Sharing IT knowledge within a Swedish bank : A survey based case study of IT related training, help functions and communication

Abstract: An efficient, functioning IT environment is vital to many companies, even to those not calling themselves IT companies. How to assimilate the IT skills needed and get the IT department to share their knowledge with the rest of the organization can, however, be difficult. The aim of this thesis is to find differences between how a company’s IT department employees and other employees experience and use IT training and IT help functions. The aim is also to identify and make suggestions on what artifacts and help functions can be further developed in order to enhance learning and sharing of IT knowledge. A case study was conducted at the Swedish bank Handelsbanken. The employees’ experiences and use of IT related training, artifacts and help functions were studied through a survey that was complemented by interviews and observations. A Mann-Whitney U test was conducted on the survey answers. The result shows differences between the IT department employees and other employees in three areas: IT introduction, wish for more IT training and frequency in calling the IT help desk. Further, the result indicates that the new employee orientation, the internal handbook, e-support and IT help desk all have room for improvements.