The Benefits of Knowledge Workers to Organizations - Essay Example

Knowledge Workers Knowledge workers are the sources of innovation and strategies that allow their firms to stay competitive and contribute to the health of the economy (Hutchins, 2007). According to Davenport, the basic characteristic of knowledge workers is that they |think for a living” (Davenport, 3) and their primary task is the “creation, distribution or application of knowledge.” (Davenport, 10). As a result, they may not be involved in manufacturing, but instead provide knowledge based services such as design of products and services, marketing, distribution or customer service, or essentially manipulating knowledge to produce the desired results. As an IT software engineer, my profession falls under the category of knowledge workers, irrespective of whichever classification is applied. For example, applying the definition of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics on whether a worker is a knowledge worker or not, “managerial, professional and technical” workers are knowledge workers and IT professionals would fall under the category of professional and technical workers and are therefore knowledge workers.(Davenport, 6). The Bureau of Labor Statistics has also projected that the three fastest growing occupations, i.e, registered nurses, computer software specialists and IT software engineers, who are likely to earn the highest amounts, are also knowledge workers. As an IT software programmer, the job clearly falls within the category of a knowledge worker. An IT professional also qualifies as a knowledge worker applying the criteria of the U.S. Department of Education, according to which workers with the ability to process “complex or moderately complex information in mathematical or verbal form” and turn it into knowledge are knowledge workers.(Davenport 6). Since the work of IT professionals requires the ability to process mathematical and verbal data and convert it into information for designing systems and programs, it qualifies as that of a knowledge worker. In highlighting the need to improve the productivity of knowledge workers, Davenport (2005:8-9) also points out that (a) knowledge workers are the fast growing segment of the workforce (b) they are the most expensive kinds of workers an organization employs (c) they are the key to the growth of economies (d) with increased outsourcing of routine, standard jobs in the agricultural and industrial sectors, it is only those in jobs requiring a high degree of knowledge which cannot be standardized and outsourced in this way who will be knowledge workers.(Hutchins, 2007). All of these aspects apply to my job of IT software engineer. For example, with the advent of technology and the Internet, most organizations need technology professionals to manage the various business processes, hence IT professionals are the fastest growing segment of the workforce. Secondly, IT professionals are paid high salaries because of the value of the knowledge they contribute and their ability to think and make use of their knowledge to arrive at solutions and design products and services. This also makes them the key to achieve growth in economies; since they think for a living, they solve problems and make decisions, they understand the needs of customers and they are able to collaborate and communicate with others and work in teams while in the process of doing their work. (Davenport, 2005: 10-11). One of the most important criteria that clearly places my job of IT software engineer within the category of a knowledge worker is that an education and expert knowledge is required to perform my job. I need to apply thinking skills during a large part of the time spent on the job and I need to process data and information rather than merely possessing it or distributing it. (Davenport, 2005: 12). The second most important criteria is that my job involves the generation of solutions to problems associated with systems design and performance of applications and therefore requires innovation and the development of novel and creative strategies to address those problems. A college degree is mandatory, apart from this it is also necessary that the knowledge imparted through that degree is combined with skills specific to the programming and systems design jobs, with constant thought applied to the transfer of that knowledge acquired from an educational institution to the workplace in thinking out solutions to problems and applying an innovative approach where it becomes necessary. A very important aspect of my job is the ability to be resourceful enough to develop solutions in areas where a precedent may not be readily available. My job requires the developing of technology solutions, packages and programs to address a specific process or application within an organization and to determine how best the tools of technology may be applied to improve business performance. Technical programs must then be custom written to generate the performance of such business processes with the greatest levels of efficiency, while also ensuring that they are user friendly. This requires extensive thinking and the application of technical and programming skills to address the problems on hand. All of these requirements place me definitely within the category of a knowledge worker. Lastly, an additional feature that places an IT professional within the classification of a knowledge worker is the autonomy or independence and flexibility required on the job. IT professionals are largely involved in the business of thinking and have to develop creative solutions, to achieve this, they need autonomy and flexibility in terms of working hours and managerial controls if they are to function efficiently. I am provided autonomy on the job and my tasks cannot be easily divided into their constituent parts because there is no definite set pattern that can be applied to every task. I am also required to interact extensively with members of my team in developing solutions to problems and the development of solutions and the working steps cannot be times or standardized. The fact that my job cannot be standardized and requires autonomy, flexibility and teamwork all place my job within the classification of a knowledge worker. An IT software engineer is a part creator and distributor of knowledge. They must use their brains to create new software packages to suit specific business applications. They are also distributors of knowledge because they create “systems and processes to increase access of knowledge for others and get it to those who need it.” (Davenport, 2005: 29). Hence, on all of the above criteria as detailed above, an IT software engineer falls under the category of a knowledge worker. A physician also falls under the category of a knowledge worker because of the vast amount of technical and scientific knowledge that he or she possesses. A physician must possess a college education and the ability to process scientific information, including verbal and math ability. They also qualify under Davenport’s classification of a knowledge worker, i.e, they think for a living, understand the needs of customers and are able to provide innovative solutions when needed. (Davenport 10-11). Physicians have high degrees of expertise, education or experience and the primary purpose of their jobs is the creation, distribution and application of their knowledge (Priddy, 2006). Since physicians may regularly be exposed to health crises in individuals and must also possess the ability to make accurate diagnoses on their own, there is a degree of mental and intellectual engagement requirement that definitely places physicians in the category of physician workers. Physicians also conform to yet another attribute knowledge workers must possess – they cannot describe their work in detail, rather their work must be observed in detail. (Davenport, 2005:18). Physicians often serve as mentors whose diagnostic and treatment practices cannot be easily explained or applied on a blanket basis, rather they must be observed in some detail and for a considerable length of time because the solutions they arrive at are specific and relevant to each medical situation as it arises. A physician also enjoys autonomy in his or her work, which tends to be unstructured, i.e., they need to respond to situations as they arise and specifying a detailed flow of work may be difficult.(Davenport, 2005:24). The knowledge worker is a thinker, who must be able to think clearly and consistently, at the same time have the necessary flexibility to develop creative solutions to problems. The cost of knowledge work makes a difference in how it is managed or improved. The costs associated with knowledge workers include the compensation paid to workers and this will depend upon the level of education and seniority. (Davenport, 2005:32). These knowledge workers are therefore the most difficult to bring about changes in and the greater the umber of knowledge workers within an organization, the lower will be the levels of flexibility an employer may have in terms of replacing them or imparting training to all. From an economic point of view therefore, knowledge workers can consider becoming contingent workers in a firm to draw the maximum pay for short contractual assignments. A contingent arrangement is a non standard employment category where there is no explicit or implicit agreement that the employee will stay with the organization for an indefinite period of time.(Davis, 2005). This arrangement allows a skilled knowledge worker to offer his or her services to organizations for a limited length of time to the highest bidder for their services. Since skilled knowledge workers are also expensive to retain within an organization for extended periods, this arrangement also works well for the organization which is able to hire the knowledge worker when need for completion of a specific project or to find a solution to a specific problem. Knowledge workers need to consider that in a competitive economy, it may not be viable for organizations to pay high level wages on a permanent basis. Knowledge workers are also generally aware that there is a high demand for their services and competition among organizations to hire them despite their high cost, hence they can offer their services to the highest bidder. Knowledge workers must also take into account organizational aspects such as effective monitoring of the work process. Monitoring may be easier in a parallel set up like the call center where all workers perform the entire process at the same time. (Davenport, 2005:32). Other work may be sequential and take place step by step in which case, supervision may be assigned to a case worker. Repetitive aspects of the work can be standardized and possibly automated. An organization may also need to take into account the relative importance of the job being performed by the knowledge worker to the organization itself, for instance a financial analyst will only be peripheral in a manufacturing company but vital in an investment company. Knowledge workers must be able to work effectively in teams and organizational autonomy flexibility must be provided for these employees to network and interact together to produce the best outcomes. Technical aspects that knowledge workers take into consideration when deciding on whether to accept a job or not include the following: (a) technology infrastructure (b) innovation clusters (c) peers and (d) quality of life.(Bui, 2007). Technology infrastructure refers to the networks of Internet and broadband internet access. These are a vital element for knowledge workers because they depend upon these communication devices to maintain connectivity with their organization and team workers and also to access the information they require. Innovation clusters refers to the networks of experts, private companies and venture companies focused in a particular area. The existence of such entities is important for the knowledge worker because it allows for collaboration, which in turn makes it easier to convert ideas into products and services. Peers are also important from this perspective because it is easier for professional networking. The quality of life is another aspect knowledge workers take into consideration because they are generally young and in demand by organizations and they want to provide their services to the organization that is able to provide them the best locations and the highest quality of life. In conclusion, it may be noted that knowledge workers are those individuals who possess special skills such as technical or professional and mechanical skills, or who are essentially in the business of manipulation of knowledge to achieve the goals of innovation and good strategic planning and implementation. This helps an organization to stay competitive in a global economy. Knowledge workers require autonomy and flexibility on the job and they are in high demand by organizations, although they are more expensive to retain. Knowledge workers are likely to respond well within an environment where they are provided with the necessary technical tools and opportunities for networking as well as access to the sources of finance, etc required to transform ideas into products and services. References: * Bui, Lynh, 2007. “Opportunities essential for drawing knowledge workers”, The Arizona Republic, October 31, 2007. http://www.azcentral.com/specials/special00/articles/1031ind-worker1031.html; * Davenport, Thomas H, 2005. “Thinking for a living”, Harvard Business Press. * David, J, 2005. "The Unexpected Employee and Organizational Costs of Skilled Contingent Workers," Human Resource Planning, 28(2): 32-41 * Hutchins, Greg, 2007. “The making of a knowledge worker”, Quality Progress, 40(5) : 68-70 * Priddy, Robert F, 2006. “Consider a Physician centered practice”, Career Options, February 2006, http://www.mdoptions.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?article_id=1854, Read More