THE MANAGEMENT OF KNOWLEDGE WORKERS

The art of managing knowledge workers is ushering a new era in management and is proving to be key to talent retention.
 
Note that it is Knowledge workers as opposed to knowledgeable workers. These are not necessarily educated workers much as they are observant workers that can convert general information into critical insights, science and knowledge for the benefit of the organisation. So it means that a knowledge worker can be at shop floor level with only basic education but can find insights on how to optimize production.

It is unfortunate how organisations rush to employ skilled experts to assist in finding solutions when, in fact, internal staff have it in them to resolve what may be the problem, if only they were asked. This means organisations need to come up with what they call 'organisation knowledge management strategy' in order to allow for the conversion of information to valuable insights and knowledge.
 
Organisations need to also understand who in their employ are knowledge workers and manage them accordingly. A case in point is those employees that leave organisations only to come back to consult to them at an exorbitant amount because of their knowledge – that is a sign of an ineffective knowledge management strategy. Knowledge and insights if properly documented even in the form of a story or sequence of events will help to institutionalize an organisation in a way that will ensure that no one person is bigger than the organisation. Have you heard of people that are unlikely to be disciplined or fired because they are the only ones who can render a service critical to the running of the business?