Knowledge Management Practices for an Agile Workforce: An HR Perspective on IT Professionals

Abstract

Knowledge has become the defining asset of the information technology (IT) industry, where competitive advantage rests less on physical resources than on what people know and how readily they share it. This paper examines knowledge management (KM) practices among IT professionals through a human resource (HR) lens, treating the management of knowledge not as a purely technological undertaking but as a people-centred one shaped by communication, culture, self-efficacy, and the practices that develop and retain skilled employees. Drawing conceptually on insights from a study of agile workforce dynamics in the IT and ITES sector, the paper argues that the same human and organisational conditions which enable agile working – open communication, a supportive culture, and confident, capable employees also underpin effective knowledge management. It reviews the contemporary literature on knowledge sharing, organisational culture, employee development, and the emerging role of artificial intelligence, and considers the HR implications of managing knowledge in a sector marked by rapid change, high mobility, and the constant risk of knowledge loss through attrition. The paper concludes that KM in IT settings succeeds or fails largely on human terms, and that HR has a central part to play in building the trust, capability, and culture on which knowledge flows depend.

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