Staff Turnover as a Strategy of Knowledge Management: Empirical Evidence from Information Technology Industry in Sri Lanka

Abstract

Abstract Information Technology (IT) industry in Sri Lanka can be considered as one of the fast growing industrial sectors in current competitive, technological oriented and rapidly changing business environment. Generally, IT industry performance depends on knowledge management (KM) in firms in the industry. The concept of staff turnover (ST) has become as more important aspect in the context of knowledge management. As limited research studies are shown in literature about staff turnover and knowledge management in IT industry in Sri Lanka, this research explore the impact of staff turnover on knowledge management in IT companies in Sri Lanka. The survey method has been adopted using structured questionnaire in Likert scale to collect data. Respondents from different job categories and companies for the sample have been selected using stratified sampling method. After descriptive analysis of basic features of respondents of the survey, the causal relationship between staff turnover and knowledge management is analyzed using correlation analysis. The major finding emulating from the study is that there is a positive relationship between high staff turnover and weak knowledge management. Further, the study shows that organizational factors such as managerial style, lack of recognition, lack of competitive compensation system and toxic workplace environment significantly influence employee knowledge management. However, possible learning environment in the firm also directs employee turnover in IT industry in Sri Lanka.