Measuring the decent work of knowledge workers: Constructing and validating a new scale

Abstract

Through two and half decades, decent work (DW) has been studied mainly on unemployment and underemployment to promote workers' well-being, overlooking the importance of understanding knowledge of workers' (KW's) well-being in the workplace. However, the conflict between organizational performance and KW's well-being has intensified with technology development and the digital economy. This study constructs and validates a new scale for measuring the decent work perception (DWP) of KW in the context of knowledge management (KM). First, 27 in-depth interviews are conducted based on previous research results and grounded theory, resulting 4 dimensions consisting of 32 initial items identified by the KWs as reflecting their perception of DW. The 4dimensions of DWP are work security, respect & support, self-value, and professional skills. Second, 212 KWs participate in the preliminary survey, identifying the initial questionnaire's validity and selecting 13 items from the original questionnaire. Finally, 554 questionnaires are collected for the formal survey. According to exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmative factor analysis (CFA), the 13-item decent work perception scale (DWPS) has reasonable reliability and validity. Considering the characteristics of work challenges, work autonomy, and career commitment of KWs, this study contributes to the knowledge of respect & support, self-value, and professional skills on DWPS. It is concluded that the DWPS can be applied to measure DW for KWs. As an effective measurement tool for KWs, this scale is also crucial for helping employees achieve their career goals, and managers understand KWs' demands theoretically and practically.