Impact of staff turnover on knowledge management in Sri Lankan software companies

Abstract

The concept of Knowledge Management (KM) can be considered as more important in the context of organizational learning. In this context, the contribution of KM on Information Technology (IT) industry is enormous. IT industry in Sri Lanka can be considered as one of the fast growing in the current economic environment. Hence, this research tries to examine the impact of staff turnover (ST) on knowledge management. The research problem in this study can be considered as follows, "Is there any Impact of Staff Turnover on Knowledge Management in IT companies in Sri Lanka?" The questionnaire method has been adopted to identify the causal relationship in Knowledge Management and Staff Turnover. It has administered to employees in the field of software industry. The data was collected by means of a structured questionnaire based on the Knowledge Management and Staff Turnover. The major finding emulating from the study was that there is a positive relationship between high Staff Turnover and weak Knowledge Management. The study showed that organizational factors such as Managerial Style, Lack of Recognition, Lack of Competitive Compensation System and Toxic Workplace Environment significantly influenced employee Knowledge Management in software industry. Furthermore the individual factors such as Leadership, Organization, Technology and Learning can be considered as factors which affect to employee turnover in software industry. This study can be expanded to other areas like banking to generalize the research findings.