Expertise is the starting point of any added value. It exists both individually and in teams, both centrally and locally. The key is to identify and then leverage it. Experts should be identified, recognized, and shared wherever they can add value. Some experts are so important that they should spend half their time answering direct requests. They should be mobile, in order to allow delivery of operational rather than theoretical answers.
However, valuing the experts doesn’t necessarily imply giving them management roles. Expertise should be addressed as a key asset of the company, identified early on in fields that ought to be mastered internally. Gaps should be filled; risks should be identified and managed. In effect, we propose that a significant part of a job description for many employees is ownership of knowledge in a particular area.
Finally, expertise should be a path of success in the company and rewarded as such—not only through salary and incentives, but also through status and recognition. Management-level promotions are not necessarily the right rewards for expertise. The added value experts can bring is their ability to provide valid advice on crucial topics, not always their ability to make decisions.
Authors: Charles-Etienne Bost, Eric Sauvage, Luca Olivari, Samuel Cazin
Source: “Kearney”
Subjects: Human Resources, Management
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