Strategic HR Review

Purpose – Knowledge management (KM) is a key driver of organisational growth and development. It is a major conduit for the development of varying organisational capitals, and pivotal to learning, innovation and employee engagement. It is the authors' belief that KM has over-focused on structures, processes and technologies and not enough on learning, innovation and engagement. This paper aims to discuss these issues.

Design/methodology/approach – The paper draws on experience and research from within the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development in the UK since 2000 and up to 2012, as well as external research sources.

Findings – This lack of alignment can be attributed to three issues: the often diffuse and vague nature of the concept itself; the undue focus on tracking, capturing and storing KM assets; and the lack of a coherent organisational purpose and focus for knowledge management.

Practical implications – The paper suggests that by focusing on the three key areas of learning, innovation and engagement, both a business rationale for KM and a “why bother” focus for employees can be developed, as well as contributing to sustainable organisation performance.

Originality/value – The paper examines knowledge management and links it to core HR processes.