Generally, knowledge workers can be defined as individuals who are appreciated for their knowledge and competency to perform in specific field or area. A knowledge worker is usually involved in planning, searching, obtaining, organizing and developing the information needed to advance in the field.

The term was first introduced by Peter Drucker in his book titled ‘Landmarks of Tomorrow'. Those who are working in information technology fields primarily researchers, systems analysts, programmers, technical writers and academic professional can be categorized as knowledge workers. Besides individuals in IT fields, professionals from other areas such as engineers, nurses, lawyers and teachers can also be regarded as knowledge workers.

Among some of the tasks delegated to knowledge workers are to analyze information and data collected to form relationships with associates, establish the connections needed to assist in business expansion, must be able to brainstorm and design new strategies for the prospective future. Since knowledge workers must be able to perform their best using their knowledge and ability, they are not involved in routine tasks and transaction processing.

To ensure a bright future for a company, one must be able to identify knowledge workers' abilities and manage them accordingly by delegating the right job to the right man. But one of the most important agenda is to appreciate and value the workers' ability as it is relatively hard to find and replace their skills.

Many organizations believed that the key to business success is by maximizing the potential in knowledge workers. Companies and organizations that can fully utilize the skills and competency of knowledge workers can definitely generate a competitive advantage in near future. Here are some practical tricks and rules to get the knowledge workers to perform well in their jobs.

According to Drucker (the one who coined the term knowledge worker), the objective is to ‘strip away everything that gets in their way'. In other words, corporations and organizations must be able to provide and fulfill every need of the workers to bring out the best in them. That means companies must offer attractive benefits and incentives for these knowledge workers. By solving their problems in other areas, the workers can concentrate solely on the work and responsibilities given to ensure the success of the company.

Besides that, provide a platform for the knowledge workers to voice out their creativity. It is important to encourage the people to voice out their opinions and share their suggestions with others. Management must also be able to facilitate knowledge workers to communicate effectively with one another from different departments. This is because effective communication allows management to keep in touch with these individuals and can constantly respond immediately when a problem arises.

And of course, similar to any other businesses or organizations, management must treat them with respect and dignity to eliminate any barrier or obstacle when trying to achieve certain objectives.  The best approach is to motivate or work together with knowledge workers personally. All in all, knowledge workers can perform and work better under a conducive working environment.