Knowledge Transfer

What does knowledge transfer within an organization mean? Daniel H. Kim (1993) noted that "...an organization learns through its individual members..." (p.41). There are many clichés tossed around in organizations in reference to learning. How often have we heard an organization referring to itself as a learning organization? Similar terms used are innovative learning, knowledge management, and knowledge acquisition. Organizational learning involves both individual knowledge transfer and group learning.

Edgar H. Schein (1996) describes "occupational communities" as a pattern of basic assumptions developed by a given group as it learns (p. 11). Insurance underwriting is a good example of an occupational community. Insurance underwriters across different insurance organizations have received similar underwriting education and training. This knowledge can be readily transferred from one insurance company to another. The insurance underwriter uses a wide assortment of recognized technical and actuarial data to predict the likelihood that a future claim will be made against an insurance policy and prices the policy to reflect the risk involved. My insurance career of over twenty five years has spanned three different insurance companies. I have easily been able to transfer my insurance skills and knowledge to each company.

I began my insurance career as an insurance underwriting trainee for a major insurance company branch located in Quincy, Massachusetts. The training period was twelve months and included both classroom training and on the job training. Classroom training took place in Chicago, which was the company's home base. Classroom training was intensive and included numerous case study exercises, policy coverage forms, financial underwriting, general underwriting practices, homework, quizzes, a mid-term exam, and a final exam. In order to be promoted from the underwriting trainee position to an underwriter, I was required to pass the final exam at the end of the twelve month training program. The passing grade was 75% or greater. Twenty insurance underwriting trainees from various parts of the U.S. participated in the training program. To this day, I appreciate the fact that I had the opportunity to participate in such a comprehensive training program. However, looking back I believe I could have achieved greater knowledge retention if the classroom material was delivered in a different way.

As I indicated previously, the classroom training in Chicago was intensive. The length of one of my four training sessions in Chicago was six weeks. The daily training schedule was eight to nine hours a day, with homework at the end of the day. How did this agenda work for me? The first problem I experience was that I received too much information in an extremely short period of time. Five to six hours into the training session day I lost my ability to concentrate because of the overload of new information. As a result, I missed some very important information and I didn't retain or absorb a lot of what I had heard earlier in the day.

An additional problem that I experience was the one size fits all classroom approach. I did appreciate the fact that the students in my class came from various geographical locations in the United States giving me the opportunity to view different perspectives. However, I didn't always grasp the concepts at the same speed of my classmates and the classroom setting was indifferent to my learning preferences and my learning needs. Upon reflection, I would have gained more from the underwriting training program if classroom time was shorter and there had been a better balance between classroom training and on the job training.

My savior was my mentor in the Quincy, Massachusetts branch. He provided me with on-the-job training between my classroom sessions in Chicago. I now realize that having the right mentor was one of the most important aspects of my underwriting training and ultimately my career. My mentor was a kind and caring man who welcomed my questions and wanted to share his experiences and successes as well as the tricks of the trade. He was extremely proficient and experienced and he had a good reputation within the insurance industry. Most importantly, he was very patient and was always available to answer my many questions. What other ways did he help me? His on the job training consisted of solutions to real specific problems. His decision making skills were excellent and he taught me that in insurance, there is always a solution to every problem. Because of the immediate relevance of the training to a specific problem my learning retention improved. How did I help him? My mentor was at the end of his career and he was about to retire. The fact that I came to him, chose him as my mentor, and respected his expertise helped his self esteem and offered him the opportunity to transfer his valuable knowledge to another willing person.

As a manager and a leader my challenges include coaching, developing, and training my staff. In this changing economy I am often asked to do more with fewer resources. What impact will the economy have on my organization in 2009? How will the declining economy affect my role as a manager and what am I doing to prepare for this impact? As I am being asked to do more with less, I am also requesting the same of my staff. My role is to get my staff through the changes that are occurring now. New approaches to remain competitive are required and new skill sets are needed. I have a diverse