going to the level of creating events to *reward* casual dress days.  If you treat your knowledge workers with respect and trust you don't need to be parents or the benevolent master.

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

pure Orwellian prattle

Do Businesses Hate Their Workers? (Income Disparity Myths Edition) over at Naked Capitalism.  Yves hits the nail squarely on the head with this statement: “Our employees are our greatest asset” is pure Orwellian prattle; most companies treat employees as liabilities, doing everything they can to minimize labor costs, getting rid of workers whenever possible.

Naked Capitalism comes at things from an economic perspective, but there is clearly KM applicability in this article.  If companies truely value their employees they would be more focused on providing mechanisms to leverage the collective knowledge of the organization in a way that benefits not just the organization but the workers.  In this context organizations need to put their money where their mouth is; not just with regards to compensation, but investing in mechanisms that benefit all stakeholders.

Knowledge to do what?

Can your organization answer the question; knowledge to do what?  That should be the starting point for any organization embarking on a new ...