The Three-Layer Model for Expert Development
- Sivan Halevy
- Apr 1, 2004
- 8 min read
Updated: Jun 6
Why Experts?
In Peter M. Senge's book "The Learning Organization," he writes: "Organizations learn only through individuals who learn. Individual learning does not guarantee organizational learning, but without it, no organizational learning occurs." He further notes: "People with high personal mastery demonstrate higher commitment, take more initiatives, and have a broader and deeper sense of responsibility in their work..."
For these and other reasons, many organizations advocate for a commitment to fostering personal development among their employees. The connection between expert development and the knowledge management process in an organization is therefore a natural one. Experts stand at the forefront of organizational knowledge and, as such, have the potential to become change agents who leverage knowledge for the benefit of the entire organization.
How Is This Done?
Today's organizations are dynamic organizations with complex organizational structures. Today's organizations are knowledge-intensive, which gives rise to the need for various and specialized skills among their employees.
For these reasons, the expert development model must be flexible, capable of addressing complex needs, and maximize the utilization of individual expertise for both the individuals themselves and the organization. Accordingly, we have built a model composed of three complementary layers:
Organizational Knowledge Leader
An organizational knowledge leader is a senior figure in the organization recognized as possessing extensive professional knowledge in one of the organization's core areas. As part of the organization's aspiration to stay at the forefront of technology and knowledge, not only today but also in the future, it chooses to cultivate these professionals and benefit from the knowledge they accumulate during their training period for internal organizational needs.
The Need: Addressing organizational knowledge challenges and high competition in the organizational environment.
The Role: Importing innovative knowledge, developing professionalism, and implementing acquired knowledge for application within the organization.
Implementation:
Organizational management identifies core topics where developing innovation and professionalism will bring the organization to the forefront and enable it to achieve a competitive advantage in the market.
Appointing one or several employees to serve as "organizational knowledge leader" experts (full-time or nearly full-time).
Extensive professional development for each expert (will typically include pursuing academic studies or other external training, participation in dedicated professional courses, etc.).
Appointing a professional and managerial mentor (usually a management member or other senior executive) who will support the expert upon the expert's return to the organization.
Providing knowledge management tools for sharing and implementing knowledge within the organization.
Support from the knowledge management team and professional oversight.
Expert's Areas of Responsibility:
Mapping potential knowledge consumers in the organization and work processes that require in-depth knowledge in the specific acquired area of expertise. Participating in project management where the professional field is relevant.
Implementing professional knowledge to its various consumers in the organization according to a plan to be determined with the mentor, accompanied by the knowledge management team.
Number of Experts in the Organization: 1-3
Disadvantage: The process is expensive, and reaping the benefits takes a considerable amount of time.
Advantages:
Creates a competitive advantage over competitors.
Enables retaining outstanding employees within the organization who, without the training, would lose interest and might want to leave the organization.
Beware of Pitfalls:
After we've invested, the expert returns to the organization and is immediately absorbed into daily work.
Selecting topics is not trivial. Technological change and organizational dynamics require taking risks in selection (hopefully, calculated ones).
Cross-Functional/Dedicated Content Expert
A cross-functional content expert is an employee who possesses professional knowledge that addresses one of the organization's cross-functional knowledge needs. The cross-functional expert serves as a central axis in each of the knowledge management solutions implemented in the organization (insights repository, community, etc.). Their training period is more limited compared to the organizational knowledge expert and is conducted alongside their regular work.
The Need: Developing professional solutions for cross-functional knowledge needs that arise from the field.
The Role: Deepening professional knowledge and implementing it in the organization according to identified knowledge needs.
Implementation:
Identifying knowledge needs and gaps that require cross-functional expertise.
Appoint an expert for each selected topic.
Professional development will be determined according to the budget mix and subject to the needs in each chosen field.
Providing knowledge management tools for sharing and implementing knowledge in the organization through workshops.
Developing a frontal forum that accompanies and supports the activity. (Suitable only when a group of experts operates together in a shared format, for example, within a professional community.)
Expert's Areas of Responsibility:
As mentioned, there are several different frameworks for knowledge management processes in which the expert has an active and central role, including knowledge communities, insight repositories, and documentation templates. In each of these frameworks, there is a specific definition of the content expert's role, but the main responsibilities can be established as uniform:
Innovative Knowledge:
Learning and deep understanding of the knowledge topic.
Staying updated on new developments worldwide and domestically.
Familiarity with competing technologies/methods to examine the relevance of concepts implemented in the organization.
Where relevant: business intelligence on competitors' activities in the topic.
Knowledge Sharing:
Responsibility for a rich and current content repository of all existing documentation on the knowledge topic.
Collecting and inputting content and its initial editing in relevant content areas.
Responding to questions from various parties in the organization, when necessary, clarifying the response with external sources and/or referring to additional knowledge holders in the organization.
Knowledge Implementation:
Identifying knowledge needs among members and developing appropriate solutions for them.
Filtering and processing learned knowledge and disseminating it among relevant parties in the organization.
Participating in steering committees and think tanks, and recommending knowledge implementation in appropriate places.
Delivering lectures at frontal meetings and in various organizational units.
Number of Experts in the Organization: Approximately 5% of organizational employees.
Unit Knowledge Nodes
So far we have discussed content experts who were appointed due to identification of specific knowledge needs in the organization, but in addition to these, some natural experts always understand more in every process and activity they engage in; those who know things beyond what is written in procedures and literature, those who serve as an address for consultation. These employees are natural, informal experts whom we refer to as knowledge nodes.
The Need: Increasing knowledge flow from natural knowledge nodes into the unit.
The Role: Responsibility for routing and streamlining existing professional knowledge for optimal implementation within the unit.
Implementation:
Identifying unit factors that constitute natural experts for unit matters in their professional field.
Providing knowledge management tools for sharing and implementing knowledge in the unit (dedicated workshop). This involves a relatively limited training process, with a focus on embedding the activity and orientation for ongoing knowledge sharing.
Expert's Areas of Responsibility:
Identifying knowledge needs from the total inquiries directed to them.
Mapping role holders and processes that could benefit from the knowledge.
Expanding knowledge distribution to all stakeholders. (For example, when a professional question is directed to the knowledge node, they distribute the answer to all stakeholders and not just to the inquirer, as they may have done until now.)
Number of Experts in the Organization: 10%-20% of organizational employees.
In each of the layers mentioned, it is recommended to support the process of appointing and operating experts with a supporting organizational infrastructure. Below are several elements recommended to be included in preparing this infrastructure:
Professional Profile Definition
In every organization, it is recommended to define a professional profile in advance that will serve as a basis for selecting the expert. A role profile can be defined in several layers:
Professional Layer - attributes such as: proven professional advantage in the field, access (or ability to access) the internet and knowledge repositories, long-term horizon in the organization, etc.
Personal Layer - attributes such as: curiosity to learn and expand knowledge, willingness to share existing knowledge with others, ability to organize documented knowledge items, ability to allocate time for knowledge topic concentration, cross-sectional vision, and understanding of organizational needs.
Managerial Layer: According to organizational requirements.
Expert Training
Upon the expert's entry into their role, the required training will be defined to bring them to the level of expertise. The training will be tailored to meet the knowledge needs and address existing knowledge gaps, as well as role expectations, for different types of experts. Despite the variation, several focal points can be characterized that are recommended to be emphasized in the training program:
Providing background on knowledge management, including its importance at both the individual and organizational levels.
Defining the essence of the expert's role, expectations, and areas of responsibility
Learning to use external databases – the internet, relevant literature.
Learning principles of organizing and processing collected information to implement it in the organization.
Commitment to professionalism and personal development (knowing the answer)
Converting knowledge into an organizational asset (knowing how to preserve knowledge)
Empowerment and tool development (being able to transfer knowledge)
Innovation (knowing how to learn from outside and create new knowledge internally)
Knowledge implementation for organizational needs (knowing how to use knowledge)
Areas of responsibility and authority (knowing what they need to do)
Marketing and Publicity
It is recommended to support expert activities with internal marketing and publicity activities. Here are several examples:
Internal publicity activities (posters in the style of "Organization X - at the forefront of knowledge. Experts at the forefront of X").
Requirements and initiation to integrate experts in various projects, by management.
Publishing "success stories" about cross-organizational knowledge that experts in managerial forums channeled.
Preparing the Ground for Expert Acceptance in Their Organizational Unit
Workers in departments where content experts will be appointed should be informed and provided with a background and explanation of the expert's role and areas of responsibility.
Expert Map
The list of experts and areas of expertise will be accessible to all organizational employees. If possible, it is recommended to characterize a supporting expert system that enables quick access to an expert in any desired field.
Budget
The organization's CEO will define a budget basket available to each division manager for training and developing experts. This basket will be based on a budget of X for each expert from each layer. The basket will include, for example, training hours, aids, and connections to external information sources, as well as attending conferences and professional courses.
Evaluation and Control
It is essential to conduct ongoing monitoring of expert activities within the organization (at least quarterly). The content expert will be evaluated on the quality of their role. Quantitative measures will be initiated and respond to discussions within the community framework, contributing content to relevant content areas in each of the existing formats for knowledge sharing in the organization. Qualitatively, we will measure the extent to which the knowledge topic is leveraged within the organization framework. After conducting the evaluation, consideration can be given to replacing experts who do not fulfill their role adequately. An expert is worthy of it.
Compensation
Employee compensation is important for two reasons:
To encourage them to invest and cultivate their knowledge base.
To express the organization's appreciation for the expert and employee who faithfully fulfill their role.
In this context, it is recommended to consider several types of compensation:
Soft/hard compensation.
External/intrinsic compensation (the role itself includes compensation and can be emphasized - the status that comes with recognition of the role, enjoyment from the opportunity given to the individual by the organization to deepen in the knowledge field that interests them, attending conferences, etc.).
Uniform compensation for all experts/differential compensation based on performance.
Cultivating experts serves the organization that leverages itself for the long term. Cultivating experts serves the individual who receives an opportunity for professional advancement. Cultivating experts also serves other employees by creating organizational Role Modeling. Cultivating experts is a necessary condition today to improve tomorrow.
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