KM and Happiness at Work
Can Knowledge Management Tools and Techniques
Create Happier Employees?
Alexis AdairOctober 2013
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“Emerging research from neuroscience, psychology, and economics makes the link between a thriving workforce and better business performance absolutely clear... We’ve learned a lot about how to make people happy. We’d be stupid not to use that knowledge.”
Harvard Business Review, January/February 2012, p.77
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What is Happiness?
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Happiness – the Research
• Self-Determination Theory– Deci & Ryan
• Flow– Csikszentmihalyi
• Positive Psychology– Seligman, Diener, Kahneman, Gibson,
Norton, Fredrickson
• Progress Principle; Creativity– Amabile
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What Makes People Happy at Work?
• “happiness at work is wanting to be there” – KM8
• “I don’t grunt when I have to come in every morning, I look forward to it” – KM2
• “I think when people feel included, they feel happier” – KM11
• “We feel happy when we feel we belong somewhere” – KM8
• “The deeper sense of happiness I think does come out of a sense of connectedness to others” – KM3
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What Makes People Happy at Work?
• “It does make people feel more successful and satisfied, happier … to have work they have some control over” – KM4
• “I think obviously things like coaching and mentoring have a direct impact on happiness” – KM7
• “people want interesting work where they can learn and grow” – KM16
• “I think each person's happiness is defined, and this is true for me, based on using their strengths” – KM11
• “letting people … use the capabilities they have or learn new capabilities. … a sense of doing what they can do well” – KM4
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What Makes People Happy at Work?
• “I think people are happy … when they feel as if they’re valued in some way by the employer” – KM14
• “They’ve got to really know that the other person is genuinely interested in the kind of stuff that they want to share” – KM8
• “there is somebody who cares about them” – KM10
• “you feel that you’re contributing to something, in particular something bigger than yourself, it’s not just about you” – KM8
• “did we make a difference today?” – KM11
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Coding of Interviews
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Coding of Interviews
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The Framework
• Autonomy
• Competence
• Relatedness
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The Four Domains
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How Can KM Support Employee Happiness?
• “Knowledge management builds trust. … If you’ve got knowledge management right, and you’re developing relationships and sharing and collaboration between people, that generates your culture” – KM8
• “allows you to feel connected to other people” – KM6
• “it does help to tie you to a wider network within your company” – KM13
• “I think that the social networking aspect is the most important element of the knowledge management model” – KM3
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How Can KM Support Employee Happiness?
• “people can see some of that value that they’re bringing to other people” – KM14
• “I can actually make a name for myself by what I share” – KM6• “I think the employee benefits a lot from
participating, because they expand their knowledge and increase their reputation.” - KM13• “help me get through the day without as much
stress” – KM14
• “when my employees have been happiest, is when they can do the job in a frictionless environment” – KM10
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How Can KM Support Employee Happiness?
• “enabling work with a range of KM practices and tools strikes me as having a direct impact on people’s happiness” – KM7
• “you’re able to do your job effectively because you can always get the right answers to the questions that you have” – KM6
• “… using it to improve their work processes” - KM3
• “… you can use something faster” – KM13
• “If you’re looking for something that you need to do your job, you can find it quickly and efficiently” – KM6
• “I would think you’d get a fair amount of frustration without pretty decent KM” – KM5
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Autonomy Competence Relatedness Removal of Thwarting / Obstacles
The Work Itself
Individual
Cultural / Organizational
Social
An Additional Method for Evaluating a KM Program
How many needs can you meet in each of the four domains?
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Thank You!
Alexis AdairMS, Information and Knowledge Strategy, Columbia University
@xaether