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Knowledge workers; what do we know about their productivity?

22 july 2015

Knowledge workers; what do we know about their productivity?

How to increase productivity? And what is the influence of the environment? These are questions we get asked a lot. What has a direct or indirect influence on the productivity of the knowledge worker? What is a knowledge worker? And could ‘productivity’ be an outdated or overcomplicated concept, that should be replaced by the concept of ‘performance’?

‘What's in a name’, you might think. Our colleagues from the Center for Evidence-Based Management (CEBMa) were involved in thinking about these questions by The Workplace PIN (Performance Innovation Network) from the UK. Their quest is summarized in two main points:

  1. What is known in the world's academic research about the measurement of Knowledge Worker Productivity?
  2. And, what is known in the world's academic research about the factors associated with Knowledge Worker Productivity?

In a rather ‘hidden’ message CEBMa already reported on their investigations’ results. And what is remarkable, is the result of this ‘academic research’ appears to be clear, understandable and practical for once! Three factors stand out in having an effect on the productivity of knowledge workers:

  • Social cohesion has a strong positive impact on team productivity,
  • Perceived support from management has a positive impact on the individual productivity of the knowledge worker, and
  • Information sharing is beneficial to team productivity.

To view the report, click here.

One of the parties involved in The Workplace PIN is Advanced Workplace Associates. They have unraveled the research into manageable chunks. Since June 10 videos and blogs on the labor productivity of knowledge workers have been published. We recommend these videos and blogs, they are quite interesting.  

The videos and blog can be found here, and there will be more!

Contactperson

Wim Pullen

Wim Pullen

CEO (retired Oct 1 2021│Msc, Geodesy