Identifying and Mapping the Characteristics and Attributes of a Knowledge-Based Professional

Knowledge workers are critical resources in the 21st-century workplace and yet they are significantly under represented in the literature when compared to research devoted to managers, leaders and entrepreneurs. The literature tends to focus on the commodity of knowledge, rather than the people who possess the knowledge. Also much of the literature considers knowledge workers at arms’ length or under the umbrella of preexisting framework’s or rigid command-and-control environments that represent neither the 21st-century workplace nor the requirements of Industry 4.0. This research set out to address the gap found in the knowledge worker and expertise literature (with the two constructs considered “sensitising concepts” for this research), which have not given individuals’ ability, aptitudes, attitudes and capacity to use information sufficient consideration. It found that the distinguishing aspect for this group is their mindset and what they know about themselves not their technical expertise that makes the difference. Using a Constructivist Grounded Theory methodology (based on the work of Charmaz 2014) this research used intensive semi-structured interviews for data collection and validation, a three-phased coding approach, constant comparison to the literature and memoing for the capturing of insights to identify and map the characteristics and attributes of a knowledge-based professional. The term “knowledge-based professional” was used to overcome deficiencies identified in the literature related to the term “knowledge worker”

Cutting through the confusion of contemporary work

There is much discussion surrounding the meaning of the term knowledge worker and the value these workers generate for the organisation. This paper agrees that the value to organisations of workers who possess knowledge is increasing but argues that the nature of the knowledge worker is unclear within current literature. It acknowledges that there is a high level of knowledge in contemporary work and that many workers can claim to be knowledgeable however these workers while necessary to the firm do not provide it with competitive advantage. This paper proposes that; 1) knowledge work should not be automatically associated with service work or new forms of work; 2) the nature of knowledge work cannot be defined by one specific attribute; 3) the elements that comprise knowledge work fall into three groups, knowledge possession, knowledge activity and knowledge context. The value of the knowledge worker lies in combining these elements in a specific way and applying this formula to further our understanding of the nature of the knowledge worker. Based on these findings organisations must rethink their approach to identifying the characteristics that define the valuable activity that is knowledge work within their industry sector. Further study must be carried out into the nature of the worker, not only in their embodiment of skill and knowledge but also into how they use it, what their work context is and the support they should be given while engaging in their activities