Sharing critical 'know-how' in TAFE institutes: benefits and barriers

TAFE institutes face demands for uniquely high skill levels in their workforce at a time when a large number of their experienced workers are on the threshold of retirement - taking with them their TAFE and industry 'know-how'. One of the means of shoring up this skill base lies in retaining the critical knowledge - if not the worker - through effective knowledge transfer within organisations. This paper reports on research that has explored the benefits of knowledge transfer to the TAFE bottom line and the TAFE culture. It reports on impediments to achieving effective knowledge transfer - whether constraining attitudes or vanishing resources, limiting management practices or unhelpful organisational structures. It presents a range of means that organisations can use to overcome these impediments - the building of attitudes and cultures, the establishing of processes with people at their core, and the integration of knowledge transfer organisation wide. The paper also reports on what TAFE organisations can learn from business models of knowledge transfer.

Published abstract.

Available papers from the 8th Australian Vocational Education and Training Research Association (AVETRA) Conference, 'Emerging futures: recent, responsive and relevant research', are indexed from TD/TNC 81.564 to TD/TNC 81.610. Show less