Developing a scale for perceived knowledge in the workplace: a quantitative study among bank employees

Purpose We are living in knowledge-driven economies, where employees perceive knowledge plays a critical role in shaping organizational and individual outcomes. Despite increasing interest in learning and cognitive constructs at work, there remains no validated scale to measure “Perceived Knowledge,” a construct representing employees’ self-assessed expertise, understandings and informational adequacy to perform efficiently. This study aims to develop and validate valuable multidimensional scale for perceived knowledge in the context of the bank industry. Design/methodology/approach Data have been collected from 412 individuals working for various commercial banks in nine metropolitan cities of Pakistan. Using a multi-stage scale development process, generation of items, review from legend experts, exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis plus reliability as well as validity assessments; the final scale comprises three significant dimensions such as task-specific knowledge, procedural awareness and contextual understanding. Findings Outcomes are demonstrating that the scale is exhibiting strengthen psychometric properties, which include internal consistency, construct validity and discriminant validity. Originality/value This unique instrument is offering reliable means for future practitioners and researchers to assess perceived knowledge in organizational settings and to examine its impact on employee outcomes.