The Knowledge Rework Report

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The Knowledge Rework Report

December 2014 A survey of Knowledge Workers and Knowledge Management Practitioners about knowledge rework and its impact on business results


The business impact of the broad ability to reuse prior knowledge is a tenet of the knowledge economy, and yet few organizations have established mechanisms or programs to ensure it happens successfully. Perhaps based on a fundamental belief that Knowledge Workers predominantly do new work or solve new challenges, most organizations have not attacked the frontier of upskilling their workforce by reusing existing knowledge, beyond a simple approach with basic enterprise search, which has rarely been found effective. An ability to reuse nearly all of an organization’s knowledge and information, personalized for the user at the point of need creates a multiplier effect that both Knowledge Workers and Knowledge Management Practitioners agree would significantly impact their organizations’ performance in sales, the ability to better serve customers with more innovative products and services, and overall profitability from a more engaged, efficient and most importantly, more proficient workforce.

Far beyond the tactical time savings, such an ability allows employees to upskill as they are doing their work, creating the space and ability for higher level work.

This research report reveals that Knowledge Workers, in fact, rarely do unique work, with only 7 percent of respondents reporting that they do new work more than 75 percent of the time, and the vast majority (58 percent) report doing new work less than 25 percent of the time. Rework wastes time, frustrates employees and often causes employee disengagement. Without engaged employees, companies struggle to engage their customers.

While CEOs report(1) the greatest impediment to growth is a lack of skills and talent, few are focused on the reuse of their organization’s fast-growing knowledge stores as a means of upskilling their employees. Those that capture this capability consider it a core differentiator.

To shed light on the current state and opportunity of knowledge reuse, during June through August of 2014, Coveo Research surveyed Knowledge Workers and Knowledge Management Practitioners about their beliefs surrounding the uniqueness of work, the reuse of existing knowledge, and the potential impact of increasing knowledge reuse. (See About the Survey)

We asked about the nature of work and how that work product might be impacted if employees “were able to reuse 98% of your company’s knowledge, personalized for your use.” This high percentage is intended to be symbolic of “most of” an organization’s knowledge – what populates the long tail of collective enterprise knowledge.(2)

“Personalized for your use” refers to the capacity to present information and knowledge that is relevant to the user’s context, at the point of need.

Introduction: Rework is the unproductive norm.

http://www.gartner.com/newsroom/id/2707517


Knowledge Work and Knowledge Worker Knowledge work is defined in the Business Dictionary as a job, process, or task that is distinguished by its specific information content or requirements.(3)

One definition of a knowledge worker states this is “anyone who works for a living at the tasks of developing or using knowledge.”(4)

Therefore, we assume that the work of most employees involves knowledge. In a 2011 Business Week article, all workers within collaborative organizations are considered Knowledge Workers:

“all workers' knowledge counts, regardless of their roles. Every team member contributes, shares knowledge, and participates in making decisions, …. most important, information flows in multiple directions rather than cascading from senior leadership down through multiple levels of management to front-line people.”(5)

For the purposes of this survey, knowledge work and Knowledge Workers take on the broadest definition: Those whose work involves developing and/or using knowledge.

Knowledge Management (KM) Practitioner The most widely accepted definition of Knowledge Management comes from Gartner (Duhon, 1998):

“Knowledge management is a discipline that promotes an integrated approach to identifying, capturing, evaluating, retrieving, and sharing all of an enterprise's information assets. These assets may include databases, documents, policies, procedures, and previously un-captured expertise and experience in individual workers.”

Therefore we define Knowledge Management Practitioners as those whose primary work involves promoting “identifying, capturing, evaluating, retrieving, and sharing all of an enterprise's information assets.” KM Practitioners may be part of a department, such as IT or Engineering, or they may be part of a Knowledge Management group or department, or they may be employed in a consulting capacity.

Definitions


The 98% Rule First discovered by Chris Anderson and revealed in his seminal book “The Long Tail,” the 98% Rule predicts that 98% of the items for sale in large ecommerce sites such as Amazon and Netflix will be sold each quarter, at least a handful of times. Impossible to scale in the physical world, as more items were added to these and other sites, the 98% Rule held true. These organizations simply sold more. In knowledge management, the 98% rule therefore holds that 98% of an organization’s knowledge may be reused, at least a handful of times, each quarter, providing it is made accessible, relevant and personalized for the employee, just as Amazon serves its customers.

Definitions


Survey Results: Challenges


Counter to popular belief, Knowledge Workers report that they primarily do rework, potentially due to their inability to easily reuse work that has been done previously.

Nearly 60 percent of Knowledge Workers work primarily (more than 75 percent of the time) on projects or solve issues that have been done or solved before at their companies.

Only 7 percent report doing unique work more than three-quarters of the time.

But 40 percent of Knowledge Workers face difficulty finding information they need with 18 percent reporting that they are unable to easily find and reuse past work three-quarters of the time.

Less than 30 percent can find and reuse the information they need most of the time.

58%

19%

12%

7%

5%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80%

Less than 25% of the time

Between 25% and 50% of the time


More than 75% of the time

I'm not sure.

Knowledge Workers: “I work on issues or projects that have never been solved or done before within my company.”

18%

22%

26%

29%

4%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40%





I'm not sure.

Knowledge Workers: “I am able to easily and quickly find and reuse work that has been done before when I need it.”

Uniqueness of Work Ability to Reuse Enterprise Knowledge

Coveo Research: The Knowledge Rework Report Coveo Research: The Knowledge Rework Report

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Knowledge Management (KM) Practitioners believe Knowledge Workers do unique work more often than Knowledge Workers report, but align on the difficulty of accessing prior knowledge and information.

And yet only 32 percent of KM Practitioners believe Knowledge Workers can easily and quickly find and reuse past work when they need it, more than half the time. Only 12 percent believe this is possible most of the time.

The largest percentage (36 percent) believe Knowledge Workers face difficulty accessing information they need at least three-quarters of the time.

36%

30%

20%

12%

2%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40%





I'm not sure.

KM Practitioners: “Knowledge Workers are able to easily and quickly find and reuse work that has been done before when they need it.”

41%

31%

18%

6%

4%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%





I'm not sure.

KM Practitioners: “Knowledge Workers work on issues or projects that have never been solved or done before within our company.”

Forty-one (41) percent of KM Practitioners believe Knowledge Workers do unique work less than 25 percent of the time; while close to 60 percent of Knowledge Workers report this to be true.

Uniqueness of Work Ability to Reuse Enterprise Knowledge


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Survey Results: Benefits


18% 8%

12% 13%

18% 30%

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35%

No effect

Up to 10% increase

11 to 25% increase

26 to 50% increase

More than 50% increase

Not sure

If you and your colleagues were able to reuse 98% of your company’s knowledge (both in systems and people/experts), personalized for your use, what do you believe would be the impact on your company’s sales performance?

8% 13%

18% 20%

21% 20%

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25%

No effect

Up to 10% increase

11 to 25% increase

26 to 50% increase


Not sure

If all employees were able to reuse 98% of your company’s knowledge (both in systems and people/experts), personalized for their use, what do you believe would be the impact on your company’s sales performance?

Both Knowledge Workers and KM Practitioners agree: Having access to significantly more knowledge and information would greatly increase sales.

KM Practitioners clearly see more benefit from increased access to knowledge and experts, with 41 percent predicting increases in sales of more than 25 percent.

Knowledge Workers also see significant benefits, 31 percent predicted a more than 25 percent increase and 18 percent a more than 50 percent increase in sales.

Knowledge Workers KM Practitioners

Knowledge Workers and KM Practitioners agree: More access to people and knowledge would significantly impact their company’s sales performance.

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Knowledge Workers and KM Practitioners agree: Personalized access to past knowledge would increase innovation.

Both Knowledge Workers and KM Practitioners agree: Having access to significantly more knowledge and information would greatly increase their company’s ability to deliver better, more innovative products or services.

The ability to find and reuse knowledge and information achieved the highest perceived benefit in the area of innovation and product quality. Nearly 50 percent of Knowledge Workers and nearly 70 percent of KM Practitioners believe their organization would deliver more than 25 percent better and more innovative products or services if they have easy access to knowledge that is relevant to their context.

10% 8%

14% 22%

27% 19%

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30%

No effect

Up to 10% increase

11 to 25% increase

26 to 50% increase


Not sure

If you and your colleagues were able to reuse 98% of your company’s knowledge (both in systems and people/experts), personalized for your use, what do you believe would be the impact on your company’s ability to deliver better/more innovative products or

3% 9%

16% 32%

35% 6%

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40%

No effect

Up to 10% increase

11 to 25% increase

26 to 50% increase


Not sure

If all employees were able to reuse 98% of your company’s knowledge (both in systems and people/experts), personalized for their use, what do you believe would be the impact on your company’s ability to deliver better/more innovative products or services?



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Knowledge Workers and KM Practitioners agree: Profitability would grow substantially with more access to past knowledge, personalized for their use.

Both Knowledge Workers and KM Practitioners agree: Having access to significantly more knowledge and information would greatly increase their company’s profitability.

Nearly 70 percent of Knowledge Workers and 85 percent of KM Practitioners believe that profits and overall company performance could improve by anywhere from 10 to 50 percent or more, if enterprise knowledge were more findable, and contextually relevant.

9% 8%

13% 22%

26% 22%

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30%

No effect

Up to 10% increase

11 to 25% increase

26 to 50% increase


Not sure

If you and your colleagues were able to reuse 98% of your company’s knowledge (both in systems and people/experts), personalized for your use, what do you believe would be the impact on your company’s profitability (resulting from increases in productivit

4% 10%

17% 29% 29%

11%

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35%

No effect

Up to 10% increase

11 to 25% increase

26 to 50% increase


Not sure

If all employees were able to reuse 98% of your company’s knowledge (both in systems and people/experts), personalized for their use, what do you believe would be the impact on your company’s profitability (resulting from increases in productivity)?



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Survey Results: Summary


Knowledge Workers rarely do new work, counter to popular belief

Only 7 percent of Knowledge Workers report doing new work more than 75 percent of the time, while nearly 80 percent report doing this less than half the time, and nearly 60 percent less than 25 percent of the time.

The ability to easily access personalized information from across the organization would not only enable Knowledge Workers to do less rework, they report that it would significantly increase their company’s performance in sales, innovation and profitability. Reusing knowledge at the point of need would help employees to upskill and do more meaningful work, as knowledge sharing has a multiplier effect on individual performance.

Disconnect between Knowledge Workers and KM practitioners on the uniqueness of work

KM Practitioners overestimate the amount of unique work done by Knowledge Workers. Fifty-eight (58) percent of the Knowledge Workers surveyed reported that they spend less than a quarter of their time on new or unique issues or projects. Only 41 percent of KM Practitioners felt the same. 31 percent of KM Practitioners believe that Knowledge Workers spend 25 to 50 percent of their time on unique work. In reality, only 19 percent of Knowledge Workers report that to be true.

Recognizing this disconnect uncovers opportunities for companies to upskill their current workforce by improving employee proficiency through better knowledge access and reuse.

Summary of Key Findings


The broad ability for employees to access personalized information at the time of need will have a significant impact for organizations in sales, innovation and profitability

Both KM Practitioners and Knowledge Workers cited difficulties accessing prior knowledge. Eighty-six (86) percent of KM Practitioners and 67 percent of Knowledge Workers agree that Knowledge Workers have trouble finding the information they need, when they need it, three-quarters of the time. This presents a negative impact on employee productivity and a significant opportunity cost for the company. Employees not only waste time searching for information; time that could be invested into creating a new work product is also wasted when employees have to recreate content that might already exist but cannot be found.

However, the significant projections for organizational improvement cited by both groups prove that both KM Practitioners and Knowledge Workers intuitively understand the multiplicative effect of more and better knowledge access at the point of need, which extends far beyond linear time savings. Such access allows Knowledge Workers to upskill as they are working, enabling them to work on ever higher-level tasks, including the creation of new knowledge.

Conversely, both Knowledge Workers and KM Practitioners predict significant, positive impact of more access to broad and yet personalized knowledge, with approximately 20 percent of both groups predicting a more than 50 percent increase in sales with this ability; 27 percent of Knowledge Workers and 35 percent of KM Practitioners predict a greater than 50 percent increase in innovation; and nearly 50 percent of Knowledge Workers predicting a greater than 25 percent increase in profitability, while nearly 60 percent of KM Practitioners predict such an increase.

Enterprise knowledge, delivered in context, brings significant business benefits

The business value of providing access to enterprise knowledge, personalized for the individual’s use, is undisputed. The majority of Knowledge Workers and KM Practitioners believe that access to such knowledge will increase sales performance, product and service innovation, as well as profitability.

Forty-one (41) percent of KM Practitioners and 31 percent of Knowledge Workers predict increases in sales of more than 25 percent from better knowledge reuse.

Sixty-seven (67) percent of KM Practitioners and 49 percent of Knowledge Workers believe that if Knowledge Workers are able to find and build on prior work, instead of reinventing the wheel, companies’ ability to deliver better/more innovative products and services would increase by at least 25 percent.

With improved knowledge access and findability, Knowledge Workers can be more productive. Fifty-eight (58) percent of KM Practitioners and 48 percent of Knowledge Workers believe this will result in a minimum 25 percent increase in profitability.

Summary of Key Findings


1)  “Gartner CEO and Senior Business Executive Survey Shows that Growth Dominates Key Business Priorities in 2014,” Gartner, Inc., 2014


2)  “Knowledge and the 98% Rule,” Diane Berry, 2014

http://www.enterpriseknowledge-theuntappedasset.com/knowledge-the-98-rule-2/

3)  Definition of Knowledge Work, BusinessDictionary.com

http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/knowledge-work.html#ixzz3LK53KLSi

4)  Definition of Knowledge Worker, Margaret Rouse

http://searchcrm.techtarget.com/definition/knowledge-worker

5)  “Every Worker is a Knowledge Worker,” Evan Rosen, 2011

http://www.businessweek.com/managing/content/jan2011/ca20110110_985915.htm

Sources


http://www.enterpriseknowledge-theuntappedasset.com/knowledge-the-98-rule-2/

http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/knowledge-work.html#ixzz3LK53KLSi

http://searchcrm.techtarget.com/definition/knowledge-worker

http://www.businessweek.com/managing/content/jan2011/ca20110110_985915.htm


About the Survey

The Coveo Research Knowledge Rework Survey was conducted in June, July and August of 2014 with 412 Knowledge Workers (KW) from private and public sector organizations in the United States, and with 337 Knowledge Management Practitioners (KM) from private and public sectors, via email and social media invitations. See charts for survey demographics.

61%

5%

2%

32%

KW: What is your job role?

Individual Contributor

Manager

Executive

Other

17% 2%

10%

3%

6%

3% 7% 7%

13%

18%

14%

KW: What department do you work in? Administrative, Accounting & Finance

Consulting

Customer Service

Marketing & Advertising

Operations

Human Resources

Sales

IT

Engineering, R&D, Product Management

Healthcare Provider, Doctor, Nurse

Other

Kn

ow

led

ge

Wo

rke

rs

16%

18%

33% 6%

2%

4% 21%

KW: What industry do you work in? Manufacturing

Financial services, insurance and real estate Healthcare

Services

Retail trade

Transportation & utilities

Other

25%

44%

12%

19%

KM: What is your job role?

Individual Contributor

Manager

Executive

Other

12% 5%

6%

5%

4%

4%

13%

7%

28%

16%

KM: What department do you work in? Consulting

Customer Service

Marketing

Operations

Human Resources

Sales

IT

Engineering, R&D, Product Management

Knowledge Management (not embedded in another department) Other (please specify)

10%

12%

8%

20%

1% 4%

45%

KM: What industry do you work in?

Manufacturing

Financial services, insurance and real estate Healthcare

Services

Retail trade

Transportation & utilities

Other KM

Pra

ctiti

on

ers

Coveo Research: The Knowledge Rework Report Coveo Research: The Knowledge Rework Report Coveo Research: The Knowledge Rework Report


About Coveo

Recognized as the Most Visionary Leader in Enterprise Search by Gartner, Coveo helps organizations upskill for growth by ensuring that every employee, support agent, customer, and website visitor easily finds better and more relevant information and people—enhancing their skills for the task at hand.

Coveo's highly advanced enterprise search technology adds the value of rich content and insights to CRM, customer service applications, intranets and websites. Coveo securely connects with most legacy and cloud systems, consolidates organizations’ full ecosystems of record in real-time, and provides unified search, dynamic 360-degree views of information, and contextual, proactive recommendations of relevant content and experts using powerful analytics.

Coveo is a strategic partner of several large application providers such as Salesforce.com and Sitecore, and is used by leading organizations worldwide to enable the on-demand skills and knowledge required by constantly evolving digital workplaces. For more information, please visit coveo.com.

United States San Mateo, CA +1.800.635.5476

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Coveo Research

Diane Berry, Chief Knowledge Evangelist

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Date post:	12-Jul-2015
Category:	Data & Analytics
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The Knowledge Rework Report

Data & Analytics