Sheakley Updates

Banish Information Silos

Chelsea Bikner
Information Silos
Reading time 4 Mins
Published on Dec 5
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We’ve all heard of information silos in the workplace. Whether the institutional knowledge or expertise is held by a few older, more experienced employees or kept under wraps by management afraid of ceding control to regular employees, information silos can be detrimental to the long-term health and survival of your business. When information vital to the running of your company is held in the hands of just a few employees, you are at risk when employees retire, become ill, or take an extended vacation. Make your company retirement-proof and ensure that newer employees are ready to step in to fill the roles of aging employees by instituting measures to banish information silos.

Disaster for business

Information silos develop when there aren’t plans in place to encourage the sharing of knowledge amongst various employees and when employees are worried about their place in the company. It’s easy to understand why an employee might want to keep information close to the vest when they believe that this knowledge gives them leverage over other employees or makes them more valuable to the company.

Creating an atmosphere that encourages workers to share knowledge is easier said than done. If your company has traditionally favored longevity over ingenuity, it may even mean a culture shift must be implemented before employees will be willing to fully embrace your new outlook on information sharing.

Digital classrooms

Use your existing employee intranet or, if you don’t have one, develop an online intranet that allows employees to share their expertise with one another. Encourage employees to create simple tutorials explaining processes or give insight into why your company does things the way it does.

Work with your most knowledgeable employees to create valuable training and informational videos in real time, showcasing how work should be performed. Have a long-time client that prefers for something to be done just so? Make sure that newer employees may not be aware of this information so that the customer stays happy with the service they receive long after established employees have retired or moved on.

Dynamic mentoring programs

Dynamic mentoring programs go beyond the static on-the-job training programs that many companies offer. Rather than relying on a standardized list of processes and the employee handbook to relay all necessary information, mentoring programs can help ensure that new employees are adequately prepared to carry on your company’s tradition of excellence and retain institutional knowledge, while also encouraging the free flow of ideas between older and younger employees.

Sometimes a company’s way of doing things can become dull and lack creativity because they continue doing things the way they always have. Whether due to an absence of new ideas or a hesitancy on the part of employees to suggest change, this kind of stasis can be fatal for companies. Dynamic mentoring programs encourage new employees to share their ideas for potential change while they are also being imparted institutional information from older employees.

Sharing information shouldn’t be scary or taboo

In more traditional companies, keeping information to oneself was a way of ensuring job security. To banish information silos, you’ll need to work with existing and new employees to help them understand the value of information sharing for your company’s, and their own, success. Create opportunities for employees to share their concerns and be understanding of hesitancy, but don’t tolerate employees or departments that refuse to participate in information sharing just because they don’t want to jeopardize their own job security.

Learn more about Sheakley’s HR team and contact us for your free consultation today. Stay up-to-date on all things Sheakley by subscribing to our blog and following us on social media. Join in the discussion by commenting below.


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