Thousands more Bank of Scotland managers are to be put through their paces in the use of knowledge management.
Ann Jakeman, Bank of Scotland’s director of organisational training, said the move is the result of a new group-wide competency framework.
Last year, the bank’s 10-grade pay and grading structure covering about 12,000 staff was replaced with a competency based approach.
Now the framework, which includes knowledge management elements within competency definition, has been extended group-wide taking in about another 8,000 managers.
Jakeman said the framework allows her to promote further the knowledge management cause within Bank of Scotland. And she said it has created a transparency that is welcomed by employees.
“We advertise jobs internally using the competency language and pay people based on our competencies, the behaviours that people have to demonstrate.
“Everyone knows what is expected of them. We have removed the situation where people think, ‘How did they get promoted?’
“Staff feel it is much fairer. They know what they have to do to get to the next level.”
The bank replaced its former pay and grading structure as part of a move to reward staff for skills rather than years of service.
Jakeman urged other organisations to persist with knowledge management even if the benefits are not immediately apparent.
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She added, “One reason I believe it doesn’t work in a lot of organisations is that our school system doesn’t encourage us to share knowledge.
“To be top of the class you had to have that bit more knowledge than the person next to you. So when people go to work they say to themselves, ‘Why should I share knowledge?’ I think a lot of companies overlook just how deeply ingrained that attitude is.”
