Selecting, Developing, Managing and Retaining Knowledge Workers

Do HR departments have the right strategies to select, develop, manage and bear noesis workers? As Peter Drucker recently quoted, the new knowledge economy allow for rely heavily on knowledge workers who are non, as a rule, much better paid than traditional skilled workers simply withal see themselves as professionals. Knowledge technologists are likely to become the dominant social and perhaps, political crusade over the next decades. Thus, it is very important to have the right strategies in place to select, develop, manage and forbear knowledge workers.But before we proceed to analyze if HR departments do have these strategies, we need to construe what the term knowledge workers means. A knowledge worker is one who works primarily with information or one who develops and uses knowledge in the workplace. In a knowledge-driven economy, a knowledge worker is oriented to a greater extent towards research, analysis and manipulation of the symbols, as in information, kind of than the mechanical tools.These individuals have domain knowledge expertness and may include broadly architects, finance experts, graphic designers, fashion designers, pharmaceutical scientists, researchers, teachers, and policy analysts, to name but a few. In order to focus on strategically critical knowledge workers, it is necessary to ply beyond merely creating a supportive culture or a best place to work. hand innovators understand their worth. These workers are independent and entrepreneurial, for instance like the originators of eBay, Google and Facebook.To keep much(prenominal) people, it is necessary to make them sprightliness like they are building their own businesses within the larger organization. This shadow be achieved partly by recognizing their status as thought leaders but it is also important to give them a impale in the new lines of business they develop. The bottom line is that organizations need to view key talent as partners, rather than as employees or r esources. The balance of power has shifted such that highly skilled innovators need to be seen as partners or they are gone.In the past, humane resources, training, and labor relations managers and specialists performed the administrative function of an organization, such as handling employee benefits questions or recruiting, interviewing, and hiring new module in accordance with policies established by assoil management. Their task was to attract, motivate, and retain the most qualified employees and match them to jobs for which they are best suited.Today the role of human resources workers is more than just managing these tasks, but, increasingly, that of strategic planning in consultation with top executives. They have moved from sub-rosa rung work to leading the caller-up in suggesting and changing policies. Many organizations claim to have a dedication to developing their employees and phrases such as our people are our most valuable assets are a lot spotted on motivatio nal posters in companies. In my opinion, however, very few companies embrace a organise approach to training and computer storage programmes.HR departments may claim to have some(prenominal) strategies to select, develop, manage and retain employees, but what is important is that the psychological contract, which is vital to building and sustaining a win-win relationship, needs to be reinforced. Research shows that several well-intended training and development initiatives fail to deliver the desired results. In fact, during economic slowdowns the budget which is often the prototypic to be cut back on is the training budget.Adopting a structured approach to employee training and store requires a change in mindset at the very top-level of the organization. The entire issue of staff retention needs to be treated in a strategic way and this is where most organizations lack. The first flavor in the development of an employee retention outline is identifying the pinch points for t he organization, the areas where the company regularly suffers from a high staff turnover and the particular concerns and problems of the targeted staff groups.It is also important to have a clear understanding of the expectations and aspirations of your employees sole(prenominal) then can you develop the strategies needed to meet some of these aspirations and begin to develop a workplace that is a great place to work and employees who see the company as a good company to work for. A good retention strategy should address issues such as support in the workplace, progression, opportunities for development, remuneration, working time, and flexible working. The focus should be on retaining existing talent and keeping the available organizational knowledge intact rather than searching for new talents.The key to success will be the integrating of training and development within the retention strategy. Training and development provides the means of supporting staff to unravel effecti vely and enabling staff to access the opportunities provided by the retention strategy. Levels of remuneration and flexible working will signal the right environment but it is through using training and development as a mechanism to demonstrate investment in employees on an on-going basis that will turn an organizational commitment into a reality.The techniques and processes that help new hires learn quickly are also the techniques and processes that help retain organizational knowledge. Knowledge sharing techniques such as communities of practice, mentoring, lunch and learn sessions, business process maps, expertise directories of staff are just as useful for retaining organizational knowledge as they are for fast acquisition by new employees. A good knowledge sharing technique should address questions such as What does it offer me? What does it offer us? What does it offer to the organization? Once these techniques fill the personal and group study needs of staff, they will al so evolve to sharing strategic information. Techniques such as communities of practice can be HRs role in strategic information management for the organization. The success of an organization in its strategy will be judged ultimately by its success in engaging individuals in development activities, not in simply having them available. The key to success will be how relevant and appropriate the development application is and how accessible it is to employees.It requires talent to retain talent. The successful employer of the future will be a keen contention in the skills market. They will compete for the best recruits but not in terms of purely monetary rewards but by offering them the best working experience, one that offers security as well as progression and personal growth. They will focus on retaining the available organizational knowledge and harnessing it to the maximum rather than on hunting for new talents.