Time to embrace the age of the ‘knowledge worker’

The third wave of human socio-economic development, the ‘Knowledge Age', was first described by Charles Savage in his book Fifth Generation Management. He calls the first wave the ‘Agricultural Age', with wealth defined as ownership of land. In the second wave, the ‘Industrial Age', wealth is based on ownership of capital, such as factories, while in the ‘Knowledge Age', wealth is based upon the ownership of knowledge and the ability to use that knowledge to create or improve goods and services. This concept was taken and adapted by Peter Drucker in the 1950s when he coined the phrase ‘the knowledge worker'. Businesses across the world are entering the knowledge worker age with varying degrees of enthusiasm and commitment. Currently industrial employees still outnumber knowledge workers, but we just need to look at history and what happened to farm workers.

Business is booming in the Middle East - that fact is undeniable. Over the last decade workers have been attracted to the region by the opportunities open to them and the financial benefits of living and working here - another factor that has contributed to the success seen so far. In order to sustain this momentum and remain the success story it has been thus far, however the business community needs to proactively pull itself into the knowledge worker age and out of an industrial age mentality that many companies across the region are still loitering in.

The industrial age is defined largely by the mentality of business leaders - if they adopt a ‘control paradigm' in their management approach and treat staff as employees who are bound by their specific job description, their company is stuck in the past. Businesses operating in the knowledge worker age empower staff to make the most of their deepest skills and work towards their unique contribution - an ideal that companies in this region have been slow to realise. Leaders should focus on four imperatives: Inspiring trust in all levels of the organisation, clarifying purpose and direction, aligning systems across the business and unleashing the talent held in each and every person.

Employees working in the knowledge worker age 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. Knowledge workers don't perform just for monetary reasons but believe they can make the organisation better with their contributions. Organisations designed around the knowledge worker age integrate the best of hierarchy, self-organisation and networking rather than the worst. Each dictates a different communications and rewards system, and requires activation of knowledge-sharing and action learning.

Put bluntly, companies in the region cannot afford to remain in the industrial age. Take for instance the decreasing attractiveness of the region for workers from other countries - the financial benefits of living here are decreasing and initiatives such as Emiratisation and Saudisation are affecting certain sectors. Businesses should offer employees the chance to work in a knowledge worker age environment - an environment geared towards them as individuals. They don't need jobs, they need opportunities. Peter Drucker stated that "organisations that understand this [knowledge worker concept]...will be able to attract, hold, and motivate the best performers. That will be the single biggest factor for competitive advantage in the next 25 years".

It is our belief that the knowledge worker age will outproduce the industrial age by 50 times - can you imagine what the business boom in this region would look like multiplied by 50?

Murad Suleiman is the general manager of Franklin Covey Middle East.

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