Which employees are most motivated to share knowledge – the role of age-based differentiation in knowledge-sharing motivation

Abstract

The problem of age diversity in the workplace is becoming increasingly important, especially because of the ageing workforce. Knowledge-sharing should therefore be encouraged among employees of different ages. The topic of this research is the role of age-based differentiation or intergenerational differentiation in motivation to share knowledge. Participating in this study were 202 employees of six Slovenian companies. The participants filled out the Knowledge-sharing Motivation Measure, translated into Slovenian for the purposes of this study, and The Intergenerational Differentiation in the Workplace Measure. Our objective was to find out how three different age groups differ in the subjective perceptions of knowledge-sharing motivation and how the perception of intergenerational differentiation is correlated with knowledge sharing motivation. The results show that the youngest age group of employees feels the most discriminated against due to their age, but is also the most motivated to share knowledge when compared to the other two age groups. The correlation between the two measured constructs is not significant. The main findings are that it is important to acknowledge the younger age group of employees, since it seems to be the most vulnerable to intergenerational differentiation. Also, it is important to encourage older workers to share their valuable knowledge.