The roots of “volunteer” employees’ engagement: The silent role of intellectual capital in knowledge-sharing intentions

PurposeThe main aim of this paper is to demonstrate that “volunteer” employees’ perception of dimensions of intellectual capital (IC) – human, structural and relation capital – creates a motivational environment to enhance knowledge-sharing intention (KSI) and stimulates “volunteer” employee engagement (VEE). The model is applied on the non-profit organizations (NPOs) sector that base their path on sharing values with volunteers and employees in relation to which they have to implement engagement strategies that are beneficial to both developing and deploying individual and organizational human capital.Design/methodology/approachTo verify the existence of relationships between the constructs of IC, KSI and VEE a partial least squares structural equation model on a sample of 300 “volunteer” employees of NPOs was tested to verify the research hypotheses, as this could explain the causal relationships.FindingsThe results confirm that KSI is positively and directly influenced by the favourable environment resulting from the motivations below the dimensions of IC. The improvement of KSI, determined by IC, has a positive effect on VEE.Research limitations/implicationsDespite the limitation created by the peculiarities of NPOs and the role of volunteers, this paper suggests a strategic approach that the management could implement to create an environment based on the exchange of knowledge and to increase engagement in the value co-creation process.Originality/valueThe ability of a company to adopt sharing strategies depends on the existence of an environment in which individuals are willing to exchange knowledge realizing mutual benefits. The work broadens this perspective by providing governance with a behavioural model that creates a direct relationship between IC, KSI and VEE.