Barbados now has a new crop of certified knowledge management counsellors.
This comes after 25 individuals from the public and private sectors completed a training workshop facilitated by the Ministry of Labour, Social Security and Human Resource Development.
The workshop, which was held from February 24 to 27, at Almond Bay, Hastings, came as part of the Ministry???s Human Resource Development Strategy, in which knowledge management sensitisation is a key initiative.
Admitting that Knowledge Management was a very broad topic, the workshop???s chief instructor and Chairman of the Knowledge Management Institute, Douglas Weidner, described it as a process which focused on employee engagement.
???In my opinion, it is for people to understand their own traits and strengths and for their manager to understand this, then to align the kind of work that person does with tasks that they really love to do. That way, they will be purposeful and highly productive,??? he explained.
According to Mr. Weidner, the concept of knowledge management was a continuous process and could not be treated as a ???one-size-fits-all??? system.
He advised: ???Because there are many strategic approaches for knowledge management, you have to think multiple methods and technologies to give the ultimate solution. These include citizen service, training workshops, innovation and content management systems. It???s not just one piece of information or software.???
With the certification of the 25 participants of the workshop, the chief instructor divulged that the class was now equipped to create a strategy for Barbados. However, he placed special emphasis on knowledge management sensitisation.
???Without the sensitisation of people in a country, knowledge management would only be marginally successful. To be fully successful, you need Transformative Change Management, where the attitudes and minds of the people are changed just as much as the systems you seek to employ,??? Mr. Weidner concluded.
Assistant Chief of Research Planning in the Manpower Research Unit at the Ministry of Labour, Ricardo Norville, was one of the participants in the workshop.
???One of the main things I learnt was the process of moving data to information and information into knowledge. This is very important, especially in my department where we deal with a lot of data that many people do not understand. So we would be able to better teach those that work with us using this Knowledge Management concept,??? he stated.
The National Knowledge Management Strategy is being supported through grants from the European Union and technical assistance and loans from the Caribbean Development Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank.
jamal.hall@barbados.gov.bb