Sound familiar?

The knowledge is in people's heads

When the person who knows how something works is unavailable, the process stops. That's not resilience - it's dependency. New starters take weeks to become productive, and every departure takes a slice of institutional memory with it.

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The symptoms

What this usually looks like

Knowledge lives in people's heads, not systems
New starters take weeks to become productive
People have to know where everything is, there's no tool to help them navigate the business
Critical expertise leaves with retiring or departing employees
Improvement initiatives depend on individual champions
Different people do the same job differently, because there's no single source of truth to check against

42%

of institutional knowledge is unique to one individual

Source: PR Newswire, knowledge-sharing cost research

5.3 hrs

lost per week per knowledge worker waiting for or recreating information

Source: PR Newswire, knowledge-sharing cost research

28 hrs/mo

spent by new hires learning the job - for their first 6.5 months

Source: PR Newswire, knowledge-sharing cost research

£25k–£100k

average UK employee replacement cost, rising for specialist roles

Source: CIPD; Employment Lawyer London

This isn't just best practice - it's a certification requirement. ISO 9001:2015 Clause 7.1.6 requires organisations to determine, maintain and make available the organisational knowledge needed for process operation, including planning for knowledge loss from retiring or departing staff. Most Business Management System (BMS) owners haven't fully closed this out.

Quick check

Is this you?

Could a new starter find the answer to a process question without asking a specific person?
If your most experienced person left tomorrow, would it impact ongoing delivery?
Is there one place - not one person - your team can find guidance when they're unsure?

How we fix it

Potential solutions

Automated onboarding system for new starters

An effective offboarding process to capture business-critical information before someone leaves

A bespoke intranet which organically directs people to the right tools, complete with a central communications platform

A knowledge base that grows with you, layered with a plain-English AI interface

Guidance and knowledge embedded into the management system so business-critical information stays inside the business

Root cause analysis (RCA) support, backed by Nonconformance Report / Opportunity For Improvement (NCR/OFI) tracking, to ensure improvements result in permanent change

Evidence

Case studies

Examples specific to knowledge management are being added to this page.

Coming soon

We're adding case studies for this problem area. In the meantime, ask us directly about relevant experience.

Fact sheet

Take it with you

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Dependable Knowledge Management - fact sheet

Challenges, solutions and stats from this page in a one-page PDF.

Download PDF ↓

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