The performance of knowledge workers

EB Decision Making

Knowledge workers

Whether nurses, physicians, managers, or staff members, nowadays most workers in healthcare organizations are highly dependent on

information and communication technology and are involved in work that involves a high level of cognitive activity.

Discuss with your neighbour (1 min)

“Which factors have the highest impact on the

performance of knowledge workers?”

I Don’t Know(but I know how to find out)

The 3 hardest words in management

A happy employee is a productive employee

Most managers think …

GREAT! NOW WHAT?

Outcome

Lets have a look at the evidence

Professional experience and

judgment

Organizational data, facts and figures

Stakeholders’ values and concerns

Scientific research

outcomes

AskAcquire

AppraiseApply

Assess

Step 1: ASK

Translate a practical issue into an

answerable question

Question

“Which of the factors that are related to the

performance of knowledge workers are most

widely studied and what is known of their

effect?”

Step 2: ACQUIRE

Search for the best available scientific evidence

ABI, BSP, PsycINFO

Scholarly journals, peer reviewed

1980 – 2013

English

performance, productivity, knowledge work*

ACQUIRE

step 3: APPRAISE & AGGREGATE

Most widely studied

1. Task Cohesion 100+

2. Relationship conflicts 70+

3. Transactive memory 60+

4. Social cohesion 40+

5. Support for innovation 30+

Effect size?

Largest effect (r)

1. Social cohesion .5 / .7

2. Perceived supervisory support .5

3. Information sharing / TM.5

4. Vision / goal clarity.5

5. Trust.3 / .6

Step 4: APPLY

Step 6: APPLY

Evidence-based findings: 5 factors

What is it & how can you measure it?

How can you ‘enhance’ it?

Three examples

social cohesion supervisory support

information sharing

Social cohesion

Social cohesion

… a shared liking or team attraction that includes bonds of friendship, caring,

closeness, and enjoyment of each other’s company.

Social cohesion

Measuring social cohesion

Perceived supervisory support

…how employees feel the supervisor helps

them in times of need, praises them for a job

well done or recognizes them for extra effort.

Perceived supervisory support

Perceived supervisory support

Measuring perc. sup. support

Information sharing

Information sharing?

…refers to how teams pool and access their

knowledge and expertise – which positively

affects decision making and team processes.

This has led to the idea of a team ‘Transactive

Memory System’ (TMS), which can be thought

of as a collective memory in a collective mind

- enabling a team to think and act together

Information sharing

Measuring information sharing

In the next weeks, before you make a decision, ask yourself:

What exactly is the problem?

What is the evidence available?

Was any attempt made to explicitly evaluate its trustworthiness?