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The KM Team 403

Help desk activities Delivery of KM and information related to training, also called KSO
(knowledge support offi ce)
In seeking to recruit relevant professionals for knowledge management roles, a
key challenge lies in defi ning the objectives and deliverables of those roles and in
specifying the skills and experience of the people needed to fi ll them. Some of these
roles may be newly created, while others may involve redefi ning or extending existing
roles.
Different organizations will necessarily have different approaches describing knowl-
edge management roles. A sample KM job description may look something like the
example given here (box 12.1).
KM professionals require a multidisciplinary skill set that consists of such compe-
tencies as fi nding, appraising, and using knowledge, reformulating questions, navigat-
ing content, evaluating the relevance of content, fi ltering out what is not needed, and
synthesizing from diverse sources to apply the knowledge (e.g., to make a decision).
Last but not least, they must contribute to recording such valuable experiences to
organizational memory systems.

Senior Management Roles
One may be familiar with the role of a chief executive offi cer (CEO), chief operating
offi cer (COO), and the chief fi nancial offi cer (CFO). There are also chief technology
offi cers (CTO) and chief information offi cers (CIO), positions typically reserved for
heads of information technology. An analogous role exists for a knowledge manage-
ment executive, sometimes referred to as the chief knowledge offi cer (CKO) or chief
learning offi cer (CLO). The CKO or CLO position heads the KM team and is primarily
responsible for:
• Knowledge management strategy
• Knowledge management operations
• Infl uencing change in the organization
• Managing knowledge management staff ( Rusonow 2003 )
In 2002, the Chief Human Capital Offi cers Act was enacted as part of the U.S. Home-
land Security Department (see Crumpacker and Crumpacker). This Act required that
chief human capital offi cers (CHCOs) be designated for all twenty-four agencies and
offi ces. The Act states that each CHCO serves as his or her agency ’ s chief policy advisor
on all human resources management issues and is charged with selecting, developing,
training, and managing a high-quality, productive workforce. The CHCO Act also