Evaluation and Ranking of Knowledge Workers
Experience of Pakshoo
GIG Business Excellence Manager, Iran

Abstracts:
This paper presents performance appraisal of
knowledge workers in R&D department. A survey was
deployed to determine if organization structure is in
conformity with world class standards. The results
showed that leadership and systems and methods in
GIG compatible with world class standards but there is
a gap between GIG HR Systems and world class
organizations.
One of the most important requirements was compiling
appraisal of knowledge workers. In this system by
using evaluating theory, competency models, and
experiences of managers has been developed new
approach. In this paper presents performance
measurements, relationship between performance
measurements and job position and payments and
performance measurements techniques and objectives.
Pay attention to knowledge workers causes
empowerment of people in knowledge and skills and
finally profitability of organization.

Knowledge worker definition
Knowledge worker, a term coined by Peter Drucker in
1959, is one who works primarily with information or
one who develops and uses knowledge in the
workplace. Due to the constant industrial growth in
North America and globally, there is increasing need
for an academically capable workforce. In direct

response to this, Knowledge Workers are now
estimated to outnumber all other workers in North
America by at least a four to one margin. A Knowledge
Worker's benefit to a company could be in the form of
developing business intelligence, increasing the value
of intellectual capital, gaining insight into customer
preferences, or a variety of other important gains in
knowledge that aid the business.
It has been further defined as work that involves
analyzing information and applying specialized
expertise to solve problems, generate ideas, teach
others, or create new products and services. It is
difficult to define knowledge work in more detail
because knowledge work is primarily invisible. It is
hidden in the head of the knowledge worker. Because
of the difficulty of measuring knowledge worker
production, dissatisfied knowledge workers may take
advantage of the situation. This dissatisfaction may
produce behavior in which personnel seek more
financial satisfaction by giving themselves a "stealth
raise", i.e., cutting back the effective hours in which
they perform knowledge work at the office. They may
dedicate more mental effort to another activity that is
not job-related that brings them more satisfaction. This
contradicts Frederick Taylor's main philosophy of a fair
day's work for a fair day's pay. Even though there
should be no expectation of blind company loyalty as
was expected in the past, companies should expect
good work and some form of commitment to
productivity from their knowledge workers while they
are on the job.
Knowledge workers work in an environment described
as a knowledge network. There is always an increasing
need for knowledge to grow and progress continually,
whether tacit or explicit. Knowledge grows like
organisms, with data serving as food to be assimilated
rather than merely stored. All knowledge workers,
particularly R&D project managers, need to easily
access and search internal and external knowledge
bases.

Toffler observed that typical knowledge workers in the
age of knowledge economy and knowledge society
must have some system at their disposal to create
process and enhance their own technological
knowledge.
Knowledge workers are believed to produce more when
empowered to make the most of their deepest skills;
they can often work on many projects at the same time;
they know how to allocate their time; and they can
multiply the results of their efforts through soft factors
such as emotional intelligence and trust. Organizations
designed around the knowledge worker (instead of just
machine capital) are thought to integrate the best of
hierarchy, self-organization and networking rather than
the worst. Each dictates a different communications and
rewards system, and requires activation of knowledge-
sharing and action learning. A basic pattern rule of
human systems is that when you mix them you will get
the worst of each unless you contextually and carefully
attend to connecting the best.
In the Knowledge Age, 2% of the working population
will work on the land, 10% will work in Industry and
the rest will be Knowledge Workers.
Classes of Knowledge workers
Knowledge work, ranges from tasks performed by
individual knowledge workers to global social
networks. This framework spans every class of
knowledge work that is being or is likely to be
undertaken. There are seven levels or scales of
knowledge work.
1.

Knowledge work, (e.g., writing, analyzing,
advising) is performed by subject-matter specialists in
all areas of an organization.
2.

Knowledge functions (e.g., capturing, organizing,
and providing access to knowledge) are performed by
technical staff, to support knowledge processes
projects.
3.

Knowledge processes (preserving, sharing, and integration) are performed by professional groups, as part of a knowledge management program.