Using Mentoring and Storytelling to Transfer Knowledge in the Workplace

TLDR

Core organizational capabilities depend on employee skills, management systems, and norms, yet much tacit knowledge is transferred informally through socialization and internalization rather than formally. The study examines mentoring and storytelling as mechanisms to transfer tacit knowledge and proposes managerial practices to enhance core capability development. Drawing on learning and cognitive psychology, the authors identify conditions that maximize the effectiveness of mentoring and storytelling as knowledge carriers.

Abstract

The core capabilities of an organization include critical skills of employees, management systems, and norms and values. Core capabilities may be transferred formally and explicitly. However, much knowledge, particularly knowledge with rich tacit dimensions, is transferred informally through processes of socialization and internalization. We focus on two transfer mechanisms - mentoring and storytelling - that can leverage the knowledge of an organization, particularly its tacit knowledge, to build core capabilities. We draw on relevant research in learning and cognitive psychology to clarify the conditions under which mentoring and storytelling can be most effective as carriers of knowledge. Finally, we present recommendations for specific managerial practices that follow from our analysis.