Knowledge sharing as an intervention for Gen Y employees’ intention to stay

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to identify the relationship between knowledge sharing, competency development, affective commitment, and Gen Y employees’ intention to stay. Design/methodology/approach – Based on a review of extant literature and using social exchange, and social constructivist approach, this study develops a theoretical rationale behind developing a conceptual framework to retain employees of the Gen Y segment. Findings – Knowledge sharing in the organization has a great potential to foster competency development and generate a sense of affective commitment and intention to stay of employees of Gen Y. Research limitations/implications – A conceptual framework of knowledge sharing for competency development could assist HR managers in fine-tuning their retention strategy for Gen Y employees. The future work should carry out the empirical validation of the suggested conceptual framework. Practical implications – Organizations should focus on knowledge sharing to enhance absorptive capacity, which fosters competency development. The framework suggests an approach of generation-specific retention strategy. Originality/value – This study contributes to the literature in human resources pertaining to knowledge sharing as a competency development intervention and develops a linkage between knowledge sharing and Gen Y employees’ intention to stay. The study is one of the first of its kind to address knowledge sharing and competency development in the context of Gen Y retention.