Finders, keepers? Attracting, motivating and retaining knowledge workers

Abstract

Drucker (1989) to describe individuals who carry knowledge as a powerful resource which they, rather than the organisation, own. Knowledge work can be said to be of an intellectual nature and where well qualified employees form a significant part of the workforce (Alvesson, 2000). There is, nonetheless, an acknowledged ambiguity in attempting to conclusively define the notion of a knowledge worker and knowledge intensive firms (KIFs) (Alvesson, 1993). Ulrich (1998) posits that, with knowledge work increasing, intellectual capital is a firm's only appreciable asset. Vogt (1995) defines a knowledge worker as a person with the motivation and capacity to co-create new insights and the capability to communicate, coach and facilitate the implementation of new ideas. The work is non-repetitive and results-oriented, using both 'traditional' scientific methods and the need for continuous learning, intuition, new mindsets and imagination. But some of these concepts may be contradictory and somewhat idealised, according to Alvesson (1993Alvesson ( : 1000Alvesson ( -1004. He notes that the work of knowledge workers is more aptly characterised as 'ambiguity intensive' than 'knowledge intensive'. These workers may have both a traditional knowledge type linking science and rational analytical problem solving and requisite knowledge, as well as a particular subjectivity requiring an ability to deal with complexity and uncertainty. The latter requires intuition, creativity, flexibility and social skills.There is an emerging literature and research evidence on specific HR strategies, practices and organisational blueprints for attracting, motivating and retaining these Finders, keepers? Attracting, motivating and retaining knowledge workers workers Hannan, 2002, Hewitt & Associates, 2001). Alvesson and Karreman (2001), drawing from a review of the literature and case studies, argue that 'knowledge management is as likely, or more so, to operate as a practice for managing people or information than as a practice attuned towards facilitating knowledge creation ' (2001: 1). The knowledge worker has individual and personal knowledge, and organisations are increasingly seeking ways of transforming this into shared social knowledge deployed for organisational goals.Our research investigates effective HR strategies and practices for attracting, motivating and retaining knowledge workers. Our work considers multinational and local knowledge-intensive firms (KIFs) in six sectors and has two key aims:• to determine the best or the most effective HR practices for managing knowledge workers, for proposing a schema for attracting, motivating and retaining these workers; and • to explore the notion whether there is a distinctive set of HR practices for managing knowledge workers and other workers in general. Secondary aims are: • to provide a generic definition of knowledge-based firms acceptable to most respondents;• to compare the acceptable and unacceptable turnover of knowledge workers in relation to other employees and the suite of HR p...

Motivation for Knowledge Work

“…Flexibility in work practices, cash rewards for knowledge products, and recruitment practices aimed at hiring people that fit existing culture prove to be less successful motivation strategies (Despres & Hiltrop, 1996;Horwitz et al, 2003). In line with these findings, Horwitz et al (2003) show the strong motivational importance of what they describe as 'job crafting', or the degree of freedom for individuals to adapt the physical and cognitive elements in the task and relationship boundaries of their work. Within the broad spectrum of motivational measures for knowledge work, the class of incentive and reward systems has received special attention (e.g., Amabile, Conti, Coon, Lazenby, & Herron, 1996;Carson, 2001;Despres & Hiltrop, 1996;Hennessey & Amabile, 1998;Krönig, 2001;Kubo & Saka, 2002;McKenzie et al, 2001;Salo, 2001).…”

“…Highly motivated employees may therefore experience a drive to change jobs on a regular basis. An intriguing object for the study of knowledge worker motivation is that high workforce turnover may also show lacking motivation (Horwitz, Heng, & Quazi, 2003). When knowledge workers experience their work as a source of frustration, workforce turnover along with high absence rates are signs of low motivation.…”

“…Winning motivation strategies have been shown to include allowing individuals and teams the freedom to define their work, the design of challenging jobs, and ensuring the support from top management for knowledge-related initiatives (McKenzie et al, 2001). Flexibility in work practices, cash rewards for knowledge products, and recruitment practices aimed at hiring people that fit existing culture prove to be less successful motivation strategies (Despres & Hiltrop, 1996;Horwitz et al, 2003). In line with these findings, Horwitz et al (2003) show the strong motivational importance of what they describe as 'job crafting', or the degree of freedom for individuals to adapt the physical and cognitive elements in the task and relationship boundaries of their work.…”

From HRM to psychological contracting - the case of Finnish mobile content producing companies

“…At a time when organizations are becoming increasingly dependent on intellectual capital and non-tangible assets, the question of how to attract, motivate and retain the best workers is more crucial than ever (Horwitz, Teng Heng and Quazi, 2003). Over the past years, the concept of psychological contract -capturing an individual's perceptions of the implicit deal concerning the respective obligations of the worker and the employer, has emerged as a framework for explaining how workers experience their employment relationship (Guest, 2004;Cullinane and Dundon, 2006).…”

Impact of Job Situation on the Motivation of Insurance Companies Officers: A Developmental Perspective.

“…As like monetary reward, Job situation is also an inducer of an employee in the company. A challenging work environment and the support of top management are a very high motivator ( Horwitz et al, 2003 ) [6]. Variables for the job situation are chance to learn, maximum use of abilities, and general pattern of working.…”