Difference Between Talent Management and Knowledge Management

Talent management and knowledge management are two terms that have gained currency in recent terms because of their importance for organizations. Because of the use of the words talent and knowledge that are similar in meaning, people are confused between the two terms but in reality these are different concepts that are applied in different contexts. There are many differences between talent management and knowledge management which will be highlighted in this article.

What is Talent Management?

It is too well known that a team with best talent performs better than other teams. All organizations believe that best performance is possible only when they have the superior talent. It is people who make the difference. Talent management is a strategy, in fact an interconnected HR activity that is designed to attract the best possible talent, and also to retain the talent available to achieve business objectives. Talent management is being referred to as a euphemism, and the new word coined in its place is war for talent. Sometimes talent management is also called Human Capital Management. While in some organizations, talent management is restricted to hiring and retaining best available talent, there are organizations who have a broader perspective and believe that every individual is talented and the need is to identify and capitalize on this talent.

One tool that has emerged as a popular one for searching superior talent is competency mapping. It helps in identifying the competencies of a workforce so as to come up with people who can be assigned tasks with greater responsibilities.

What is Knowledge Management?

Knowledge management is a set of activities designed to identify, create and distribute knowledge among the employees of an organization. It also refers to the process of embedding this knowledge into procedural practices and operations to spread it through various ways. Knowledge management is being taught as a separate field of study since 1991 in various degree courses such as management, information systems and business administration. Today KM has broadened its perspective and fields like public policy, public health and even media are contributing to research in the field of KM. The sole purpose of KM in any organization is to better performance and efficiency of the employees and to have competitive advantage over others.

KM encourages sharing of knowledge gained and treats knowledge as a strategic asset of the organization. KM believes that knowledge is not the prerogative of a chosen few and it should be disseminated among all for the common benefit of the organization.