Employee knowledge hiding: the roles of protean career orientation, HR system and relational climate

Despite various efforts to encourage knowledge sharing among talented employees in organizations, hiding knowledge from peers still occurs. Knowledge hiding happens when workers intentionally refrain from sharing knowledge requested by a colleague. Organizations need to understand why and when their workers hide knowledge, for their talent management practices to be effective. There are three categories of reasons why knowledge hiding happens: 1) Organization-related reasons, for instance: a competitive environment, or a poor motivational climate; 2) Job-related reasons, for example: time pressure, or protection of important information, and 3) Inter & intra-personal reasons, such as: poor intentions, or a lack of trust. The consequences of knowledge hiding can be substantial; besides financial implications, it also brings risks of damaging relationships and causing distrust among employees. It can lead to reciprocation as well: colleagues refusing to share knowledge with those who hid knowledge, thus seriously undermining the creativity and effectiveness of teams and entire organizations. The chapter addresses specifically how personal characteristics (e.g., Protean career orientation) as well as organizational practices (e.g., HR system and relational climate) can affect knowledge hiding. Protean-oriented employees were found to hide their knowledge least often when they operate in a work context characterized by a low commitment HR system and a low communal sharing climate. A rationale for this outcome could be that employees working in such contexts may have the feeling of ‘being in the same (exploitative) boat’. Rather than competing, these individuals may help each other to overcome the problems caused by management practices.