Organizational Survival: Why to Work with Your Subject Matter Experts Now

Inside each organization resides all the knowledge needed to run it well and profitably.

The expertise inside each organization is the foundation of the business. The product knowledge, the R&D capability, the customer service structure, the manufacturing ability and logistical support are the individual building blocks that make up the foundation of expertise upon which your business is built. It is what makes your company unique and special. In business lingo, it is your competitive advantage. That expertise is not easily replaced.

In order to thrive, your business needs to have the “lottery ticket” contingency covered. It is important to know the people within your organization who, if they won the lottery and retired to Hawaii tomorrow, would leave a serious and gaping hole in your company’s ability to develop, produce and deliver products to your customers. Those are the subject matter experts who can offer something to your internal training programs that very few other people can provide.

Find those people and begin to work with them today, because they are critical to your corporate survival.

Defining Your Critical Training Programs

Companies would not develop or allocate finite budget resources to a training program this is not important. So, let’s start by agreeing that all types of training are important to maximize the profitability of your enterprise. However, for the purpose of finding your all-important subject matter experts – the people you need to be talking to today – let’s divide training programs into three categories:

1. Non-essential

2. Essential

3. Critical

Non-essential training programs are those that develop people in a way that improves their performance. Without those programs, your business can continue to survive. It may not be as successful or profitable, your products and customer service may not be as flawless as they could be, but you have a sufficient product and viable customer service without that new class you brought in house for your executives called “Learning to Lead with Confidence in a Global Healthcare Environment” (Just made that up so if you provide such a course, no offense. If no such course exists, it would be quite valuable, don’t you think?). Often these training programs can be provided by any competent supplier that specializes in such general areas of soft skills and management optimization.

Essential training programs are those that are required for you to do business. These training programs include things like software training that is provider specific like the training your employees need to use your new hospital electronic records system. Other examples of essential training include compliance training so your employees can operate within the laws and regulations issued by the FDA and OSHA, for example. These training programs are necessary and not optional, but can usually be provided by an outside provider with a little customization for your company.

Critical training programs are those that are specific and essential to your particular organization. These training programs impart the knowledge that is key to a particular company’s survival. Critical training programs teach your employees your secret sauce, whether it is how you make your pills or how much ketchup goes into your Funburger. The secret to your individual business’s survival is finding the people who have this information and downloading what they know into your company’s knowledge base before they win the lottery. Sometimes these people are not just people with scientific knowledge, but they may very well be the people who drive the spirit of innovation or the ones who know how to work successfully to cooperate with customers and product advocates that make your company a star. Whoever they are, whatever they are doing, when you find the people who make your company’s individual difference to your customers, the people who understand the value and distinction your organization brings to your customers, those are the subject matter experts you need to be talking to.

Working With Your SME

After you’ve identified the subject matter experts who can provide the critical information that your organization needs to survive, you need to plan to work effectively with them to capture it. Because your subject matter expert is critical to your organization, that person is also very busy.

When working with your SME, you need to manage your time and schedule to keep your meetings with them targeted and productive. If you don’t have a training project manager, you need to be one. During your interviews, stick to your agenda and, afterwards, make sure you have a review process in place so that your SME approves the information you are collecting.

By identifying your critical subject matter experts and working efficiently with them to capture their unique knowledge, your company will not just survive, but thrive, as you will be building on the solid foundation in which you’ve already invested.

Preserving Organizational Knowledge: More Important Now Than Ever

Why is it important for your organization to have a plan in place for preserving organizational knowledge?

For businesses that plan to be around awhile, succession planning is a critical but often underdeveloped part of their training plan. And at no time in recent memory can you build as strong a case for having a succession plan in place as today.

Simply, many of your longest running and best performers are baby boomers who are leaving the workforce in droves for sunnier vistas. Now is not just a great time, but may be your last chance, to capture what they know and preserve it for your future employees.

Another critical aspect of preserving internal knowledge right now is that many of your workers who need to be drinking from the fountain of your internal wisdom aren’t even in your organization yet. With the economy still running on maybe one cylinder – on a good day – recent college grads who would normally have been snapped up at job fairs are still waiting tables until you are ready to hire them.

A recent study using U.S. Census data shows that 40% of Millennials and 37% of GenXers are unemployed.

Here’s a summary of that study:

(MarketWatch) Some 40% of unemployed workers are millennials, according to an analysis of U.S. Census data by the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce released to MarketWatch, greater than Generation X (37%) and baby boomers (23%). That equates to 4.6 million unemployed millenials – 2 million long-term – 4.2 million unemployed Xers and 2.5 million jobless baby boomers.”

Source: www.mybudget360.com/young-unemployment-rate-millenials-economic-trends-jobs-income/

In the intervening time, the skills off the young unemployed are growing fallow and their opportunities to be learning at the knees of your in-house gurus is slipping away.

Now, not later, is the time to start building your internal knowledge base, including but not limited to, building formal training programs that preserve institutional knowledge while the people who know your business best are still under your roof.

Three Things Your Subject Matter Experts Can Do For Your Training Programs

You want to make sure your training is solid and rises to the next level. Tap into the best knowledge bank in your organization, your subject matter expert.

Subject matter experts (SMEs) are the people inside your organization who hold the unique knowledge, skills and attitudes that keep your customers coming back for more. They hold the keys to your competitive advantage that is the unique value and distinction that your company offers in the marketplace. SMEs are your company’s entrée into your industry.

For that reason, your SMEs are essential to building critical training programs. (See last week’s blog for the distinction among non-essential, essential and critical training) SMEs are the people who know what goes into your unique, probably patented, products. They are also the people who have established irreplaceable relationships with your top customers and make sure the organization hums by promoting a company culture that values employees and innovation. SMEs an be found in all corners of your organization, so whether you are designing a safety program, a manufacturing module or a leadership retreat, make sure to consult closely with the people who are getting it right, right now.

What kinds of information are you looking for when talking with your SME? Three things. They know your past, understand your competitive advantage in the present marketplace, and have the insight to understand your organization’s needs into the future. They can:

1. Ground your training: Your employees already talk your industry’s language to a greater or lesser extent. Your training needs to ground them in the history of how and why you do what you do today. An organization’s SMEs have a grasp on what has been tried, failed and succeeded, or they wouldn’t be there today. Make sure you download some history from them so your training tells a complete story by providing context, and also helps your employees avoid past mistakes.

Your company has already tread the hard road. Preserve those lessons for the future to avoid the curse of “those who don’t know history are doomed to repeat it.” That history resides with your SMEs.

2. Instill best practices. Because your SME already intimately knows your business, they are the best place to start to make sure your employees are getting the full and correct story the first time. When you are building training with your internal experts, you will be forging ahead from your first interaction.

Your employees have a lot to learn from your SMEs. Make sure your training leaves employees with an “Ah-ha!” that shows they are coming up the learning curve. That additional knowledge resides with your SMEs.

3. Find the dragons. Your SMEs got where they are in your company because they are not just a leading light inside your organization, but because they are a leading light in their field. True players can read the tea leaves, not because they are omniscient, but because they are highly skilled in a specialized area and can connect the dots that the layperson does not see. Every business wants to know where the opportunities and threats lie in the industry. Your SME can ensure your training materials see around the corners and build that competency into your future leaders, as well.

Keep your company on the cutting edge by giving your employees vision into an uncertain future. If dragons go there, your SME knows it.

In this highly competitive environment, no matter your industry, your competitive advantage is your best friend and that best friend is your SME. Tap into their knowledge to communicate your company’s value and distinction to your employees. Make sure your training includes the unique solutions that keep your company competitive.

As Grandma used to say, “Don’t hide your light under a bushel basket.” Your SMEs are lighting your organization’s path. Consult with them.