Employee withdrawal and knowledge management: systematic literature review

• Systematic literature review (explainer²).
• Academia has begun to examine employee withdrawal (EW) in the context of knowledge management (KM) only recently.
• Management science research seldom examines EW itself. Most of the identified papers focused on the relation between employee silence or turnover intention – specific forms of withdrawal behaviour and knowledge sharing, transfer, or hiding.
• Employees who are not committed to their organisations engage in withdrawal behaviour, defined as a set of actions that employees perform to avoid the work situation – behaviours that may eventually culminate in quitting the organisation
• EW behaviours are not only a human resource issue but also a strategic KM risk.
• Executives and human resources leaders can view symptoms of detachment, quiet quitting and burnout as red flags that an organisation may be at risk for losing knowledge, employees withholding knowledge or employees engaging in knowledge sabotage.
• Correcting these behaviours early on with empathetic leadership, equitable company policies and practices, and employee engagement programs can help prevent the loss of knowledge.

Header image source: Created by Bruce Boyes with Microsoft Designer Image Creator.

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