Page 20 - DPSA - Service Delivery Report

KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT
50 45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10
5 0
KM Maturity Assessment Submission
provinces. The fragmented approach brought about by working in different departments also has a bearing on the organisation’s culture of knowledge sharing.
The findings also indicate that senior managers’ participation in informal knowledge sharing platforms is mini- mal, thus resulting in knowledge shar- ing forums being poorly attended and not being regarded as a critical activity. Learning and sharing platforms are key opportunities to capitalise on knowl- edge obtained and senior managers’ participation enhances the quality of knowledge shared, while also setting an example to all in organisations. Often critical organisational intellectu- al capital resides as tacit knowledge among the experts in the department.
A sharing platform is a vehicle to pro- mote knowledge transfer, especially tacit knowledge, thus ensuring that critical knowledge which forms the organisation’s intellectual capital is harvested and documented for future use and innovation. The findings also highlighted that in departments that are mostly project-driven, collabora- tions are evident due to the nature of work where task systems are utilised. However there is a need for a knowl- edge system that is easily accessible and whereby accumulated knowledge could be disseminated to all within the organisation. A beneficial knowledge sharing culture in all departments will promote collaboration and eliminate silos.
Findings also show that while there are technological support systems in the government departments, there is a need to provide innovative knowl- edge sharing e-platforms that will promote collaboration and knowledge exchange between government de- partments.
Government departments create knowledge and use various tools to capture knowledge, but the analy- sis, classification and storage of this knowledge to ensure accessibility is not clear. The findings of the assess- ment also shows a need for govern- ment technology to support knowledge
No of dept No of nominees Submitted
Figure 3: KM maturity assessment response and submission
one is in refinement. National KM Maturity
18%
[VALUE]
Figure 4: National departments maturity
A selected number of national depart- ments have a KM strategy in place, which is an indication that managers are aware of the need for KM in de- partments. However, in most instances the business case for KM is not clearly defined and as a result the responsi- bility and accountability of the function are left at junior level. This is a clear indication of ad hoc implementation of KM due to the absence of govern- ment-wide guidelines on the imple- mentation thereof in the public service. This affects standardised and integrat- ed implementation of KM in organi- sational processes. The findings also depict that KM is not viewed as a stra- tegic management function by many government organisations and as a result critical organisational knowledge needed to advance strategic goals is not explored and recognised.
The location of KM in organisations plays a significant role in ensuring that mainstreaming of KM processes and initiatives are effective. Furthermore, the absence of a linkage between KM and business needs and processes encourages the formation of silos and thus inhibits knowledge flow and im- pact. An analysis on the national de- partments that have indicated that they have KM strategies in place, but does not demonstrate how these filter down to their provincial offices.
Provincial departments’ responses on governance and leadership, as well as business alignment, demonstrate silos co-exist even among sister de- partments due to the absence of stan- dardisation of KM processes within
Reaction Initiation
Provincial KM Maturity
2%
14%
47%
37%
Reaction Initiation Expansion Refinement
Figure 5: Provincial departments maturity
It is clear from the findings that at a provincial level, less than 50% of de- partments are at the reaction phase which means that the KM in these or- ganisations happens randomly, is un- planned, with little or no KM activities within organisations. However, there are a number of departments that have moved to the initiation phase and also 16% that are practicing KM and striv- ing to integrate it into their day-to-day processes.
18 SERVICE DELIVERY REVIEW | Volume 12 No.3 of 2019