Skip to content
ENCSDEES
Contact Explore resources
Resources Tools About Contact
Explore resources

What Is Knowledge Transfer?

Knowledge transfer is capturing and handing over what one person knows before they move or leave.

An educational definition from the HR glossary. Explore related terms below, or jump into the resource center to go deeper.

Definition

Knowledge transfer is capturing and handing over what one person knows before they move or leave.

Why it matters

Undocumented knowledge is a continuity risk that is costly to reconstruct.

Examples

Illustrative example. Pairing a leaver with a successor and documenting key processes transfers knowledge.

For the practical detail behind this term, follow the related metric, template and resources below.

Free, printable HR resources

Templates, checklists and calculators to put these concepts into practice — free and ungated.

Browse free downloads HR calculators HR templates
For informational purposes only. This is an educational, plain-language definition — not legal, tax, financial or compliance advice and not an official definition. Terms and obligations vary by organisation and jurisdiction. Numeric examples are simple, placeholder-based illustrations, not data. Confirm specifics with qualified professionals.
Related concepts

Related glossary terms

Keep exploring the HR vocabulary.

Glossary

Offboarding

Offboarding is the structured process of handling an employee’s departure — access, assets, knowledge transfer and a respectful close-out.

Open Glossary

Succession Planning

Succession planning is preparing for changes in critical roles by identifying them and developing potential successors.

Open Glossary

Business Continuity

Business continuity, from a workforce angle, is keeping critical work running when key people become unavailable.

Open
Measure it

Related metrics & calculators

HR metric

Workforce Capacity Metrics

Workforce capacity metrics compare the work your people can do against the work the business needs done.

Open Calculators

HR calculators

Quantify the metrics in your browser.

Open Hub

HR metrics hub

How HR measures are defined and read.

Open
Put it into practice

Related templates

Template

Exit Interview Template

A departure is a chance to learn.

Open
Go deeper

Related resources

The clusters that put this concept into practice.

Lifecycle

Employee lifecycle

The full employee journey, stage by stage.

Open Operations

Employer operations

Run the workforce as a repeatable system.

Open Planning

Workforce planning

Strategy and organizational design.

Open Compliance

HR compliance

Documentation, records, data and policy.

Open Templates

HR templates

Free, printable, placeholder-based templates.

Open Playbooks

HR playbooks

Step-by-step plays for people processes.

Open Technology

HR technology

Automation, analytics and systems.

Open Funnel

Recruitment funnel

Sourcing through to accepted offer.

Open Reporting

HR reporting & dashboards

Turn people data into clear views.

Open AI for HR

AI for HR

Where AI assists HR, responsibly.

Open Resource center

HR resource center

The central map of every cluster.

Open

Practical HR resources, by email

Templates, hiring insights and workforce updates. No spam — unsubscribe anytime.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

What is Knowledge Transfer?

Knowledge transfer is capturing and handing over what one person knows before they move or leave.

Why does Knowledge Transfer matter?

Undocumented knowledge is a continuity risk that is costly to reconstruct.

How is Knowledge Transfer measured?

It connects to the HR metric linked on this page, where you can find the formula and how to read it. This glossary entry is an educational definition, not a data source.