tfpl blog

Connecting our knowledge to make a difference

Author: Claire Valentine

TFPL, Training Manager

This was the topic of our latest TFPL Connect meeting which we held last night.  In a change to the usual format we invited Paul Marriott, CEO of Depaul UK, the largest charity for homeless young people in the UK to present his company and his challenges for developing an information and knowledge management strategy.  Our members were then asked for their ideas and advice on how he could meet these challenges.

The group broke out with enthusiasm into several different teams and each were assigned a particular challenge which ranged from providing staff and volunteers with a shared vision to addressing how to encourage information sharing in an environment where confidentially brings much needed trust to relationships and information sharing is not the norm.

Key themes to come out of the evening were:

• development of partnerships with like minded organisations to share best practice and obtain help with providing more services such as temporary accommodation
• a rating system for information posted to understand what is useful and what isn’t
• use of social media in various different forms for communicating with the homeless
• use of mentors to work closely with new staff to share knowledge more effectively

Paul was keen to consider each and every suggestion and promised to feedback later in the year with what they had taken from the evening and been able to implement.

The evening ended with a chance to network and share ideas further over a glass of wine and nibbles, with further ideas being added to the documentation which we will present more formally back to Paul.

Feedback from those that attended was that they had felt the session was immensely positive and liked the idea of contributing to an organisation that needed advice.

We will be in touch soon with further details on the report which will be made available on the TFPL Connect members’ area.  On a final note many thanks to all that attended and contributed to making the meeting a success last night.

2nd meeting of the TFPL Health Special Interest Group

Author: Vivienne Winterman
TFPL, Senior Consultant

• Shared ‘joined-up’ services to reduce duplication and fragmentation of KIM/LIS work;
• collaboration with other areas, in particular the voluntary sector;
• developing new gp/patient customer bases;
• collecting patent experience;
• showing the value of KIM;
• working closely with IT.

These were just some of the outcomes buzzing from the lively and well attended meeting of TFPL’s Health Special Interest group held last night. Linda Wishart (Head of Knowledge & Information Management, Department of Health) addressed some of the challenges ahead for the health sector in times of the worst financial cuts and how the KIM community could respond. Wayne Sime (Director of Library Services, Royal Society of Medicine) hosted and chaired the meeting in the beautiful olde worlde surrounds at the RSM. A full report of the meeting will follow on the TFPL website.

The past, present and future

Author: Luisa Jefford
TFPL Intelligent Resources, Director - Public Sector Recruitment

I can't believe how quickly the last week has flown by.  It's 7 days since  I delivered a presentation for my colleague Angela Abell . I was asked to  talk about Knowledge Management Competencies "Past, Present and Future" to NetIKX (Network for Information and Knowledge Exchange).

My presentation (which  I'm happy to share if anyone is interested) covered some of the previous outputs of the research which TFPL has undertaken over the past decade.  It highlighted that "Knowledge and Information Professionals" should position themselves as "Knowledge Strategists and Knowledge Specialists" to enable organisations  to become fully engaged and knowledge mobilised. This is a world away from the one of the very first  roles I ever dealt with as a recruiter at TFPL which was the cataloguing of McCarthy cards! How things have evolved in 15 years.

Does the effect of the economy have any bearing on this?  Most certainly, and whilst today I don't think "Knowledge and Information Professionals" should disregard positioning themselves as  "specialists " or indeed "strategists " it is increasingly obvious in my day job that they need some additional skills  to offer as and when required.   

The research outputs showed that as well as KIM and ICT expertise these additional skills include personal attributes and interpersonal, organisational and business  knowledge and having an understanding of what your organisations objectives and core strategies are. A melting pot or perhaps,  to paraphrase more effectively, a  'kit bag'  of tools that will ensure your profile and your value remains aligned to your organisational needs and requirements.

An enjoyable afternoon for me and I will definitely be putting NetIKX on my networking radar . 

Global Knowledge businesses: Large horizons, big ambitions, lots of compromise

Author: Julia Hordle
TFPL Intelligent Resources, Director - Corporate Intelligence Recruitment

Observation/ Spring 2010:

Galvanised into action by a comfort break in market crises, clients have serious business to pursue as well as root and branch re-structuring to achieve.

But globalisation and off-shoring has made the art of resourcing an international business more complex, not simpler, in the immediate term.

One client, in a rhetorical mood said:  “How do we find the numbers of people we need, with the sophistication we need, in the locations we need? ...the short answer is that this year, we can’t!”

Comment:

With seismic shifts in investment patterns and shifts also in trade alliances, no resource planner can be confident in establishing highly-engineered hubs in fixed locations, as demand for knowledge-rich roles ebbs and flows between continents.

So what does this mean for hirers and recruitment consultants alike?

• One global talent pool, but impeded eligibility to work, language barriers and cost of migration
• The need to appoint local experts to a global team, but to educate them quickly
• Compromise. If it is only possible to find a person with all the qualities and experience we need in a high cost location, let us enjoy having them in a convenient place.

Not for the first time, we are hearing more than one grand plan flummoxed because the experience talent planners imagined must be available in the offshore location, simply is not there.

I know the human race has improved online communications so we don’t have to be in the same room to share or confer. But the need to do business with someone we can laugh with, drink tea with and shake by the hand is still so important, especially for focused knowledge transfer and resilient business relationships.

It isn’t really the case that London has moved instantly from being an optimum location to one of last resort. There is still a huge amount of talent here, which superficially may look expensive but can be very cost effective.

What is TFPL Intelligent Resources doing to help our flummoxed clients?

• Reaching beyond the UK in our networking and marketing, to help you find talent overseas or attract professionals across borders.
• Cultivating contacts who can Connect geographies as well as special interest groups
• We make no assumptions when searching. We understand that some candidates can and will want to get on their bike, plane or train to find work.
• Due diligence to inform compromise if choices have to be made.

Does the location conundrum flummox you too? I’d like to hear from you if you are grappling with exactly this kind of issue.