A few months ago, I met a very influential person in the public sector. I was there for a different reason, but still got a good insight into what SKL (Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Regions) considers one of its main strategic challenges. If we continue working like today, with our current ways, processes and routines, the older and hence more service-demanding populace (among other things) will create an unsustainable situation for the Swedish public sector.
Through their own research, SKL has concluded that around 500 000 new employees are needed in the public sector over the next 10 years. This should be viewed in light of the fact that this sector employs about 1,5 million full-time employees today. Hiring these people will be challenging for multiple reasons. One of them is that there’s a lack of people with the necessary skills. SKL and Vinnova (Sweden’s Innovation Agency) want to face this challenge in several ways. Digitisation is one such way, and is high on the agenda. This could include using digital tools to facilitate knowledge transfer, thereby lowering skill requirements and enabling more people to be employed. Digitisation comes with quite a bit of work regarding organisational and social norms and will, without doubt, bring big social changes that may in turn solve some of the main problems.
SKL are investing in smart ways of making the public sector smarter. Do you also get the feeling that knowledge sharing is super important when watching their programme video? Source: https://skl.se/naringslivarbetedigitalisering/forskningochinnovation/innovation.4827.html.
From our perspective, as agents of knowledge sharing, it isn’t hard to see that we can contribute significantly. All of us who have been working on knowledge sharing in the public sector over the last few years possess invaluable know-how and experience that can make this challenge much less insurmountable.
The digitisation of knowledge shortens the distance between those who know and those who need to know. It reduces the burden on knowledge bearers and the frustration of people who lack the knowledge they need to do their jobs. The latter alone can, when scaled up and taken to its full potential, remove much of the ill health that the ageing population will require the public sector’s assistance with.
Knowledge-related frustration and feelings of inadequacy are major contributors to burnout and other work-related issues, according to Arbetsmiljöverket (The Swedish Work Environment Authority) and the World Health Organisation (WHO). It is almost self-explanatory that these factors negatively affect people, and they can be mitigated by adopting effective knowledge sharing within a productive, human-friendly culture.
It can be seen everywhere that making job introductions and onboarding easier allows organisations to employ and put otherwise unqualified staff to work just when they are needed. This is a case of digitised knowledge at its very best; a facilitator of a more dynamic and demand-driven way of working. In the long run, our norms surrounding knowledge will need to be reviewed, and the idea that you have your job because of what you know is no longer entirely true. On the contrary, having invested many years in a backpack of knowledge can be a burden to bear and require substantial energy to keep up to date.
Detailed knowledge about, for example, methods for using certain tools can become cumbersome and actually hinder development and performance. Wisdom, experience and the ability to see macro-level patterns in your environment, on the other hand, will only increase in importance and necessity.
But, and this is no small issue, we are so specialised today that everyone is doing their own thing. We are striving towards perfection in separate areas of expertise, without taking a holistic approach and seeing the wider picture. Experts are valued higher than contexts. This makes it a bit hard to change our approach. It is also what forces, among other SKL, to put strategic resources to use on refocusing their organisation ahead of the coming challenges. We are lacking in generalists!
This means people with the ability to see synergies and the drive to connect them into new and better solutions, without succumbing to the temptation to revolutionise and create opposition. To allow ourselves and others to become generalists, we need, more than anything, to start sharing knowledge. We need to do this without the fear of losing our special niches, and instead find the curiosity to cross-fertilise our ideas and knowledge!
So, there are loads of fun things for knowledge-sharers to do! Loads! Why not apply for a small penny from one of Vinnova’s projects regarding social and norm-critical innovation? We are, after all, breaking norms around knowledge. Take the chance to start a knowledge campaign in your organisation!
Piteå municipality provides training for its employees when the need arises during the working day. They can be used as an encyclopedia if needed.
We are used to information being a push of a button away. Workplaces need to provide employees with easily accessible information when they need it.
Willab Garden gives their employees support to perform their work, which reduces the stress that can arise when you encounter an obstacle at work.