62% of Knowledge Managers don't hold a KM qualification - problem?
The following is taken from The 2015 Global Knowledge Management Observatory© Report (second edition). This comprehensive report into the state of KM is available as a FREE download from our "Resources" page; with 729 respondents from 56 countries, the report poses interesting challenges for KM practitioners that need to be addressed if the function is to be seen as viable business proposition.
This excerpt asks, "Is Knowledge Management professional enough?"
In 2011 we found that only 39% of respondents, who claimed a responsibility for Knowledge Management in their organisation, held a specialist Knowledge Management qualification. This situation has not improved in 2015, with only 38% respondents claiming to hold a Knowledge Management specific qualification - we could not determine the focus of these qualifications (i.e. whether they were mainly techno-centric), which would have been interesting and has been noted for the next edition of this report.
Of those claiming to hold a specialist qualification, 9% are Doctorates, 50% hold a postgraduate qualification, 29% an undergraduate qualification and 12% have obtained a KM “accreditation” certificate from a private provider.
Of concern, in relation to the ongoing professional development of the field, is that within the 62% of respondents who do not hold a specialist Knowledge Management qualification, only 16% are currently working toward a qualification - down 1% on 2011. Of this 16% only 5% are working toward an “accreditation” certificate, which appears to demonstrate that those looking to gain Knowledge Management qualifications still value traditional Higher Education Institutions over private, non- accredited providers. This is supported where respondents were asked whether they had been offered professional development, in the form of a Knowledge Management certification course, by their current organisation, where only 11% stated this to be the case.
Unsurprisingly, 64% of respondents stated that the only professional development they had participated in was informal or self-directed....
....It has been argued that the diversity of practice that falls under the auspices of the title “Knowledge Management” in organisations means that the field cannot be formed into a profession. We find little evidence to argue against this position and the wider discussion falls outside the scope of this report. However, what is clear is that Higher Education Institutions need to assist in developing people within and entering the field for the future. To not do so will leave the development of the field to the interests of private enterprise, where the “solutions” offered can be inadequate, both in terms of credibility and appropriate breadth/depth of theoretical/practical grounding.
