KNOWLEDGE TRIANGLE

Knowledge is imperative. Knowledge appetite is different for different people. Every individual goes to the transition process of knowledge. Especially, when an individual joins an organization, the thought process develops as he undergoes the process of knowledge transition. Every individual is in the center of the Knowledge Triangle.

Knowledge Triangle consists of three dimensions:
a.Pre-Knowledge
b.Post-Knowledge
c.Acquired Knowledge

Pre-Knowledge:

Pre-Knowledge is the knowledge, which the individual gains before joining the organization. This involves the education of the individual before he takes over the responsibilities as an employee of the organization.

Post-Knowledge:

Post-Knowledge is the knowledge, which the organization provides to the individual to perform for the role for which he has been recruited.

Acquired Knowledge:

Acquired Knowledge is the knowledge, which the individual himself gains because of his interests. The knowledge acquired could be from books, knowledge portals, blogs etc.

However, conflicts can arise if the three mentioned above are not in sync according to the individual’s interests and the same can give arise to Distorted Knowledge. If the individual does not work for something which he has acquired the education and it does not matches his interest area, then the knowledge boundary gets limited. As a result, he loses interest in the Post Knowledge, forgets Pre Knowledge and suddenly there is no progress on Acquired Knowledge due to frustration. The consequence is Distorted Knowledge, which is a mixture of the three i.e. there is a continuous effort from the individual to some how link the Pre Knowledge with Post Knowledge and gain the Acquired Knowledge which no way helps him to enhance his Post Knowledge.

The organization should keep in mind the interests of the employees so that the knowledge remains intact in the minds of the employees and he is able to contribute the maximum to the Organization. It’s an observation that the attrition rate is high in some organization due to the arise in Distorted Knowledge. There can be ways in which the organization can help the employees in maintaining a proper balance in the above-mentioned dimensions of knowledge:

a.Conduct trainings pertaining to the interests of the employees. Sometimes, the employees do not get the required training according to their interests.
b.Organization should be flexible in moving employees from one department to another if they do not find their job profile interesting. If done strategically, then there could be two benefits: reduction in attrition rate and increase in the knowledge level of the employees.
c.Feedback should be taken from the employees and employee should give feedback to the organization whether the knowledge transfer is smooth or not. It gives an opportunity for both the employees and the organization to improve.