"Swedish research on knowledge loss shows that employee turnover affects innovation, productivity and quality because tacit knowledge disappears if it is not documented and shared across the organisation. A Swedish study concludes that knowledge loss due to turnover is a widespread issue across industries."
(Source: ScienceDirect – Knowledge loss induced by employee turnover)
When key people resign
A recent Indonesian study shows that organisations typically underestimate:
how much knowledge lives only in people’s heads and emails
how little is actually documented in accessible systems
how rarely offboarding is used for real knowledge transfer
When a key employee resigns, it is rarely just the position that disappears.
It is also everything that was never written down: decisions, workflows, contacts and the “this is how we actually do it” knowledge.
A modern intranet can determine whether this knowledge is lost — or becomes part of the organisation’s collective memory.
Why is knowledge loss a problem when employees leave?
Knowledge loss is not just an HR issue — it impacts operations, quality and financial performance.
Recent research shows that turnover leads to loss of tacit knowledge, resulting in lower operational efficiency, reduced innovation and more process errors.
The 2025 Indonesian study on knowledge loss confirms that organisations often underestimate:
how much knowledge exists only in heads and emails
how little is documented in shared systems
how rarely offboarding includes structured knowledge transfer
The result is slower decisions, vulnerable workflows and new employees having to “reinvent” solutions rather than build on existing ones.
Why many intranet solutions are not used in daily work
An intranet does not automatically become a knowledge hub just because it has been implemented.
Research shows that:
only around 13% of employees are active on the intranet daily
31% never use it at all
Many intranets end up as:
static noticeboards filled with PDFs
unstructured document archives without ownership
platforms disconnected from daily work
This is why employees often choose email, Teams or colleagues instead — and why the intranet loses value.
Colibo & Kvadrat |
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An intranet only creates value when people actually use it. This is where Colibo makes a difference. The platform brings processes, roles, documents and workflows together in one place, ensuring that knowledge does not disappear into emails, folders or personal chats. Clear structure makes it far easier to retain critical knowledge — especially when employees leave. Colibo supports the entire employee lifecycle with role-based pages, checklists and handover templates. This creates smoother onboarding, consistent offboarding and reduces the risk of knowledge loss. Kvadrat, a global design company with 951 employees across 28 locations, was initially unsure whether the intranet would be used. Today, their daily login rate is 69.78%:
According to People Development Consultant Malene Lynnerup Jensen, Colibo has become a true knowledge hub and an integrated part of daily work. |
How does an intranet create value?
An intranet is not just a platform. It is a work tool that can either create clarity or add noise. Research clearly shows that when an intranet is set up correctly, employee behaviour changes significantly.
Digital workplace and intranet studies demonstrate that:
employee satisfaction increases by an average of 20%
knowledge workers become 20–25% more efficient when key information is gathered in one place
87% report that a good intranet improves internal communication
Why does this happen?
Because a well-functioning intranet reduces the daily friction almost every organisation experiences.
“Where is the latest version?”
“Can you send me the link again?”
“Who updates this?”
An employee spends 10 minutes searching for a process description.
Across a team, those 10 minutes quickly become an hour per day.
With a well-structured intranet, everyone knows where information lives — and which version is valid.
Onboarding often takes place through old emails, scattered folders and personal notes.
This slows everything down.
A unified onboarding flow helps new employees feel confident, faster and more self-sufficient.
A document is outdated. A page is incomplete. No one owns the content.
When ownership and update routines are clear, the intranet becomes a trusted source of truth.
What characterises a good intranet?
Although organisations differ, strong intranets are built on the same principles:
a clear structure that reflects how the organisation actually works
defined ownership so pages and processes remain up to date
integration with other systems so the intranet becomes the natural gateway — not another layer
a focus on employee journeys, especially onboarding and offboarding
It sounds simple — and in theory, it is.
But in practice, it requires experience, a good plan and an intranet designed for the pace and complexity of real work.
This is exactly where Colibo makes a difference — not just as technology, but as a platform and method that ensures knowledge, dialogue and everyday decisions are preserved and shared.
How does an intranet reduce knowledge loss during offboarding?
A good intranet supports both documentation and dialogue.
From a knowledge-management perspective, it can be used to:
gather process descriptions and workflows in one place
create role-based pages documenting responsibilities, systems, contacts and pitfalls
ensure project documentation, decisions and learnings remain accessible when employees leave
run standardised offboarding flows where knowledge transfer is a built-in step, not just a conversation about returning keys and equipment
APQC’s latest studies show that organisations risk substantial knowledge loss in the coming years due to retirements and turnover — making systematic knowledge retention a strategic priority rather than a “nice to have.”
(Source: The Great Retirement and Knowledge Loss, 2025)
Which best practices can we start with?
If you want to use your intranet (or a new intranet solution) to reduce knowledge loss, several practical steps work well:
Map critical knowledge
Create a simple list for each key role:
Which processes, decisions and contacts would be difficult to recreate if this person left within 30 days?
Create role-based pages and handover templates
On the intranet, you can set up standard pages for:
role description and responsibilities
systems and logins
recurring tasks and deadlines
important contacts and stakeholders
typical pitfalls and “good to know” information
Make the intranet the single source of truth
Policies, procedures and workflows should live in one place — and only that place should be linked to.
This makes it easier for people, search engines and future AI assistants to understand and find your knowledge.
Integrate onboarding and offboarding
Think in complete employee journeys:
onboarding checklists for new employees
offboarding checklists for managers with knowledge transfer as a key step
Measure usage and adjust continuously
Use statistics (login frequency, page views, search terms) to identify where the intranet is not working — and optimise content, navigation and formats accordingly.
