An Exploration of the Relationship between Learning Organisations and the Retention of Knowledge Workers

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to demonstrate a relationship between learning organisation theory and the potential to retain knowledge workers. It emphasises that human resource (HR) managers must recognise specific relationships between learning organisation elements, job satisfaction facets and turnover intent as they emerge for their knowledge workers.Design/methodology/approach – A survey was undertaken sampling knowledge workers in the information technology (IT) industry. Measured on a Likert scale, the instrument was designed to explore the impact of learning organisation disciplines upon job satisfaction and the importance of job satisfaction in determining turnover intent.Findings – Analysis of the survey showed evidence of a relationship between learning organisation disciplines and turnover intent. All the learning organisation disciplines discussed in the paper correlated to at least one of the six job satisfaction dimensions, of which reward and challenge exerted the most significant...

[1]  D. Currivan,et al.  The Causal Order of Job Satisfaction and Organizational Commitment in Models of Employee Turnover , 1999 .

[2]  P. Hom,et al.  Structural equations modeling test of a turnover theory: Cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses. , 1991 .

[3]  Deborah Blackman,et al.  In addition to shared goals: the impact of mental models on team innovation and learning , 2005 .

[4]  Etienne Wenger,et al.  Communities of Practice: Learning, Meaning, and Identity , 1998 .

[5]  Deborah Blackman,et al.  The role of mental models in innovative teams , 2005 .

[6]  Terence R. Mitchell,et al.  The Unfolding Model of Voluntary Turnover: A Replication and Extension , 1999 .

[7]  Liz Lee-Kelley,et al.  The Role of Human Resource Development in Preventing Organisational Stagnation , 2006 .

[8]  G. D. Holt,et al.  The learning organisation: toward a paradigm for mutually beneficial strategic construction alliances , 2000 .

[9]  Swee C. Goh,et al.  TOWARDS A LEARNING ORGANIZATION: THE STRATEGIC BUILDING BLOCKS , 1998 .

[10]  J. Ruiz Moreno.  [Organizational learning]. , 2001, Revista de enfermeria.

[11]  R CarlilePaul.  A Pragmatic View of Knowledge and Boundaries , 2002 .

[12]  George Nomikos,et al.  Managing knowledge workers for productivity , 1989 .

[13]  J. Mathieu,et al.  A review and meta-analysis of the antecedents, correlates, and consequences of organizational commitment , 1990 .

[14]  Terence R. Mitchell,et al.  An Unfolding Model of Voluntary Employee Turnover , 1996 .

[15]  P. Drucker.  Knowledge-Worker Productivity: The Biggest Challenge , 1999, IEEE Engineering Management Review.

[16]  D. Blackman,et al.  The role of mental models in sustaining innovative teams , 2004 .

[17]  P. Senge.  THE FIFTH DISCIPLINE , 1997 .

[18]  Paul E. Spector,et al.  Unemployment, job satisfaction, and employee turnover: A meta-analytic test of the Muchinsky model. , 1987 .

[19]  T. Garavan.  The learning organization: a review and evaluation , 1997 .

[20]  Nina Munk.  The New Organization Man. , 1998 .

[21]  C. Boutwell.  Profits without People , 1997 .

[22]  Marilyn Holschuh,et al.  A New Organization , 1889, The Dental register.

[23]  Martha A. Gephart,et al.  Learning Organizations Come Alive. , 1996 .

[24]  John P. Meyer,et al.  Job satisfaction, organizational commitment, turnover intention, and turnover: Path analyses based on meta-analytic findings. , 2006 .

[25]  C. Prahalad,et al.  The Core Competence of the Corporation , 1990 .

[26]  J M George,et al.  The experience of work and turnover intentions: interactive effects of value attainment, job satisfaction, and positive mood. , 1996, The Journal of applied psychology.

[27]  P. Drucker.  Managing for results: Economic tasks and risk-taking decisions , 1986 .

[28]  G. Staines,et al.  American Workers Evaluate the Quality of Their Jobs. , 1979 .

[29]  P. Senge.  The Fifth Discipline Fieldbook: Strategies and Tools for Building a Learning Organization , 2014 .

[30]  J. Carroll.  A new organization , 1972, Sairaanhoitaja. Sjukskoterskan.

[31]  C. Hulin,et al.  Evaluation of the Mobley, Horner, and Hollingsworth model of employee turnover. , 1979 .

[32]  Terence R. Mitchell,et al.  An Alternative Approach: The Unfolding Model of Voluntary Employee Turnover , 1994 .

[33]  S. Newell,et al.  Managing Knowledge Work , 2002 .

[34]  P. Dobson,et al.  Creating a learning organization: Training and development in British Steel's universal beam mill , 1998 .

[35]  D. Burgess,et al.  What Motivates Employees to Transfer Knowledge Outside Their Work Unit? , 2005 .

[36]  C. Trevor,et al.  Interactions Among Actual Ease-of-Movement Determinants and Job Satisfaction in the Prediction of Voluntary Turnover , 2001 .

[37]  Patrick Thomas Burnes,et al.  Voluntary employee turnover: why IT professionals leave , 2006, IT Professional.

[38]  Bernard L. Simonin.  The Importance of Collaborative Know-How: An Empirical Test of the Learning Organization , 1997 .

[39]  Eric G Lambert,et al.  The impact of job satisfaction on turnover intent: a test of a structural measurement model using a national sample of workers , 2001 .

[40]  Constantine Kontoghiorghes,et al.  Examining the relationship between learning organization characteristics and change adaptation, innovation, and organizational performance , 2005 .

[41]  J. Cook,et al.  Scales for the measurement of some work attitudes and aspects of psychological well‐being , 1979 .

[42]  W. Mobley,et al.  Review and Conceptual Analysis of the Employee Turnover Process , 1979 .

[43]  Charles Despres,et al.  Human resource management in the knowledge age , 1995 .

[44]  Peter Warr,et al.  The Study of Well-being, Behaviour and Attitudes. , 2002 .

[45]  Steven D. Maurer,et al.  The retention of knowledge workers with the unfolding model of voluntary turnover , 1997 .

[46]  Cheryl Gaimon,et al.  Managing Knowledge-Based Resource Capabilities Under Uncertainty , 2004, Manag. Sci..

[47]  Garnett Stokes Shaffer.  Patterns of work and nonwork satisfaction. , 1987 .

[48]  W. Mobley,et al.  An evaluation of precursors of hospital employee turnover. , 1978, The Journal of applied psychology.

[49]  Allen C. Bluedorn,et al.  A test of the Maslach Burnout Inventory in three samples of healthcare professionals , 2000 .

[50]  Paul R. Carlile,et al.  A Pragmatic View of Knowledge and Boundaries: Boundary Objects in New Product Development , 2002, Organ. Sci..

[51]  J. Grieves,et al.  Navigating change into the new millennium: themes and issues for the learning organization , 2000 .

[52]  A. de Geus.  The living company. , 1997, Harvard business review.

[53]  L. Bolman,et al.  Reframing Organizations: Artistry, Choice, and Leadership. Jossey-Bass Management Series, Social and Behavioral Science Series, and Higher and Adult Education Series. , 1991 .

[54]  Brooks C. Holtom,et al.  How to keep your best employees: Developing an effective retention policy , 2001 .

[55]  David Lei,et al.  Management practices in learning organizations , 1992 .

[56]  R. Snell.  Moral Foundations of the Learning Organization , 2001 .

[57]  Arie P. de Geus,et al.  The Living Company , 1997 .

[58]  M. Barak,et al.  Outside of the corporate mainstream and excluded from the work community: A study of diversity, job satisfaction and well-being , 2002 .

[59]  J. Burgoyne,et al.  The Learning Company: A Strategy for Sustainable Development , 1994 .

[60]  William H. Mobley,et al.  Intermediate linkages in the relationship between job satisfaction and employee turnover. , 1977 .

[61]  John R. Schuck,et al.  Paths to Turnover: A Re-analysis and Review of Existing Data on the Mobley, Horner, and Hollingsworth Turnover Model , 1986 .

[62]  Nestor K. Ovalle,et al.  A review and meta-analysis of research on the relationship between behavioral intentions and employee turnover. , 1984 .

[63]  S. Bhuian,et al.  An Extension and Evaluation of Job Characteristics, Organizational Commitment and Job Satisfaction in an Expatriate, Guest Worker, Sales Setting , 2002 .

[64]  J. Hulland,et al.  Managing An Organizational Learning System By Aligning Stocks and Flows , 2002 .

[65]  T. A. Wright,et al.  Emotional exhaustion as a predictor of job performance and voluntary turnover. , 1998, The Journal of applied psychology.

[66]  Daniel F. Botha,et al.  A conceptual framework for the management of knowledge in a knowledge-based enterprise , 2000 .

[67]  Donald P. Moynihan,et al.  Goal‐Based Learning and the Future of Performance Management , 2005 .

[68]  J. Burgoyne,et al.  Towards the Learning Company , 1989 .

[69]  J. Stewart,et al.  Towards Universities as Learning Organisations. , 1998 .