Employee Motivation and Knowledge Transfer in Nonprofit Organizations

AbstractIneffective knowledge transfer strategies can negatively affect knowledge creation and employee motivation. Nonprofit business leaders who struggle with knowledge transfer among department staff are at a high risk of not improving employee motivation. Grounded in Kahn’s organizational theory on leadership and structure, the purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to explore the knowledge transfer strategies used by nonprofit business leaders to transfer knowledge among departmental staff and to improve employee motivation. The participants comprised business leaders and staff, consisting of 2 executives, 2 managers, and 2 departmental staff members from a nonprofit charter school management company in North Texas who successfully transferred knowledge among departmental staff to improve motivation. Data were collected from semistructured interviews, direct observation and document review of operating procedures, written organizational policies, and knowledge transfer best practices. Thematic analysis was used to analyze the data. Four themes emerged: emails, individual contact, shared platforms, and group meetings. A key recommendation is that nonprofit business leaders implement knowledge transfer strategies utilizing a shared platform to ensure professional competency and increase employee motivation. The implications for positive social change include the potential for nonprofit business leaders to renew organizational culture through successful knowledge transfer strategies that improve employee motivation and support the community’s economic development