Many companies strive to improve knowledge sharing: they move to open-office layouts, have team bonding activities and hold interdepartmental meetings to break down silos. But all that effort might be for naught if workers deliberately hide knowledge from one another.
A new study published in the European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology finds that knowledge-hiding is common in the workplace. Researchers examined the deliberate attempt "to withhold or conceal knowledge that has been requested by another member of the organization," and found that information-hoarding (not just lack of communication) takes many different forms.
On the least damaging end of the spectrum, employees said they withheld knowledge that was deemed confidential. In more serious cases, they deliberately "played dumb" to withhold information that teammates legitimately needed.
"Even though every organization touts the benefits of teams, we’re often rewarded individually for our performance," David Zweig, co-author of the study and an associate management professor at the University of Toronto, Scarborough, tells the New York Times. After all, knowledge is power.
While knowledge-hiding isn’t necessarily intended to hurt coworkers or companies, it comes with negative consequences. It prevents both colleagues and withholders from sharing creative ideas, for instance, and makes other feel rejected if they know information is being hidden from them.
So how should companies tackle knowledge-hiding in the workplace? "Put in incentives to reward people on team outcomes versus solely on individual outcomes," Zweig says.
h/t: New York Times
Photo: Can Stock
Mer information
Vill du lära dig mer? Utforska våra produkter, kundberättelser och det senaste i branschen.
Blogginlägg
Utveckla dina medarbetare genom intern rörlighet och aktivt karriärstöd
På dagens arbetsmarknad är “talent hoarding”, dvs. att försöka gardera medarbetare, närmast att likna vid ett farthinder. Det är ganska vanligt att chefer och ledare håller hårt i medarbetare som är viktiga tillgångar för sitt team. Att tappa en nyckelperson innebär en förlust av talang och att hitta ersättare kan vara både svårt och utmanande.
eBook
E-bok: Skapa engagerade superchefer
Anställda slutar inte för att de inte gillar jobbet, utan för att de inte gillar chefen. Det är dåliga nyheter för organisationer som investerat stora summor på innovation och satsar på att bli kvar länge på marknaden. Humankapitalet är en organisations mest värdefulla resurs – en hög personalomsättning kostar inte bara mycket när det gäller att rekrytera och utbilda ersättare, utan också i form av förlorad produktivitet.
Forskning
Engage your workers through Employee Value Proposition (EVP)
Elevate your workforce's potential and drive organizational success with new research from Brandon Hall Group. Read this report to understand the importance of employee value proposition (EVP) in attracting, engaging, and retaining top talent, while also emphasizing the need for effective talent development strategies.