Human Resources – Knowledge Workers

Human Resources Management Course sour Manjeet Singh 7637434 The Question Examine the carry that the attention of cognition players requires the development of human resource practises that argon much worthy to the particular characteristics of these thespians and their jobs Introduction The term noesis role player was first utilise by Peter Drucker in Landmarks of Tomorrow in 1959.A noesis proletarian is some whizz who specialises in a specific field as they suffer indisputable familiarity which has been accrued through specific courses or familiarity in relevant activities, they usu in ally fox some sort of accreditation or documentation to certify that they beat accrued this familiarity. They ar typically thoroughly educated, and with the application of their knowledge it aids them to solve conundrums for an scheme and it is through problem solving that value is rack uped for the face.As well as problem solving, knowledge movementers argon wantwise i nvolved in innovation, re-engineering, training etc. although in that respect are certain tasks which would require knowledge baters with specific specialities. knowledge proles are seen as a crucial asset as with application of their knowledge it dirty dog determine the success and reputation of the organisation. The most valuable assets of a 20th-century familiarity were its production equipment. The most valuable asset of a 21st-century institution, whether business or non-business, will be its knowledge liveers and their productivity. (Drucker, 1999, P135) This quote mellowedlights the fact that we are pitiful a foc employ from the traditional mentality that wealth was based on the centre of resources an organisation held in its possession, and more towards how we handle knowledge workers and attain this knowledge. Knowledge workers attract higher banded salaries, with enhanced levels of autonomy in proportion to the conventionalism employee. As a result the turnov er of Knowledge workers is typically high, beca call they are aware of the fact that the knowledge that they possess is of great extremity and grandeur to the organisation.In m each an(prenominal) cases the knowledge that these workers exhaust allows the organisation to establish a belligerent advantage over their rivals, which is why they are willing to deport the generous salary of these workers. If the workers are not kept knowing, so(prenominal) it is mild for them to on the button move to a different organisation or harbor back on the knowledge that they provide for the conjunction. In summation, as the levels of autonomy are high this mode that here is an element of self-government, and they bugger off a high heart and soul of freedom, for ideal they asshole work from home, this thence lights the amount of control that a solid has over a knowledge worker. deep d knowledge this report I wish to discuss the different factors that would result in the extrem ity for different HR practices for knowledge workers. I will then excessively highlight which characteristics these workers possess that sets them apart from their colleagues at the organisation where they work and how the characteristics come upon the HR practices.As these workers are of such importance to the organisation, they try their outmatch to occur these workers at the organisation and as their job description differs vastly in comparison to the typical employees, this highlights the need for adaptation in the HR practices that are implemented by the staunch as typical employees nooky be re shoesd rather easily, through the figure recruitment procedures, however, with knowledge workers, they add value for the organisation, consequently, changes would have to be made to keep them happy at the organisation, whilst performing at an acceptable level.What are the benefits a Knowledge worker receives? The chief(prenominal) technique where we tin thunder mug identify a knowledge worker is by highlighting the benefits that they receive in comparison to normal workers. harmonize to Lowendahl (1997), these workers are offered high remuneration and substantial autonomy, this simply means that there is no one overlooking them constantly and they are highly paid in comparison to opposites. Knell (2000) & Pink (2002), excessively describe these workers as free workers, this would mean that for them there is a lot more prize as to what they underside do.As they h out of date all the knowledge which is valuable, it usually means that these workers are a lot less reliant on the organisation that employs him. In addition to this, it is because these workers have access to knowledge and it is them that control it, this then enables them to control the flow of the knowledge, this would mean that they need to be kept happy in order to make authoritative that the flow of information is practise and of value to the company. As a result of this, knowledg e workers are alike offered a lot more freedom in comparison to early(a) workers. As described above, Knowledge workers are offered many benefits due to how aluable they are to the organisation, however, there are challenges that are then forced on HR with the benefits that they offer to these workers. I will now describe these below and fork over examples of changes and alterations that have been made either for the attracting, move or retention of knowledge workers. HRM challenges as an effect of these Knowledge Workers As Knowledge workers are offered such attractive advantages due to the nature of their work, this come tos the normal practices that are in place by HRM. Therefore, managing these Knowledge workers back end be challenging for HRM.These include Firstly, we can look at the work organisation this has a major match on the motivation and productivity of the knowledge worker. If the environment and the organisation is coordinate in a way that the knowledge work er doesnt like then this could have a high negative effect on the company, as they need environments where they are comfortable and more importantly a place that offers them new challenges. An some other challenge is the constantly changing mental prune, this is where there are unwritten obligations and expectations that are out of the written contract of the knowledge worker.The theatre should not expect too much of the worker and likewise the worker should not expect too much from the firm, and so the need for contracts to claim an understanding of the needs. Thirdly, if the knowledge workers have more than one employer, it is knockout to ensure that these knowledge workers stay loyal. The factor of opportunism can arise here as the knowledge worker would not bind into consideration how them leaving or not macrocosm productive, can incite the company, instead they will incisively commission on the benefits that they can go advantage of.Due to the autonomy that is offer ed to these workers, monitoring the productivity and motivating the workers is difficult for the organisation. These workers also have varied desires as some of them go for the more short incentives, like money and freedom of work, or some tend to focus on building their career, and it is a must for them to work with well recognize clients. One of the biggest challenges that they face is the challenge of retaining these workers as turnover of these workers is significantly high in comparison to other workers.So it is critical that the HR department elevate correct and well suited practices to make sure that these workers are content. The guidance of the knowledge is important because the knowledge is held by the workers and it is important to make sure that the flow of this knowledge is not restricted by any other factors that can be controlled or altered by the firm. The knowledge that they have also needs to be up to date as out-dated knowledge would not add maximum value for the organisation.Defining who owns the knowledge at pass is also a challenge for the organisation as there are always boundaries which are often unclear and vague, they would need to know this so that they can clearly see how much knowledge the worker can dedicate to the firm. Also as a result of the worker having the knowledge with them, there is also always the threat of them going away and place setting up their own firms and as they typically work with clients directly, they could take the clients with them to their own firm.As all these challenges to HRM have been described and highlighted I believe it also reveals the need for the differentiated HR practices for these workers as they vary massively to normal workers. contrary contexts and organisations The dependency between the knowledge workers and the organisation also varies largely to normal workers as the firm itself is a lot more dependent on the knowledge workers. (Swart and Kinnie, 2003) suggest that this is becaus e of knowledge workers changing the typical trend of the firm owning all the knowledge.In addition, the work process also differs making the firm more dependent on the workers. An example of this is where the knowledge is at the core of the company so that would mean the knowledge worker would usually be the main source of this knowledge. The knowledge worker is at the centre of the business just now this is collaborated with the reputation of the firm and working closely with the worker to main a besotted race which is strategically vital in that particular lawsuit of industry.As a result of this type of relationship and strategic collaboration, this would mean that twain parties involved would be highly dependent on each other as the firm would not have the knowledge they require to do business as the knowledge is with the workers but the worker would need the resources, mark off reputation and the clients that the firm has. Pink (2002) describes this as substantial interdep endency as they are two reliant on each other. The only way this dependency can be reduced is by using knowledge management and outlining boundaries and expectations from both parties.It is important to look after these workers, as if the workers drop dead then the value created will also leave with them. It is also difficult within this type of industry to determine how much the knowledge worker did or is needed to add value as it is tacit knowledge, which is leaden to measure. Knowledge work also influences the network of the organisation as in traditional employment, there is usually a pecking order which is implemented and all who are involved in this will adhere and follow this hierarchy (Williamson, 1975).However, with knowledge work hierarchies wont work due to the military force differences that will be incurred as a result of the hierarchy. With knowledge work it is all about being in the correct networks and building a portfolio of careers (Castells, 2000). This gives them the freedom to go out and expand their knowledge base and they can progress within their career at their own will. It is the responsibility of the organisation to provide the workers with clients that are well blobd to keep them happy and motivated, as it would challenge them more and allow them to utilise their knowledge to their maximum potential.This is genuinely good for the knowledge worker, however it poses a threat to the firm as they can potentially, take the clients with them if they were to leave because they could have formed a strong bond due to the high level of autonomy that they are granted, thus meaning that the organisation wont know how close they are. For this fence it is important to evaluate the level of autonomy that is offered to these workers, they would need enough to keep the workers motivated but not too much where the workers can thump too close with clients and cause problems for the organisation.Another factor which highlighted by Horwitz (200 3), was how the self-command of the firm (foreign or local) modifys the practices and the attraction of these knowledge workers, this shows that the culture of the firm has a major impact on the motivation and attraction of these workers. Foreign versus local ownership appears, therefore, to reflect differences in certain types of HR practices such as using headhunters and advertising media to recruit and select knowledge workers (Horwitz, 2003).This shows us that the differing organisations from different cultures use burn upes to which they think is best, and there is not a universal, one fits all set about which can be used globally. In addition to this they also shew that both wholly owned foreign and local firms make a fun and informal work environment more highly or fairly effective (Horwitz, 2003), this shows us that the workers take a preference to an environment which is more informal and over over again changing from the conventional hierarchical approach.An exampl e is when Horwitz (2003), describes how there are certain cultural requirements or standards within capital of Singapore (where they did their study), for example they have large respect for the hierarchy and everybody seems to know their positions. This would affect the knowledge workers in the sense that if there is a major accent mark on hierarchies within the organisation, it may push them towards multi-national companies with different cultures.Also, if a firm is international, this attracts knowledge workers as it allows them to travel and experiment different cultures, whilst working for the akin firm, this also builds on their experience and makes them a more valuable worker. pattern 1 Proposed outline for attracting, motivating and retaining knowledge workers Source Frank M. Horwitz. (2003). Finders, Keepers? Attracting, motivating and retaining knowledge workers. Human Resource Management Journal. 13 (4), 23-44. HR practicesFigure 1 shows a schema which proposed for at tracting, motivating and retaining knowledge workers, I believe that the elements that have been taken into consideration within the schema are critical and the schema is accurate, however, Horwitz (2003), separates himself that it needs further hypotheses testing to make sure its accurate. In addition to this, it does not take into account anything about differing industries as for each industry, they make that different things motivated or attracted the knowledge workers, this is crucial as it again highlights that there cannot just simply be one standard approach or practice across all industries.According to Kinnear and Sutherland (2000), some researchers have found HR practices which they believe are vital for retention of knowledge workers and decrease the turnover of these workers. However, how could this be possible when there are so many factors that affect the different requirements of these workers and the HR practices required to accommodate these workers? The nature o f work is exceedingly different, although there may be tensions between the two types of worker simply because, the knowledge workers are granted such high benefits and salaries.Again as per Figure 1, we can see that there is no consideration of normal workers, this implies further that these practices should be altered and suited for the knowledge workers. With altered practices it also shows that there is a possibility that it could affect the current employees chances of progression to get to the level of knowledge workers as the firm would invest so much into the recruitment of these knowledge workers, they would expect to find people that already have the knowledge and dont require the training to work, simply just to settle in to the culture of the organisation.On the other hand, Frost (2002), goes on to also talk about how employers can distinguish between the two types of workers and thus, supports the claim that HR practices need to be different for the types of workers and this will allow them to both be happy and progress accordingly.In addition to this, Despres and Hiltrop (1995), state traditional approaches to work remuneration and reward are no longer appropriate in a post-industrial knowledge economy (Horwitz, 2003) this further reinforces the idea that new and judicious approaches are needed for knowledge workers and the industries need to move away from this old fashioned mentality as the industries are evolving more and more towards knowledge based organisations.A key thing that Horwitz (2003) found was that the most popular HR practices implemented by the organisations were not always the most effective, this can be questioned as the study was in Singapore, but I believe that it just simply reinforces that the culture of each country and organisation varies and thus would affect the wants and needs in HR practices from the knowledge workers. In addition to this, they say There is increasing evidence that particular organisations are beginn ing to have it off that distinctive HR practices lead to better knowledge worker performance. (Horwitz, 2003) this again shows the link between altered practices for these workers has a positive impact on the work and the morale of the workers. The design of the job was stated as being high important as part of the satisfaction of the knowledge workers, as if it designed correctly, then this can have a positive impact on the morale, productivity and behaviour of the knowledge worker (Thompson and Heron, 2002). This again shows the importance of different practices for these types of jobs and not to just let them have a humdrum job agency like the normal employees. ConclusionIn conclusion, I agree with the sign claim that HR practices should be altered for knowledge workers. I have discovered the real sheer importance of these workers to organisations and how they add value to organisations, for this cogitate I believe the benefits that are afforded for them are fair and deserve d and although they do require some changes which organisations are not accustomed to, for example, losing hierarchies, partnership style working, allowing them to work from home and other challenges the pose to HR, there are certain ways to attract, retain and motivate them.They also can be equivocal for a firm, with the ambiguity of their tasks and lack of control from the organisation, but if the firm can keep them happy and monitor in a suitable way, then the worker would be kept happy. Knowledge based companies especially should recognise the importance of tailoring HR practices for these workers, as they are what would give them the competitive advantage, they are also characterised as being innovative and this is key to any firm.Finally, I believe that these workers will shape the industry in the attack years, so firms should invest into finding the best HR practices which suit their own culture and organisations based also on their industry. References Castells, M. (2000). The rise of the network gild rise of the network society. Oxford, Blackwell. Despres, C. and Hiltrop, J. M. (1995), Human resource management in the knowledge age current practice and perspectives on the future, Employee Relations, Vol. 17 No 1, pp. 9-23. Drucker (1999). Managing Oneself, Management Challenges for the 21st Century. Frost, M (2002) Managing knowledge workers. HR Magazine, May, 47 5, 124-126 Horwitz, F, 2003. Finders, Keepers? Attracting, motivate and Retaining knowledge workers. 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