Fostering Competency Development Through Knowledge Sharing Capabilities in Onboarding

The study proposes and empirically validates a theoretical model suggesting that employee competency development during the onboarding period largely depends on the availability of knowledge sharing (KS) channels (both digital and traditional), on the KS culture experienced, and on employee satisfaction with the existing KS practices. The data for the study was collected using an online survey of a large pool of young public service employees working at various government agencies (n= 3,652 respondents). The results of a structural equation modeling analysis of the data provide support for the study's main premise. The implications of these results on the design of effective onboarding processes are discussed.