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

alexisadair@gmail.com

@xaether