Introduction
Unlike the old times, the 21st century has evolved form an industrial economy straight to an information economy. Industrial economy was founded on the normal principle of 9-5 office time. This is an implication that office work was scheduled for 9am-5pm without taking into consideration the amount of work and productivity of a worker. An information economy, on the other hand, is pillared on knowledge management. This is when a worker can comfortably and productively work without putting emphasis on the traditional 9-5 rule of office.
The notion of knowledge worker was conceived form this principle. A knowledge worker is therefore an employee who engages in very challenging and non-repetitive tasks that involve a considerable percentage of cognitive ability. Similarly, a knowledge worker may be described as an employee who possesses skills and productive potential acquired from extensive training and may be termed as problem identifiers. This paper gives a comprehensive discussion on the ways in which one may spot a knowledge worker in an organization.
Discussion
Identifying a knowledge worker is not an easy thing to do due to the fact that they are nearly indistinguishable from lazy workers who just roam around an organization eluding work. Therefore, in order to successfully identify a knowledge worker, a manager has to be very vigilant and observant. That notwithstanding, a manager ought to recognize the values of a knowledge worker and be able to distinguish them from a lazy and nonperforming employee (Amar, 56).
A knowledge worker can be identified through his or her flexibility to changes and ease of amalgamation new technologies. This is an implication that in the event of a transition, a knowledge worker will swiftly blend in and maintain his or her routine unlike a lazy employee who will ceremoniously lag behind to an astonishing level. Lazy people normally have the tendency of mastering the routine and using that to elude work by sticking to the routine alone. It is such people who spend a lot of time adjusting to a new routine. As a result, a manager may intentionally change patterns and routines in order to distinguish lazy and knowledge workers (Amar, 37).
Another practical way to identify knowledge workers is through their attitude towards traditional employment relationships. A good percentage of knowledge workers are into portfolio employment as opposed to traditional employment where one sticks to one job since his first employment to retirement. Portfolio employment involves taking part is more than one part-time job concurrently. Therefore, a vigilant manager may simply note the number of part-time jobs one has or the number of times they have shifted from one job specification to the other in order to ascertain of they are knowledge workers (Chu, Waltraut, and Suliman, 72).
Knowledge workers take advantage of the knowledge they have to produce knowledge for others to make use of. This simply means that they are not only responsible for the production of goods and services but also their inception (Amar, 34). It is important to note that not all employees will come up with possible measure to counter a setback in an organization. Those that propel and industry towards evolution may be termed as knowledge workers. As a result, a manger only needs to distinguish a knowledge worker from a lazy employee by their levels or innovation.
Conclusion
In conclusion, therefore, a manager in an organization has to possess some rare skills so that he or she is positioned to identify a knowledge worker and distinguish them from merely lazy, deteriorative employees. It is imperative that managers are keen and vigilant so as to achieve this.
Works cited
Amar, A D. Managing Knowledge Workers: Unleashing Innovation and Productivity. Westport, CT: Quorum Books, 2001. Print.
Chu, Samuel, Waltraut Ritter, and Suliman Al-Hawamdeh. Managing Knowledge for Global and Collaborative Innovations. Singapore: World Scientific Pub. Co, 2010. Print
