Relationship Between Occupational Stress Level and Readiness Towards Knowledge Sharing Among IT Sector Employees

Abstract

In the era of a knowledge-based economy, effective knowledge management, including knowledge sharing, is one of the determinants of organizational performance. Therefore, the task of companies should be to optimize the process of knowledge sharing, which is achieved by, among other things, a thorough understanding and use of the factors that affect this process. Aim. The purpose of the article was to study the relationship between the level of occupational stress and readiness towards knowledge sharing among IT Sector Employees. Method. A cross-sectional study model was applied. The study included 98 employees from the IT industry. The study used the Perceived Stress at Work Scale (PSaW) by Chirkowska-Smolak and Grobelny and a self-designed survey including: demographic data, work-related variables and  questions about knowledge sharing with co-workers. Results. In the surveyed group of IT workers, greater readiness to share knowledge was found among employees who showed lower scores on the PSaW scale. In addition, significant relationships were found between the study variables according to the selected variables, including that among women with low rates of perceived stress at work, older women showed greater willingness to share knowledge compared to younger women. Furthermore, in terms of work-related variables, the results showed that among men declaring high rates of stress, those with shorter seniority were more willing to share knowledge compared to men with longer seniority. Conclusions: The research findings significantly broaden knowledge in the sphere of the factors influencing the effective organization of the knowledge management process, particularly knowledge sharing under stressful work conditions. This knowledge can be useful especially for IT managers.