If your business is about knowledge (reminder: knowledge is not information), how do you motivate people to create and share your most valuable asset?

Let’s have a look at the typically ‘knowledge’ company: A strategic consultancy firm. Their main asset is the knowledge and experience that their consultants possess (of course along with the capacities to translate these to a specific business or case,…).

If you work in such a firm, you no doubt receive a bonus when the companies numbers go up, you definitely receive a surplus when you bring in a new client and you even get an extra paycheck when you bring in a new recruit (hey, that is knowledge also).

The question is: do you get an incentive to create or share knowledge?

Do you receive recognition when creating a white paper, host a knowledge session during lunch for the new arrivals on the project, share the status of the project, give everybody a heads up on the added value you bring to a specific customer,…?

There are plenty of tools out there to share the knowledge, but few organization value the importance of knowledge sharing and the effort that goes into creating and sharing it.

If knowledge is your main asset, you should make sure your employees go beyond limits in creating, sharing and defending that asset!

(Full disclosure: Filip is working for Sodexo Web Motivation center and provides solutions for companies that want to work around motivation / incentive / recognition).