9fbtechreview.comNOVEMBER - 2021power, their personal intellectual property,and they donot want to give that up.Then we have those who are actively disengaged. These individuals may be openly abrasive to the organization, may challenge the validity or reliability of the system, and may engage others to hear their ideas. In their minds, they donot trust others and are not sure how the organization will use their information. In short, they see no benefit to sharing information or may believe that they have more important tasks to manage then inputting data into a system. When we examine these factors and the associated behaviors, it is easy to see why comprehensive knowledge management in organizations is such a difficult task. So, what is the solution? The solution is two-fold. One an effective change management program and two, meet your associate's need for psychological safety. Approaching the KM platform implementation as a change initiative can help engage your associates. But it needs to be done in a specific manner. More often than not, a change initiative treats a KM rollout like a punch list for implementation, instead of an active change that disrupts the user's lives and the way they work. Instead, try to meet the associates where they are psychologically. Change can trigger an emotional reaction. Most people are hard-wired to resist change, especially if their memoriesof change are negative. With every introduction of change, the human body reacts through the amygdala, which releases a host of hormones. These hormones can cause fear, panic, excitement, joy, grief, stress, or even trigger fight/flight responses. Understanding this and planning a change initiative that encompasses and recognizes the emotional side of change will allow you to support those actively engaged, understand the fears of those who are passively engaged, and help encourage those who may be actively disengaged. Psychological safety plays a partFrom this point, you can begin to address the user's aspect of psychological safety. Psychological safety is an important aspect when asking for a change in behaviors. At its core, psychological safety is how safe the employee feels, asking questions, presenting ideas, or sharing information. Without psychological safety, organizations will not see the desired organizational citizenship, and will most likely not have full engagement in your change management program (Frazier, Fainshmidt, Klinger, Pezeshkan & Vracheva, 2017). To ensure all associates have psychological safety, you need to address their concerns on three levels, emotional, cognitive, and physical. Emotional safety is how much they feel valued in their role and that their job is secure. Cognitive safety addresses the need of the associate to feeltheir ideas and complaints are valid and that leaders will listen and accept them. Physical safety addresses the condition of the associate to feel physically safe in their work. To know they will not be harassed, belittled, or threatened for sharing ideas or information. Once you have initiated an effective change management plan that meets the emotional needs of the associates and you are sure that they feel safe with the requested change, you will undoubtedly see a shift in the engagement of the associates. Now you can move into the new launch of the platform where you explain the why behind the initiative and demonstrate the value that the platform has for them individually. With time, consistent messaging, and encouragement, your knowledge management platform will begin to yield incredible results. Casey DeBruyn
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