Institutional Knowledge: How to Transfer Institutional Memory

Institutional knowledge (or institutional memory) is whatever valuable information makes up the core of a business’ everyday practices. This knowledge remains at the core of a work environment even as new employees come and go. Organizations preserve it through training materials, word of mouth, and other means. Prioritizing this kind of knowledge retention ensures organizations remain functional and efficient even if all the people who set up the initial institutional processes are no longer with the company.

Institutional knowledge is particularly important during periods in which generations of employees reach retirement age and in times of high employee turnover rates. For example, as baby boomers retire, companies must transfer a core knowledge base to millennials and Generation Z to further their own career development as well as the organization’s own interests.

The loss of institutional knowledge often means the loss of a company’s identity and ability to perform in the first place. Companies face plenty of major changes and challenges over their lifespans, sometimes over decades and multiple shifts of personnel. Throughout mergers or the steady churn of people coming and going to any given company, certain core information must remain available to all those who need it.

Organizational memory manifests itself in many ways. Here are just three examples of how people preserve institutional knowledge for new employees:

1. 1. To learn unique processes: Suppose the founders of a company have a list of core practices they believe essential to how their business runs. Eventually, these founders will retire and need to pass on their initial organizational structure and institutional knowledge to other people after them. To do so, they could leave behind a set of video tutorials about these practices to increase employee engagement from the start of a new employee coming aboard.
2. 2. To use specific equipment: Many companies work with specific hardware and tools. If there isn’t a simple way to pass on how to use them, it can cause inefficiency and halt workflow. Whether through word-of-mouth or documentation, a rundown of the standard operating procedures for any equipment helps pass on institutional knowledge to new hires.
3. 3. To work with long-term clients: Companies sometimes offer services to clients over decades. To operate best as long-term providers of goods and services, they need to ensure knowledge transfer is seamless from old employees to new ones. By keeping detailed records of the needs of certain clients as well as the metrics they expect the company to meet for them, organizations can help new employees hit the ground running.

Implementing initiatives to transfer institutional knowledge can be straightforward. Consider these three ways to share knowledge with new stakeholders:

1. 1. Documentation: Maintain all the necessary processes and practices for your company in actual documentation, rather than relying on people to pass on the knowledge themselves. Experiment with different formats—perhaps you’ll find it’s best to use an internal wiki or video tutorials instead.
2. 2. Mentorship: Complement any documentation by pairing up experienced employees and team members with new hires for mentoring programs. This can supplement any more technical or mechanistic training program by allowing tried-and-true workers and senior executives to pass down knowledge to newcomers organically. This way, there are plenty of new opportunities to learn in a hands-on manner each day for those recently brought on board.
3. 3. Onboarding and offboarding: Implement institutional knowledge management systems at both the entrance and exit points for employment at your company. Work with human resources to build out training materials that acquaint new employees with all necessary information as soon as they come on board. Similarly, when an employee leaves, have them fill out a template providing a bottom line accounting of how they went about their daily tasks. This can help the next person filling that role.

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