An HR knowledge base is much more than an online employee handbook. It can also contain information on strategy formulation, policy making, and training and development. Collecting, organizing, and managing all that information is an arduous task but it’s one an HR knowledge base software can help simplify.
Building Best Practices: Your HR Knowledge Base
As a tool for organizational efficiency, HR knowledge management works to solve common HR headaches, such as eliminating the need for staff to answer the same questions repeatedly. Face-to-face interactions are then better spent on more complex employee issues.
How do you build an effective HR knowledge base? Take a cue from customer-centric knowledge bases to create HR portal solutions that save employees time and improve their overall work experience.
Three knowledge-base best practices can integrate as many information sources as possible to benefit the entire organization.
1. Curate with Care
A good knowledge-management strategy strives to transform created and captured data resources into a library of information that is consistent and easy to use:
- Classify and map each knowledge base article to its related articles. Not only does this make searching easier, it maximizes the quality of information employees access.
- Employ every possible source of data, including articles, manuals, guides, and relevant external resources.
- Ensure information is up-to-date, complete, and recommends appropriate steps.
- Make it easy for employees to find the personalized information that applies to their unique place in the organization.
Finally, articles should be continuously improved to maximize the value they generate. There may come a time when certain articles should be retired.
2. Build a Knowledge Community
For new and established employees alike, an HR knowledge base increases transparency and creates a culture of trust. The foundation for this is a collaborative workplace that allows employees to have a say in what the knowledge base contains.
Features like community forums build employee feedback into the system. Organizations can then track the information employees interact with most and see where tweaks in the process, such as navigation, are needed.
A user-friendly HR portal also helps during onboarding and training by both speeding up the process and fostering a sense of community in new hires.
3. Manage the Knowledge Lifecycle
Along with retiring outdated articles, work to build article-writing into key organizational moments. For example, if orientation is every other Monday or team meetings are held the last Friday of the month, record all the questions asked during these events. Turn the answers into knowledge-base opportunities. The results are twofold: employees appreciate their questions are heard and addressed, and the organization gets to build-out content they know employees need.
A Great Employee Experience = A Great Customer Experience
When employees work from a common knowledge base, one of the main benefits is the direct impact it has on engagement. A lot of that has to do with the feelings of dignity and respect employees gain from leadership taking a direct interest in their happiness. Studies show higher engagement means better productivity, happier customers, and improved revenue.
Jeanne Bliss, President of CustomerBliss, advises organizations to “Care for your employees, so they can show care to customers.” For organizations looking to accelerate growth and improve customer experience, an efficient HR knowledge base portal improves the employee experience and creates a positive, productive culture. This translates into long-term success.
