Skip to content

SEISMIC LEADS IN THE ARAGON RESEARCH GLOBE™ FOR SALES ENABLEMENT PLATFORMS.GET REPORT

  • Sign in toSeismic loginSeismic
  • Sign in toLessonly & Seismic login
  • Sign in toLiveSocial login

CHOOSE YOUR LANGUAGE

  • English
    • Enablement Cloud

      Meet the unified solution that’s igniting revenue growth for customer-facing teams.

      Learn More
    • PRODUCTS

      • Sales Content Management
      • Learning & Coaching
      • Buyer Engagement
      • Content Automation
      • Strategy & Planning
      • Enablement Intelligence
    • PLATFORM & SERVICES

      • Platform Overview
      • Professional Services
      • Partners
      • Integrations
    • Why Seismic?

      Good question! Find out why leading analysts and 2,200+ customers love our software.

      Learn More
    • USE CASES

      • Sales Enablement Teams
      • Sales Teams
      • Marketing Teams
      • Customer Service Teams
    • INDUSTRIES

      • All Industries
      • Financial Services
      • Healthcare & Life Sciences
      • Technology
    • BUSINESSES

      • Enterprise Businesses
      • Growing Businesses
    • Read Their Stories

      Read how global customers from all different industries thrive with Seismic.

      Read Their Stories
    • CUSTOMER STORIES

      • Genesys
      • Deluxe
    • FOR OUR CUSTOMERS

      • Magnitude Customer Hub
      • Seismic University
      • Seismic Community
    • About Us

      Discover who we are, what we value, and how we work at Seismic.

      Learn More
    • ABOUT SEISMIC

      • Careers
      • Leadership
      • Diversity & Inclusion
      • Aftershock Store
      • Contact Us
    • NEWS

      • Newsroom
      • Analyst & 3rd Party Reports
      • Shift
    • What is Sales Enablement?

      New to sales enablement? No problem. Learn what it is and why it matters here.

      Learn More
    • WHAT'S NEW

      • Blog
      • Events & Webinars
      • Product Innovation Center
    • COLLECTION HUBS

      • Resources Center
      • Enablement Explainers
      • AI-Guided Selling
      • Financial Services
      • Sales Acceleration
      • FAQs and Glossary
  • Get a Demo
ENABLEMENT

3 ways to capture the tacit knowledge inside your employee’s head

By Rachel Saltsgaver December 20, 2022 5 min read

When I first joined the SaaS world, I met with some of my teammates across the go-to-market (GTM) organization to learn more about the ins and outs of their roles and our company. Some of them had been with the organization for years while others had joined just a few months before me. Regardless of their tenure, they all possessed a wealth of knowledge that they were happy to share. And, had I not taken the time to have these one-to-one conversations, I might not have learned so many helpful bits of information. 

When we hear the word ‘knowledge,’ in the business world, we often think of structured information that’s featured in company manuals, sales playbooks, and guides. But, just as my own personal experience has shown, there’s much more to it.

What is tacit knowledge?

Tacit knowledge refers to any information and skills that are gained through personal and professional experiences. Tacit knowledge is different from explicit knowledge which is often shared through instructional manuals, guides, and how-to docs. As a result, it’s more difficult to explain to someone who hasn’t learned it themselves through similar experiences. However, both types of organizational knowledge are important for business growth and success. 

An example of tacit knowledge is when a sales leader asks sellers to share their top three sales strategies. Each seller can easily share the tactics that they consider to be second nature. However, these strategies were shaped and influenced by their own first-hand experiences over the course of their careers. These strategies may also be useful to share with other sellers across the team in order to improve productivity and performance. In fact, studies show that the average new hire spends nearly 200 hours working inefficiently because they have to learn information for themselves. But, by learning directly from colleagues’ experiences, they’ll get up to speed faster.  

So, if organizations want to drive continued growth and innovation, they need to harness and share tacit knowledge across their teams. Thankfully, we have three ways that every organization can capture tacit knowledge before it’s too late. Let’s learn more. 

Never stop growing.

Get a demo

1. Encourage a knowledge-sharing culture

The best way to capture tacit knowledge is to encourage employees to share what they know rather than keep it to themselves. This should be a foundational aspect of your organization’s culture. But for this type of culture to be successful, employees need to be willing to share useful information that would be beneficial to the entire team.

A culture of knowledge-sharing prioritizes teamwork, so look for ways to encourage collaboration and communication. Working closely with each other will give your employees the opportunity to see how valuable their knowledge can be. This, in turn, may encourage other employees to share their knowledge with others. 

2. Deliver hands-on learning

Tacit knowledge is often difficult to experience through words alone. Since tacit knowledge includes both information and skills, organizations can enhance tacit knowledge transfer through hands-on training and coaching. This can be done in a variety of ways based on your organization’s goals and training efforts. 

The easiest way to capture and share tacit knowledge is by encouraging employees to shadow or observe other teammates during a specific task. For example, pair a new seller with a veteran rep and have them sit in on a number of prospect demos. This will give them first-hand experience with helpful skills or tactics they can use. Organizations can also create training lessons that include recordings or videos of similar experiences. Once a seller completes training, they can practice applying the knowledge in mock sales calls. 

3.  Make it easy to share

While tacit knowledge is essential for organizations, it’s useless if it’s difficult for employees to share and access over time. Many teams rely on weekly one-on-ones, roundtable discussions, or town hall meetings that encourage collaboration and knowledge sharing. These are great opportunities for in-the-moment knowledge sharing, but they don’t provide employees with easy ongoing access to the knowledge that they learned.

In order to effectively capture the tacit knowledge that lives with your employees, organizations need to leverage tools and systems that store and organize information. A knowledge management system enables employees to create, share, and find relevant information quickly and efficiently when it’s best for them instead of waiting for scheduled meetings. They also give employees the ability to submit tacit information which can be reviewed for relevance and accuracy by team leaders. Once it’s reviewed, they can make that information accessible to the rest of the team, making the entire process easy and effective. 

Capturing tacit knowledge has never been easier

If you’re ready to capture and share important tacit knowledge, Seismic Knowledge could be for you. With Seismic Knowledge, employees can quickly share and access helpful tacit knowledge right when they need it. To learn more about the benefits of tacit knowledge sharing and read more about our newest product, click here. Or, get a demo, and we’ll show you Seismic in action. 

Share

Share on LinkedIn Tweet Me Share on Facebook Share via email
  • Knowledge Management

About the authors

Rachel Saltsgaver

Rachel Saltsgaver

Rachel Saltsgaver is the Senior Content Marketing Manager at Seismic where she writes content on enablement, training, and coaching best practices.

Read More by Rachel Saltsgaver

SUBSCRIPTION

Subscribe to our newsletter

Thank you for subscribing

SEISMIC IN ACTION

Get a taste of the Seismic Enablement Cloud™

Get a demo

EBOOK

The Seismic Enablement Cloud™: Know More, Engage More, Grow More

Read the eBook

EXPLAINER

The complete guide to enablement

Read more

EVENTS & WEBINARS

Let's meet up!

Join us!

CUSTOMER STORY

Real customers. Real growth!

Read more
Scroll Down

If you made it this far, we must be striking a chord.

Get a Demo
Seismic
  • Product
  • Seismic Enablement Cloud™
  • Sales Content Management
  • Learning & Coaching
  • Buyer Engagement
  • Content Automation
  • Strategy & Planning
  • Enablement Intelligence
  • Solutions
  • Sales Enablement Teams
  • Sales Teams
  • Marketing Teams
  • Customer Service Teams
  • Resources
  • Blog
  • Resources Center
  • Trending Topics
  • What is Sales Enablement?
  • What is AI-guided Selling?
  • What is Social Selling?
  • Social Selling Hub
  • Integrations
  • All Integrations
  • Microsoft
  • Google
  • Salesforce
  • Company
  • Contact Us
  • Careers
  • Trust Center
ISO 27001 Certified by Schellman
  • © 2023 Seismic
  • Terms of Use
  • Privacy Policy
  • Follow us on Linkedin
  • Follow us on Instagram
  • Follow us on Twitter
  • Follow us on YouTube
  • Follow us on Facebook