Unlocking the Psychology of Work and Insecurity: How Tacit Knowledge Sharing, Diversity Climate, and Thriving at Work Influence Perceived Work Ability of Military Personnel

Introduction

Nigeria is diverse, with many different ethnic groups, ideas, skills, and human and material resources that should help soldiers deal with their security problems. Even though the country’s federal structure led to the creation of national systems and symbolic institutions like the Armed Forces to accommodate the different groups that make up the country and fight insecurity, there has yet to progress [1]. However, they have been unable to crush the insecurity challenges bedevilling the country [2], and insecurity challenges have not been any better; instead, it keeps increasing [3]. These insecurity challenges and the modus operandi in the military have done more harm than good [4]. These have made minority groups perceive marginalisation and have refused to be part of the military; instead, they formed their local security outfits to protect their territories which the national government is against [2].

The reason for this research is that there is a belief that the diverse background of military personnel affects the flow of information as well as the ability of officers to learn, improve, earn vitality, and show positive workability to curb these insecurity challenges [5]. Studies have shown how political parties, ethnoreligious influencers, and government officials have altered job characteristics and descriptions to be in their favour [6]. Although studies have been conducted on tacit knowledge sharing, diversity climate, perceived work ability, and thriving at work, however, those have been done independently and in different countries with different participants [7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13]. The current study is peculiar as several issues are hovering around how intangible knowledge (tacit knowledge) is transferred among military personnel. Also, it should be noted that tacit knowledge can be a barrier in the army since it is rarely shared and communicated because it is subjective and intuitive and is lost when the soldiers who possess it leave the defence organization [10].

Similarly, the issue of diversity climates should have been leveraged, and this has triggered more diversity limitations, exclusion, and altered sense of belonging among the military personnel [14], which might have affected their thriving at work and perceived work ability and in shaping the battlefield for the future [15]. So, our study is critical because it could help create an environment where military members can learn, get better at their jobs, and do well in their jobs by sharing tacit knowledge for better physical, mental, and interpersonal workability. It could also be used as a policy guide. We looked at the nature and direction of the links between sharing tacit knowledge, a climate of diversity, and how good people think they are at their jobs. Furthermore, how does thriving at work (learning and vitality) influence these relationships of tacit knowledge sharing, diversity climate, and perceived work ability? Pajvarinne et al. [16] defined perceived work ability (PWA) as workers’ assessment, self-perception, or evaluation of their up-to-date capability to continue working in their job as a result of the physical, mental, and interpersonal demands. Workability in the military refers to a soldier’s job-related functional capacity or personnel skill to continue working in their current job, given the challenges or demands of the job and their resources [11].

According to Sadowska-Krepa et al. [11] diminished or low workability does not signify unwaveringly that a soldier is a pitiable combatant, has psychological demands, or is restricted access to combat ammunition that enhances motivation and performance. However, it can hypothetically expose how much the military organisation may lose if full ability, competence, and psychological fitness needed to be indispensable are not found [17]. Perceived work ability is essential in the military because a positive perception of personnel’s military abilities and knowledge boosts morale, contributing to positive combat operations outcomes [18].

Nevertheless, Sadowska-Krepa et al. [11] said that some things could affect how good people think they are at their jobs (perceive their workability). These include tacit knowledge sharing, combat experiences, a diverse work environment, exposure to combat, and thriving at work. However, research on soldiers’ perceived work ability, tacit knowledge sharing, and thriving in a diversified climate is uncommon. Therefore, an essential aspect of our research is the relationship between tacit knowledge sharing and perceived work ability.

Tactic knowledge is understood as knowledge that cannot be explicitly communicated but is acquired via reflection and experience [19]. It is distinct because it is acquired independently, with limited resources and support [20]. Tacit knowledge is often demonstrated as practical intelligence in battle and strategic planning rather than abstract and academic intelligence [10]. Byrne et al. [20] argue that tacit knowledge sharing is the primary vector when defense organizations want to raise their value. Hence, the invisible transit of experiences and practices of military personnel can leverage knowledge creation, increase tacit knowledge sharing, and, as a result, provide military organizations with outcomes during combat operations [10]. Tacit knowledge is essential in ensuring that operations to deal with Nigeria’s security problems are successful. However, sharing and transferring tacit knowledge among personnel seems to be a significant challenge [11]. This must have affected the combat against terrorism, banditry, and other insecurity challenges since military officers find it hard to acquire relevant tacit knowledge from their significant others [1]. Nevertheless, some practical combat skills, tacit knowledge, and military skills may have been lost [5], because of the ethnoreligious divide [21, 22].

Sharing tacit knowledge might make the Nigerian military more effective in battle. Also, having this information might help other relevant military operations because more officers would feel good about their work skills and be ready to be sent on military operations [23]. However, the Nigerian defense organisation is heterogeneous and composed of many ethnic, religious, and cultural nationalities and tribes [6]. Hence, the country’s military set-up is also a mirror of these diversities in terms of composition and backgrounds of personnel. This diversity influences the military’s modus operandi, affecting critical activities such as recruitment, promotion, and knowledge transfer [24]. Indeed, there is a need to provide a diverse climate that would ensure the cooperation and effectiveness of the Nigerian military. Therefore, another important factor related to tacit knowledge sharing and perceived work ability in military personnel in Nigeria, and which is relevant to the course of this study, is diversity climate.

A diversity climate can be defined as an organisational atmosphere characterised by openness towards appreciation of individual differences as the technique for workplace variety, identity, citizenship behaviour, and proactiveness [12]. Soldiers in a diverse organisational climate assemble multicultural teams that are sources of creativity, innovation, tacit knowledge sharing, thriving at work, and team performance [25]. However, the case seems to be different in Nigeria. Nigerian defense diversified climate has been shown to positively affect the individual, group, and organisational outcomes by influencing multicultural tension in the military [24]. However, the processes through which diversity climate enhances outcomes such as workability still need to be discovered [26]. This may be because of how diversity climate is defined, quantified, perceived, and experienced in the defense organisation and a disconnect between these aspects of the notion [27].

The military’s diversity climate gives personnel equal opportunity for increased organisational trust and commitment and decreased counter-productive work behaviors [5]. Diversity climate in the Nigerian military context should be a welcomed development in the country since the participation of the perceived minority ethnicity, religious, and cultural communities will experience equal opportunities to diversify while increasing their mental, physical, and interpersonal demands at work through sharing tacit knowledge. The diversity climate in the defense organisation is influenced by organisational policies on an equal opportunity, access to resources and opportunities, and perceptions of underrepresented groups [5]. In addition, diversity climate is seen in the military as shared perceptions of the extent to which the Nigerian Armed forces value diversity as reflected in the policies, practices, and procedures that reward, the military supports, and expects [2]. With the diverse background of personnel of the Nigerian Armed forces, it has become expedient to study the nature of diverse climate concerning tacit knowledge sharing and their implication in the perceived work ability of personnel in particular and the overall performance of the Nigerian military in general.

Current research Guan X et al. [28, 29, 30, 31] suggests that thriving at work could be a moderator for relationships like those between tacit knowledge sharing, diversity climate, and perceived work ability. Peters et al. [32] stated that thriving at work is a positive psychological state marked by a shared sense of vitality and learning. Thriving at work as the moderator variable is a positive psychological state in which individuals experience both a sense of vitality and learning simultaneously with organisational growth and goal attainment [33]. Kleine et al. [31] said that thriving military members grow as people when they feel energized and alive (vitality) even in combat and when they feel like they are constantly learning and using what they know.

Yanhui et al [13] stated that thriving at work in the military is an essential mechanism for understanding the human dimension of sustainability in combat, being stanched, and identifying with the vocation which shows vitality. When military personnel thrives at work, they learn new skills and ways of handling issues while experiencing vitality, progress, and momentum in combat [1]. Given the time soldiers spend in combat, thriving in this context is essential for military personnel to contribute to their overall survival, well-being, and sustained health [27]. Kleine et al. [31] say that thriving soldiers show work engagement, vocational identity, workability, job satisfaction, less burnout, and better performance in combat. Ujoatuonu et al. [2] stated that this gives the organisation the push it needs to make a culture that might help soldiers do well. Yanhui et al. [13] state that Thriving on and outside the battlefield is also about learning, being vital, sharing knowledge (tacit knowledge sharing) (Yanhui et al., ) [13], staying healthy and lively, and relating to colleagues openly and freely (diversity climate), plus surviving in combat. So, this shows that thriving at work may change the relationship between sharing tacit knowledge, a climate of diversity, and how good people think they are at their jobs (perceived work ability).

Our study is anchored on the theory of reasoned action by Fishbein et al. [34], which states that an individual’s level of behavior is determined by intentions to carry out the behavior, and intentions are jointly determined by an employee’s attitude and subjective norm concerning their behavior. Attitude is the positive or negative evaluation of the self-performance of a particular behavior. Subjective norms are an individual’s perception of a particular behavior, which is influenced by the judgment of significant others like a boss, colleagues, mentor, friends, and parents [35]. Military personnel’s positive attitude toward sharing tacit knowledge, diversity climate, and thriving at work forms the intention to meet the best physical, mental, and interpersonal demands of their workability. The theory of reasoned action postulates that military personnel’s intentions (motivations) towards tacit knowledge sharing, diversity climate, and thriving at work are formed by soldiers’ positive attitude towards increasing their current ability to work, which are essential to support soldiers fighting resurgences and other insecurity challenges.

Hypothesis

In the present study, we hypothesized thus:

• Tacit knowledge sharing will significantly predict perceived work ability among military personnel.
• Diversity climate will significantly predict perceived work ability among military personnel.
• Thriving at work will significantly predict perceived work ability among military personnel.
• Thriving at work will moderate the relationship between tacit knowledge sharing and perceived work ability among military personnel such that soldiers with moderate and high thriving at work will have tacit knowledge sharing and work ability as compared with soldiers with low thriving at work.
• Thriving at work will moderate the relationship between diversity climate and perceived work ability among military personnel such that soldiers with moderate and high thriving at work will perceive and experience diversified climate and work ability as compared with soldiers with low thriving at work.

Method

• Participants The participants in this study comprised 252 Nigerian combatant army personnel, conveniently and purposefully sampled from 6 battalions Ibagwa-Abak, Akwa-Ibom State, Forward Operation Base, Okene, Kogi state, Nigerian Army School of Military Engineering (NASME) Makurdi, Benue State and 23 Armour Brigade, Yola, Adamawa state were involved in the study. We employed a convenient and purposeful sampling technique with the sole intention of sampling combatant personnel that were present and willing to participate at the time of the distribution of the questionnaire. At the same time, we adopted the homogenous purposive sampling method because all the participants were combatants. We obtained institutional ethical approval and informed consent, and the ages of the participants ranged from 18 to 60 years (M = 48.0: SD = 0.96). The educational qualifications ranged from a Senior Secondary School Certificate (SSCE) or General Certificate Examination or their equivalents to a Master of Science Degree (MSc).

The ranks of the participants ranged from Recruits to Lieutenant Colonel (LC). The termination of the ranks at the lieutenant colonel level is that the other ranks were not easy to come by, and Nigerian Army School of Military Engineering (NASME) Makurdi, Benue State, and 23 Armour Brigade, were headed by Colonels. Participants provided information on relevant demographic factors such as age, marital status, number of children, and educational qualifications. Other demographic variables such as ethnicity, religion, and gender were not sampled because, in the Nigerian military, they assume there is nothing like gender. Therefore, all genders are the same. As for ethnicity and religion, we were asked to remove them before distribution. The rationale is that the country’s security challenges are perceived as triggered by ethnicity and religion. In addition, the defence ministry aims to reunite Nigerian soldiers who are now split along that line.

Instruments

• The Perceived Ability to Work Scale The Perceived Ability to Work Scale is a measure that consists of four- items developed by Ilmarinen et al. [36]. The items are meant to measure how well employees can handle physical, mental, and interpersonal demands and how well they can do their jobs right now. The questionnaire’s ten- point Likert scale ranges from 1 = completely unable to work at all; 4 = not sure; 7 = relatively sure; and ten = workability is currently at its lifetime best. Sample items include; “How many points would you give your current ability to work?” “Thinking about the physical demands of your job, how do you rate your current ability to meet those demands?” Ilmarinen et al. [36] obtained an internal consistency of .96. We conducted a pilot study to validate the Perceived Work Ability Scale for the present study on a sample of 80 military personnel, and the items yielded good internal consistency reliability, Cronbach’s alpha of .94.

• Diversity Climate Scale The four-item scale developed by Mckay et al. [37] measured soldiers’ perception of the defense organization’s diversity climate. The response had options that ranged from 1 (Strongly Disagree) to 5 (Strongly Agree). Sample items on the original scale include: “I trust [the organization] to treat me fairly,” “[The company] maintains a diversity work environment.” The phrase “the company or organization” in the bracket was designed to be modified to suit specific contexts and respondents. Accordingly, the phrase was modified in the current study to “defence organization” for items one, two, and three, where it appeared, to make the scale applicable to any organizational context. Sample items for the modified scale now read: “I trust the defence organization to treat me fairly.” Modifying the phrase is consistent with current practices such as that of Ricarda et al. [25]. All the items were positively worded. Higher scores signify stronger perceptions of a pro-diversity work climate. We conducted a pilot study to validate the Diversity Climate Scale for the present study on a sample of 80 military personnel. The items yielded high internal consistency reliability, with Cronbach’s alpha of .90.

• Tacit Knowledge Sharing Scale Lin [38] developed the brief four-item scale to assess tacit knowledge sharing. The scale was developed from existing literature to measure how often employees share their unspoken and implicit knowledge with their co-workers in the workplace. The four items are rated on a five-point scale that ranges from 1 (never) to 5 (always). All the items are positively worded, with higher scores indicating that employees more willingly share their tacit knowledge with co-workers. Sample items are: “I share my job experience with my co-workers” and “I share my ideas about jobs with my co-workers.” We conducted a pilot study to validate the present study’s tacit knowledge-sharing scale on 80 military personnel. The items yielded high internal consistency reliability, with Cronbach’s alpha of .81.

• Thriving at Work The thriving at Work Scale is a ten-item questionnaire developed by Porath et al. [39] to assess an employee’s learning and vitality at work. This measure includes five items for learning and five for vitality and is scored on a seven-point Likert scale that ranges from (1 = strongly disagree to 7 = strongly agree). Sample items include: for learning; “I continue to learn more and more as time goes by.” For vitality, “I feel alive and vital.” The alpha reliability coefficient from Porath et al. [39] was Cronbach (α) .93. We conducted a pilot study to validate the Thriving at Work Scale for the present study on a sample of 80 military personnel, and the items yielded high internal consistency reliability, Cronbach’s alpha of .94.

Procedures

We sampled participants from 6 battalions Ibagwa- Abak, Akwa-Ibom State, Forward Operation Base, Okene, Kogi state, Nigerian Army School of Military Engineering (NASME) Makurdi, Benue State and 23 Armour Brigade, Yola, Adamawa state. Participation was voluntary, and only those who gave informed consent received the questionnaire. They were assured of the confidentiality of their responses since there was no provision on the questionnaire for personal information; hence, we requested them to fill out the questionnaire with utmost sincerity. In addition, we obtained institutional ethical approval from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Enugu State, Nigeria, before proceeding to the field. After that, all the participants available volunteered to participate in the study. We gave the participants ten minutes to complete the questionnaire during break periods or after morning debriefings. We retrieved the completed copies of the instruments from the respondents with gratitude, and appreciation expressed verbally to the participants for completing the questionnaires. The copies of the questionnaires returned and used for data analysis showed a return rate of 87.5%Design/Statistics. The study adopted a cross-sectional design because (a) the process and finances involved in conducting military studies are enormous, and (b) Nigerian military personnel does not have reserve combatant personnel, and this might affect or influence casualty and longitudinal studies. Therefore, we conducted Pearson’s correlation analysis among the study’s demographic and dependent variables, while model 1 of Hayes and Preacher’s [39] regression-based process was applied for hypotheses testing.

Results

The results and findings of this study are presented in this chapter. First, the descriptive statistics and correlations of the variables are shown in Table 1. Next, the Hayes PROCESS Macro results for predicting the perceived work ability of military personnel by tacit knowledge sharing and thriving at work are shown in Table 2. Finally, the Hayes PROCESS Macro results for predicting the perceived work ability of military personnel by diversity climate and thriving at work are shown in Table 3.

Note. ***p<.001; *p<.05; Table 1: Mean, Standard deviation and correlations of demographic factors, tacit knowledge sharing, diversity climate, thriving at work and perceived work ability of military personnel Table 1 showed that older age was positively associated with years of service (r = .70, p<.001), number of children (r = .47, p<.001), education (r = .43, p<.001), tacit knowledge sharing(r = .25, p<.001), diversity climate (r = .20, p<.01), thriving at work (r = .16, p<.05), and perceived work ability of military personnel (r = .33, p<.001). Years of service related positively with number of children (r = .50, p<.001), education (r = .36, p<.001), tacit knowledge sharing (r = .30, p<.001), diversity climate (r = .29, p<.01) and perceived work ability of military personnel (r = .33, p<.001). The number of children correlated positively with education (r = .23, p<.001), tacit knowledge sharing (r = .25, p<.001), diversity climate (r = .20, p<.01), and perceived work ability of personnel (r = .14, p<.05). Tacit knowledge sharing associated positively with diversity climate (r = .51, p<.001) and perceived work ability of military personnel (r = .33, p<.001). Diversity climate was positively related to the high level of perceived work ability of military personnel (r = .33, p<.001). Thriving at work was positively related to the high level of perceived work ability of military personnel (r = .41, p<.001).

Note: CI = Confidence Interval Table 2: The Hayes PROCESS Macro results for predicting perceived work ability of military personnel by tacit knowledge sharing and thriving at work with age, years of service and number of children as control variables Results in Table 2 showed that tacit knowledge sharing was positively associated with the perceived work ability of military personnel (B = .59, p<.001). The B showed that each unit’s rise in tacit knowledge sharing was associated with a .59 increase in the perceived work ability of military personnel. Thriving at work was positively associated with the perceived work ability of military personnel (B = .58, p<.001). The B showed that each unit’s rise in thriving at work was associated with a .58 increase in the perceived work ability of military personnel. The interaction between tacit knowledge sharing and thriving at work was insignificant (B = .02), indicating that thriving at work did not moderate the relationship between tacit knowledge sharing and the perceived work ability of military personnel. The R2 of .32 for the model indicated that 32% of the variance in the perceived work ability of military personnel was explained on account of the entire variables, F (6, 245) = 19.02.

Note: CI = Confidence Table 3: The Hayes PROCESS Macro results for predicting perceived work ability of military personnel by diversity climate and thriving at work with age, gender and level of study as control variables Results in Table 3 showed that diversity climate was positively associated with the perceived work ability of military personnel (B = .52, p<.001). The B showed that each unit’s rise in diversity climate was associated with a .52 increase in the perceived work ability of military personnel. Thriving at work was positively associated with the perceived work ability of military personnel (B = .60, p<.001). The B showed that each unit’s rise in thriving at work was associated with a .60 increase in the perceived work ability of military personnel. The interaction of diversity climate and thriving at work was insignificant (B = .03), indicating that thriving at work did not moderate the relationship between diversity climate and the perceived work ability of military personnel. The R2 of .33 for the model indicated that

33% of the variance in the perceived work ability of military personnel was explained on account of the entire variables, F (6, 245) = 19.67.

Discussion

We examined the moderating role of thriving at work in the relationships between tacit knowledge sharing, diversity climate and perceived work ability among Nigerian military personnel. Five hypotheses were postulated for the present study. First, it was hypothesized that tacit knowledge sharing would significantly predict perceived work ability among military personnel. The result of the current study revealed that tacit knowledge sharing was positively associated with the perceived work ability of military personnel, indicating that an increase in tacit knowledge sharing was associated with an increase and the high perceived work ability of military personnel. Thus, the first hypothesis was confirmed. Showing that people in the military think that sharing tacit knowledge is essential for high workability in the face of insecurity problems. Our study result is consistent with the findings of other researchers such as Enwereuzo et al. [19], Hedlund, [7], Hedlund et al. [8], Horvath et al. [9], Ogbonna [40] who found tacit knowledge sharing to predict ratings of leadership effectiveness, affect-based and cognition- based trust, barriers team members experience, diversity climate, belongingness, employee innovation, job thriving, trust, formalization, knowledge-technology, empowering leadership, effective reward systems with motivation, and organisational culture.

The second hypothesis stated that diversity climates would significantly predict perceived work ability. Our current study found that diversity climate was positively associated with military personnel’s perceived work ability, implying that an increase in diversity climate was associated with high perceived work ability. Thus, the second hypothesis in the present study was confirmed. Similarly, the finding is consistent with studies such as Enwereuzo [19] and Wolfson et al. [41], who found diversified climate or work environment to significantly influence and predict tacit knowledge sharing, respectful engagement, workplace friendship, workplace belongingness, and various job attitudes. Therefore, the study result showed that teamwork ability would increase if the defense organisation’s work environment is diversified. Also, there will be openness in policies and structures that will promote the position of designated groups among military personnel.

The third hypothesis stated that thriving at work would significantly predict perceived work ability. The results of this study showed that thriving at work was linked to how well military personnel thought they could do their jobs (i.e., perceived work ability). It means that thriving at work was linked to how well military personnel thought they could do their jobs (perceived work ability). Thus, the third hypothesis in the present study was confirmed. Similarly, our study finding is consistent with previous research Riaz et al. [42] who found a significant relationship between thriving at work, employee innovative behavior, and proactive personality. However, it can be explained with constructivism theory, which states that soldiers in and outside combats are observers, participants, and agents who actively generate and transform patterns through which they construct the realities that fit them by experiencing an environment first hand thereby giving them reliable and trustworthy knowledge. Therefore, the present study’s third hypothesis indicates that military personnel are always in a positive psychological state of learning to become vital simultaneously to increase and experience workability in and outside combat for organizational growth and goal attainment.

Fourth, it was hypothesised that thriving at work would significantly moderate the association between tacit knowledge sharing and perceived work ability among Nigerian military personnel. However, the hypothesis was not confirmed and, thus, was rejected. The study result is not consistent with Ononye [43] who found thriving at work to mediate the relationship between tacit knowledge and employee innovation. Literature is scarce on the moderating role of thriving at work in the relationship between tacit knowledge sharing and perceived work ability. However, it can be explained with the theory of reasoned action. The theory of reasoned action states that soldiers’ level of behavior (i.e., workability) is determined by intentions (i.e., tacit knowledge sharing) to carry out the behavior, and intentions are jointly determined by their attitude and subjective norm (i.e., thriving at work) concerning their behavior. Similarly, the educational qualification, not a criterion for enlistment into the military, might have influenced the study result since education is a factor in learning, becoming vital, sharing knowledge, and degree of perceived work ability.

Fifth, it was hypothesised that thriving at work would significantly moderate the association between diversity climates and perceived workability among Nigerian military personnel. However, the hypothesis was not confirmed and, thus, was rejected. Our study result is not consistent with the study of Guan and Frenkel [28] who found thriving at work to moderate organizational support and other underlying mechanisms. Not much is written about how thriving at work affects the relationship between diversity climates and perceived work ability, but self-efficacy theory can explain it. The self-efficacy theory states that soldiers believe in their ability to organise and execute actions in combat to achieve team, organizational, and country goals. Therefore, soldiers with strong efficacy beliefs (i.e., strong perception or experience of diversity climates with learning and vitality) are more confident in their capacity to execute a behavior (i.e., workability). This theory focuses on how soldiers’ self-efficacy is affected by several factors. These factors include performance accomplishments, which are a soldier’s personal mastery experiences, such as past successes or failures; vicarious experience: Observing others perform threatening activities without adverse consequences, demonstrating that the activity is doable with a little effort and persistence. Also, religion and ethnicity, which were not included in the demographics, are significant problems in a diverse work environment that needs tacit knowledge sharing, more workability, and thriving at work. This must have affected the study results.

Implications of the Findings

Our study has contributed significantly to the defense organization, workability, tacit knowledge sharing, diversity climate and thriving at work literature. This will help future researches to know the direction of studies for guidance and arguments.

This study’s findings have theoretical and practical implications for the performance of military personnel and defense organisation as a whole. First, on a theoretical note, this study adds to the understanding of workability from an extensive perspective by incorporating insights from concepts in the field of psychology, like the theory of reasoned action, which is relevant to the problems of perceived work ability. Also, the educational qualification, which was found not to be an essential criterion for enlistment into the Nigerian defense organisation, is a severe issue as it might have influenced the study variables.

From a practical point of view, our study also has significant implications for military personnel and all defense organisations to a reasonable extent. First, our study implies that military personnel gives their current physical, mental, and interpersonal demands their best shots when they share experience, ideas, and tips on the job and warfare without request from co-workers. Because the way these military members are thought to be able to work and how they share tacit knowledge is essential for good results. Lack of positive attitudes, experiences, and work outcomes in the defense organisation are threats to the defense organization and the nation at large. In order to have positive attitudes, experiences, and work outcomes in and outside battlefields, combatants tacit knowledge must be shared. Also, military personnel must perceive themselves as competent where necessary, and have the skills needed to meet the demands of their job, and the job, in turn, be able to meet their needs, and the environment favorable for their career development.

Furthermore, our study implies that the Nigerian military personnel perceived and gave their work ability’s physical, mental, and interpersonal demands the best shot because they perceived fair treatment across soldiers and trusted their organization. Similarly, they perceive and believe that their organisation has maintained a diversity- friendly work environment. In addition, their top leaders have demonstrated a visible commitment to diversity, making them give and be in their best shape and on top of their physical, mental, and interpersonal demands. Hence, interventions aimed at improving soldiers’ skills, abilities, and environment should be created, as well as interventions to meet their needs.

In addition, our study result implies that when soldiers learn often, it shows that they want to develop, improve, feel alive and become vital, increase energy and spirit at work, alert and awake, and look forward to each new day to fulfill the physical, mental and interpersonal demands of their workability. Also, it is essential to develop more concrete enlistment criteria for military personnel recruitment and proper skill development programs to be created to enhance their skills. For example, suppose there is a perception that some soldiers are not fit for the job, or maybe they are selfish in terms of sharing knowledge or that the job is unable to meet their needs, or feelings of superiority, thereby not agreeing to a teamwork atmosphere. In that case, it will make soldiers unable to perceive their workability positively because they would always feel they are less. Therefore, the defense organisation must establish fair, objective, and detailed enlistment criteria and evaluation systems based on global and standard military requirements and not based on party, ethnic, religion, and geographical affiliations.

Finally, defense organisations whose personnel lack workability due to wrong enlistment or due to the organisation’s inability to diversify their work environment, share knowledge, and thrive at work to meet their needs and expectations, may not likely realise the goals of the organisation because these affect their perception and commitment to the job. So by creating a favorable environment, tacit knowledge sharing, and an adequate enlistment procedure becomes crucial factors for military workability.

Limitations of the Study

Although this study has implications in practice that aim to increase workability in defense organisations, there are shortcomings worth acknowledging. First, the use of cross-sectional data limits the interpretation of the finding. Although inferences can be made from the associations between the independent and dependent variables, the causal factors could not be identified. The use of self-report measures may have created social desirability and affected the study results.

Suggestions for Further Studies

For research, this study creates an opening for a variety of future. Researchers can use other moderators for their research, like personality traits and ethnicity. Increasing the sample size by adding more states in the federation to the study may give more information about the study variables and generalizability.

For practice, most importantly, the researchers recommended that more military psychologists be trained and employed in defense organizations to help in determining enlistment criteria, evaluating personnel, and helping personnel cope with the demands of their job. Industrial psychologists are also recommended to aid the defense organisation in selecting and placing individuals so that they can fit into the environment [45, 46, 47].

Summary/Conclusion

Our study examined how thriving at work affects the relationships between tacit knowledge sharing, diversity climate, and how good people think they are at their jobs (i.e., perceived work ability). The result showed that thriving at work, tacit knowledge sharing, and diversity climate significantly predicted perceived work ability. Furthermore, thriving at work significantly did not moderate the relationship between tacit knowledge sharing and perceived work ability on one hand, and diversity climate, with perceived work ability on the other hand, thereby not confirming hypothesis four and five. This suggests that addressing the tacit knowledge-sharing and diversity climate among Nigerian military personnel will drastically increase the level of perceived work ability among Nigerian personnel. Therefore, this study is of great importance to the defense organization and the government to better understand the impact of these tacit knowledge sharing, diversity climate, and thriving at work in military career development.

Declaration Statements

• Conflict of Interest: We have no conflict of interest. • Ethical Approval: All research methods involving human participants align with the institutional research committee’s ethical standards, the 1964 Helsinki statement, and subsequent revisions or similar ethical standards. • Informed Consent: All individual participants in the research provided informed permission. • Funding: The research was funded by the authors. • Data Availability: The authors confirm that the data supporting the findings of this study are available and will be provided by the corresponding author if required.