Knowledge Management in High Risk Industries: Coping with Skills Drain

142 Pages·2020·2.018 MB·English

by  Philippe Fauquet-Alekhine

Knowledge Management
in High Risk Industries
Coping with Skills Drain
Philippe Fauquet-Alekhine
Knowledge Management in High Risk Industries
Philippe Fauquet-Alekhine
Knowledge
Management in High
Risk Industries
Coping with Skills Drain
Philippe Fauquet-Alekhine
INTRA Robotics
Avoine, France
ISBN 978-3-030-49212-0 ISBN 978-3-030-49213-7 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-49213-7
© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer
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F
oreword
This book presents a new method to train personnel in high-tech,
high-risk industries. The method has proven its efficiency, with meas-
urable results, and is explained here in sufficient pedagogic detail to be
applied in various situations.
The method is fit, more efficient and realistic. It is well-fit to each
specific case because it feeds on detailed empirical evidence from the
very contexts where it will be applied. It is efficient than current meth-
ods because it gathers the expert knowledge and know-how with a new,
more faithful and more detailed technique, using first-person video cap-
ture and analysis (Subjective Evidence-Based Ethnography). Finally, it is
realistic because it takes into account the actual constraints of training
in high-risk industries, including informal know-how, rare events, team-
work, shifts, simulator planning, etc. Indeed, the author is not only a
brilliant scholar (with two PhDs) but also a seasoned practitioner who
has been in charge of designing, running and evaluating training systems
(including full-scale simulators) in the nuclear industry for many years.
This is a rare and powerful combination, and the author, in sympathy
with users, made the book short and clear.
The models used combine the best theories of four different tradi-
tions: French ergonomics, Russian activity theory, Californian distributed
cognition and Japanese knowledge management (of which the author
v
vi FOREWORD
also provides a digest for those unfamiliar). The method is illustrated
with actual applications. Well-designed tables and graphs provide power-
ful aids to the reader.
In short, a book that will be very useful for practitioners, experts and
academics.
Professor S. Lahlou
Director at the Institute for Advanced Study
Paris, France
Chair of Psychology, Department
of Psychological & Behavioural Science
London School of Economics
London, UK
Acknowledgements The author thanks Electricité de France for financial
support. The author thanks, for fruitful exchanges, the members of the Institute
of Social Psychology, of the Department of Psychological & Behavioural Science
and of the SEBE-Lab (London School of Economics & Political Science),
especially Professor S. Lahlou and Professor M. Bauer. The author also thanks
Professor Yuri I. Aleksandrov (Higher School of Economics, Faculty of Social
Sciences, School of Psychology, Moscow, Russia) and Professor Granry (Hospital
University of Angers, France) for collaboration and relevant advice.
A t b
bout his ook
Dealing with the social phenomenon of the “skills drain”, retired work-
ers leaving companies en masse sometimes even before the recruitment
of newcomers and consequently impeding classic training through men-
toring, managers are seeking innovative solutions to train new employ-
ees and ensure a satisfactory level of competencies, especially in high-risk
industries. This led to questions to which the present book aims at
offering solutions: What should be transferred from experienced work-
ers to novices through training in the current social context of deteri-
orated mentoring within complex socio-technical systems? How to
select what should be transferred? How to access experienced workers’
competencies?
Based on a solid literature review and experiments, two innovative val-
idated models are presented:
• the Knowledge–Know-How–Skills model (KKHS model) which
helps to clarify how competencies are elaborated and what can be
transferred,
• the Square of PErceived ACtion model (SPEAC model) describing
how to put successfully competencies in action.
Within the Cognitive Task Analysis paradigm, a protocol is then pre-
sented in the line of Subjective Evidence-Based Ethnography (SEBE)
methods. It combines first-person recordings of the workers’ activity by
subcams (miniaturized cameras mounted on spectacles) and interviews.
vii
viii ABOUT THIS BOOK
The theoretical aspects underpinning the protocol are explained for a
better use of the protocol and its implementation is fully described.
Examples of applications are given for the nuclear industry and in
medicine, demonstrating the efficiency of the protocol to access what
makes competencies of experienced workers and how this data can be
used to improve performance through training. An example of its appli-
cation in schools is also presented, showing that it is not restricted to the
occupational area.
How models and protocol integrate the Knowledge Management par-
adigm is also exposed.
We suggest that companies could benefit from the protocol presented
in this book to improve their professional training. Four key points
make the protocol of interest: its efficiency at detecting knowledge and
know-how necessary to perform an activity, its low cost, the good work-
ers’ acceptance and the performance improvement it provides.
C
ontents
1 Introduction: Competencies Transference and Skills Drain 1
References 5
2 What Do We Transfer? 7
2.1 Defining Competencies: The KKHS Model 7
2.2 The KKHS Model Robustness 15
References 19
3 Competencies Need Actions 23
3.1 Competencies and Workers 23
3.2 Seeking Models for Competencies in Action 31
3.3 A Model for Competencies in Action: The SPEAC Model 37
3.3.1 Le Boterf’s Model for Competencies in Action 37
3.3.2 The SPEAC Model 38
References 45
4 Refining Competencies Identification Through Digital
Ethnography 53
4.1 Methods to Access Competencies in Action 53
4.1.1 Data Collection Through Video Recordings 56
4.1.2 Data Analysis Through Confrontation with
Subjective Video 59
ix
x CONTENTS
4.2 SEBE/SPEAC Protocol 61
4.2.1 Comments About Capturing the Activity 61
4.2.2 Comments About the Interview 64
4.2.3 Structure of the Protocol 65
4.2.4 Subtleties of Application of the SEBE/SPEAC
Protocol 72
4.3 Performance of the SEBE/SPEAC Protocol 77
4.3.1 How Many Situation Cases to Observe to Access
What Makes Competencies of Workers? 77
4.3.2 Comparing the SEBE/SPEAC Protocol
with Other Methods 78
4.3.3 Using Other Methods Than the SEBE/SPEAC
Protocol to Access Knowledge and Know-How 79
4.4 Limitations of the SEBE/SPEAC Protocol 80
4.5 Risk Assessment When Applying SEBE Methods 81
4.6 For Further Application 82
References 82
5 Application of the SEBE/SPEAC Protocol 89
5.1 Reliable Practices in Nuclear Industry 89
5.2 Radial Puncture in Medicine 92
5.3 Economics and Social Science at School 94
5.4 Acceptance of the Protocol by Participants 96
5.5 Further Applications 100
5.5.1 Enhancement of Students’ Teaching
and Training 100
5.5.2 Competencies and Well-Being at Work 101
5.5.3 Industrial Event Analysis 102
5.6 Who May Apply the SEBE/SPEAC Protocol? 103
References 104
6 Conclusions 107
References 111