Recruiting knowledge workers: a partnership of equals

Knowledge workers have distinct needs that employers should bear in mind when hiring and motivating this expert section of the workforce.

Peter Drucker, one of the great names in 20th-century management thinking, first coined the term "knowledge worker". He said that "the very definition of a knowledge worker is one who knows more about his or her job than anyone else in the organisation."¹

The seemingly inexorable shift towards a service-based economy in the UK, the US and other mature market economies has turned the spotlight on Drucker's concept of the knowledge worker. The UK government, together with many pundits, argues that Britain's future must lie in becoming a knowledge economy.

Attempts hitherto to investigate the concept of knowledge workers have been fairly unsophisticated, according to a study by the Work Foundation². Its research programme plans to explore approaches that "get us closer to the essence of knowledge work, such as defining knowledge-based workers as those in jobs requiring expert thinking and complex communication skills".

John Milsom, senior consultant with Wickland Westcott³- an HR consultancy that specialises in assessment and selection - questions whether the term "knowledge worker" has lost some of its value in recent years. As he explains: "In theory, a large section of the workforce could be defined as knowledge workers and it is difficult to pinpoint a specific definition. The key point is that this type of worker works with their head rather than with their hands, and requires real expertise to fulfil their role."

Tom Barry - managing director of BlessingWhite⁴, a consultancy specialising in employee development and organisational change - also believes that the term "knowledge worker" has moved on alongside economic change in the UK.

"In one sense, we are all now knowledge workers, so it's important to differentiate the distinct groups of expert worker. For example, technical professionals form one unique group. These highly skilled individuals work in a variety of functional disciplines and industries and they range from programmers, software developers, engineers and scientists to analysts and lawyers."

A special case

Despite these uncertainties, there is a consensus of opinion that knowledge workers have a number of distinct qualities or needs that set them apart from other workers.

A report from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) on managing the careers of professional knowledge workers⁵ says that these individuals have the following specific characteristics:

Over the past 20 years, BlessingWhite has built up a body of research that identifies the common characteristics of technical professionals and establishes the critical success factors involved in leading and retaining these key workers. Its latest findings⁶ show that 75% of respondents share the belief that the technical professionals in their teams have needs and concerns that are different from the non-technical professionals within their organisation (see table 1).

It is not a big leap to assume that if knowledge workers or professional experts have specific requirements, then an organisation's people management processes may need to be tailored to meet those needs.

The business case for making these adjustments is convincing. Knowledge workers, by definition, are both essential members of staff and highly mobile. Retention is therefore problematic, while recruiting replacements for those who leave can be difficult and expensive. And during their time with the organisation, their day-to-day performance is likely to suffer if they are not being managed effectively.

BlessingWhite has developed a model outlining the six key requirements of technical professionals (see box 1). According to Barry, this profile of needs can be used to inform an organisation's strategy to attract, recruit, manage and retain these specialist workers.

Milsom points out that some advanced types of knowledge work require highly specialised knowledge and expertise. "There could be a very small pool of these 'cutting-edge' knowledge workers and so the employer is unavoidably restricting their ability to 'recruit to fit'. The key question is how best an employer can tailor its HR and reward practices to get the best out of such scarce talent."

Recruitment and attraction

Diane Newell is the founding partner of Jericho Partners⁷, a group of professional coaches, and has worked as a coach and organisational change specialist in the technical professional field for many years.

She says that what differentiates a knowledge worker, or technical professional, from other employees is their sense of professional identity rather than their position in the management hierarchy. "Hierarchical gain will only attract or motivate these expert workers if it provides them with, for example, access to more interesting work or professional advancement."

Newell believes that it is important for organisations to communicate these criteria as part of their employment proposition when recruiting expert professionals. "The retention of these specialists begins with the recruitment stage so it is important to enthuse potential recruits and be aware of what makes them tick. For example, those who are expert in their field want to work for an employer that provides opportunities for professional and personal growth and the chance to earn respect. The organisation's reputation in the market place will also be a major 'pull' factor."

The recruitment of graduates is a case in point, graduates making up the overwhelming majority of those workers classified as "professionals". In a graduate market where there is tough competition to recruit the very best talent, graduate recruiters could benefit from taking on board some of the unique characteristics that define these aspiring professionals.

For example, Centrica worked with specialist design agency SAS to develop a new candidate-attraction strategy for its graduate programme⁸. The consultancy's brief was to convey the message that the company's graduate trainees are well trained and well supported but, unlike many companies, graduates at Centrica are doing real jobs with genuine responsibility on a global scale.

John Storey⁹, who is professor of Human Resource Management at the Open University Business School, says that knowledge workers may respond to recruitment strategies that emphasise the opportunity to do new things, to be innovative, to have considerable autonomy and to continue to develop and learn. Recruitment sources for such workers may be professional associations, conferences and consultancy assignments.

Recruit to fit?

"When recruiting to any role, an employer needs to pay close attention to the candidate's fit with an organisation's culture, values and so on," Milsom says. "But if the knowledge that a prospective employee has is more valuable and irreplaceable, it is even more important to establish that the individual shares the organisation's values before recruiting and investing in them."

Barry agrees: "Typically, a technical professional's first allegiance is to their profession rather than a specific organisation, but an expert can develop loyalty to the ethos of the organisation. In theory, all candidates will possess the same knowledge- and skills-set so it is crucial that the recruiting organisation hires someone who appreciates its mission and values, and is prepared to work in that environment."

Developing and promoting an employer brand that conveys key messages about what the organisation can offer these experts, such as the chance to put their highly developed skills and knowledge to the test, can also help attract quality people. "But it's important that the employer lives up to these promises," Barry warns.

Selection techniques

Storey says that, in terms of the selection process, there is a need for an understanding of what constitutes "effective performance" for knowledge work. The indicators include the competencies associated with problem-solving ability, handling work stress and learning new tasks. Further suggested criteria for these jobs include being able to demonstrate interpersonal adaptability and the ability to handle crisis situations, together with the capacity for building, applying, sharing and maintaining knowledge.

He advises that organisations should consider the likely reactions of candidates to the selection methods they are planning to use for roles to be filled by knowledge workers. Workers with scarce talents may be unwilling to jump through hoops, Storey says, and elaborate procedures may serve to deter the most desirable candidates.

According to Milsom, if prospective recruits are "cutting-edge" experts, it is important to devise a selection strategy that tests that knowledge. For example, Siemens Business Services¹⁰ has developed a selection screening process to test the knowledge of prospective project managers. There is an accepted body of knowledge for project management, including the terminology, tools, techniques and established best practice, and the company's 30-question online capability exercise is designed to test these areas. The assessors are quickly able to discern whether or not the candidate has a basic knowledge and understands the fundamental principles of project management.

"Another option is to look at the individual's track record or reputation in the industry," Milsom adds. "For example, in the academic sector a candidate's CV typically runs to many pages, listing the individual's research, publications and conferences and so on."

He says that where candidates are knowledge experts in their field, HR managers involved in recruitment are unlikely to be able to verify that knowledge. Instead, an external or internal expert in the subject matter could be used to independently judge applicants' true capabilities. For instance, it is common practice in the accountancy world to have a technical assessment or interview where a senior partner will test the candidate's knowledge.

Retention strategies

The CIPD study says that the people management practices most likely to have a positive effect on the attitudes of professional knowledge workers are those concerned with career opportunities, performance appraisal and relationships with line managers.

Newell advises that proper induction of these key workers represents the first vital step to retaining them. This should include establishing the partnership between the line manager and technical professional to clarify roles and responsibilities on both sides.

In view of the technical specialist's strong sense of professional identity and their need for fulfilling work, a key part of the induction process is to discuss future training and development opportunities. There also needs to be the facility for these employees to keep up to date with developments in their field, for example, via external professional networks.

Such an approach is strongly in evidence at software giant Microsoft. The company aims to create an environment where "great people can do great work", acknowledging the need for knowledge workers to be stimulated and fulfilled by their work (a case study will be published in a forthcoming issue).

There are also implications for the ways in which specialist workers can be most effectively managed and rewarded. While money is certainly not the only motivator for technical professionals, Newell advises, it is important that base salaries keep pace with industry rates, as such staff have a strong sense of their own worth.

Recognition practices that value their individual contribution can also be a powerful approach. "These experts want to be judged on the content of their work and need genuine recognition for it," she says.

There are also steps that an employer can take to ensure that technical professionals are managed in such a way as to give them the autonomy they crave. "The right training can help line managers to develop a collaborative management style that provides these employees with a high level of control over their work without losing their right to manage," Barry says. "Technical professionals also want to be involved in decision-making and goal-setting and the overall direction of the company."

Drucker, who first drew attention to the rise of the knowledge worker, should have the last word on what "makes them tick".

"[Knowledge workers] need, above all, challenge. They need to know the organisation's mission and believe in it. They need continuous training. They need to see results. Implicit in this is that employees have to be managed as associates - partners - and not in name only. The definition of a partnership is that all partners are equal."

An article examining the experiences of Microsoft and advertising agency St Luke's of managing knowledge workers will appear in a forthcoming issue.

¹"Management's new paradigms", Peter Drucker, Forbes Magazine, 5 October 1998, www.forbes.com.

²Defining the knowledge economy: knowledge economy programme report, Ian Brinkley, Work Foundation, 2006, www.theworkfoundation.com.

³Wickland Westcott, www.wickland-westcott.co.uk.

⁴BlessingWhite, www.blessingwhite.com.

⁵Managing the careers of professional knowledge workers, Juani Swart and Nicholas Kinnie, CIPD, 2004, www.cipd.co.uk.

⁶Leading technical professionals 2006, BlessingWhite, 2006, www.blessingwhite.com.

⁷Jericho Partners, www.jerichopartners.co.uk.

⁸Graduate recruitment goes high-energy at Centrica , IRS Employment Review 840.

⁹Human resource policies for knowledge work, John Storey, Open University Business School, 2005, www.ebkresearch.org/working.html.

¹⁰First-line filter: screening candidates for selection , IRS Employment Review 837.

Table 1: The most common characteristics of technical professionals