Critical Roles
Positions where the most important operational and decision-making know-how is concentrated.
What it means
Critical roles are defined by the position, not the person — for example a production supervisor, dispatcher, process engineer, or maintenance manager. That's exactly where tacit knowledge concentrates.
Why it matters
Identifying critical roles lets you target know-how capture where the risk is greatest.
A real-world example
An analysis shows that 80% of operational decisions pass through five roles. Those become the priority for a knowledge-retention program.
A worker whose knowledge or decision-making is irreplaceable for operations.
The part of an organization's knowledge whose loss would directly threaten safety, quality, or continuity.
An organization's readiness to replace key people without losing their know-how.
Mapping what critical knowledge an organization holds and where it's at risk.
An overview of where in the organization key knowledge is located.