Knowledge workers and the knowledge economy

Dr. K. Kuhathasan CEO, Cenlead

People in your organisation are the creators and innovators of new knowledge.

Peter Drucker introduced the concept of “knowledge worker” and the “knowledge economy” to the management world.

According to Peter Drucker “The key to maintaining leadership in the economy and the technologies that are emerging is likely to be the social position of the knowledge professionals and social acceptance of their values.

Today, however, we are trying to straddle the fence-to maintain the traditional mind-set, in which capital is the key resource and the financier is the boss, while bribing knowledge workers to be content to remain employees by giving them bonuses and stock option.

But this, if it can work at all, can work only as long as the emerging industries enjoy a stock-market boom, as did the internet companies.”

“The management of knowledge workers is a “marketing job”. And in marketing one does not begin with the question. “What do we want?” One begins with the questions. “What does the other party want? What are its values? What are its goals? What does it consider results?”

What motivates knowledge workers is what motivates volunteers. Volunteers have to get more satisfaction from their work than paid employees, precisely because they don’t get a paycheck”. “In today’s society and organisations, people work increasingly with knowledge rather than with skills”.

While defining knowledge workers, Peter Drucker says:

1. Knowledge-worker productivity demands that we ask the question: “What is the task?”

2. It demands that we impose the responsibility for their productivity on the individual knowledge workers themselves. Knowledge workers have to manage themselves. They have to have autonomy.

3. Continuing innovation has to be part of the work, the task, and the responsibility of knowledge workers.

4. Knowledge work requires continuous learning on the part of the knowledge worker, but equally continuous teaching on the apart of the knowledge worker.

5. Productivity of the knowledge worker is not-at lease not primarily-a matter of the quantity of output. Quality is at least as important.

6. Finally, knowledge-worker productivity requires that the knowledge worker be both seen and treated as an “asset” rather than a “cost”. It requires that knowledge workers want to work for the organisation in preference to all other opportunities.

Knowledge workers must have continuous learning built into their tasks. And a knowledge organisation has to be both a learning organisation and a teaching organisation.

Knowledge today, in all areas, changes so fast that knowledge workers become obsolete pretty soon unless they build continuous learning into their work. This means that knowledge workers are well advised to sit down and answer two questions.

1. What do I need to learn to keep abreast of the knowledge I am being paid to know?

2. And what do my associates have to know and understand about my knowledge area and about what it can and should contribute to the organisations and to their own work?

Control model Stephen Covey Says:

Managers today continue to apply the control model to knowledge workers. Because many in positions of authority don’t see the true worth and potential of their people and don’t possess a complete, accurate understanding of human nature, they manage people as they do things. The result? People become alienated, work becomes depersonalised, and low-trust, litigious cultures result.”

“Leadership in the knowledge worker age will be characterised by those who find their own voice and who inspire others to find theirs. It’s leadership where people communicate to others their worth and potential so clearly they’ll come to see it in themselves.”

Knowledge and skill

In today’s society and organisations, people work increasingly with knowledge, rather than with skill. Knowledge and skill differ in a fundamental characteristic-skills change very, very slowly.

Knowledge however, changes itself. It makes itself obsolete. and very rapidly.

A knowledge worker becomes obsolescent if he or she does not follow continuous training activities.

This not only means that the equipment of learning, of knowledge of skill, of experience that one acquires early is not sufficient for our present life time and working time.

They become different persons with different needs, different abilities, different perspectives, and therefore, with a need to “reinvent themselves”.

Unlike in the past the needs of knowledge workers of today are:

1. Feeling of accomplishment resulting from work assignment.

2. Opportunity for advancement based on quality of work performance.

3. Opportunity to exercise personal initiative in assignment.

4. Being assigned challenging work.

5. Recognition for accomplishment and technical success

6. Desire for excellence in work assignment

7. Opportunity to be creative and innovative

8. Having major responsibility for a project.

Under the circumstances, todays organisations must:

1. Be educated to staying at the cutting edge of technology.

2. Innovation is enthusiastically encouraged by the organisation.

3. The organisation expects continuing technical excellence and competence.

4. The organisation is a leader in technical development.

5. The organisation has a progressive atmosphere.

6. The organisation must be better technically that its competitor.

In the knowledge worker age, people in your organisation must create and innovate, new knowledge, new information, new services, new processes, new techniques and new products for the benefit of internal and external customers.