Comments on: Career surfers http://positivesharing.com/2006/10/career-surfers/ Make Yourself and Your Business Happy At Work Thu, 18 Mar 2010 14:20:12 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Impedance mismatch over HTTP » Blog Archive » Innovation Challenges http://positivesharing.com/2006/10/career-surfers/comment-page-1/#comment-9040 Impedance mismatch over HTTP » Blog Archive » Innovation Challenges Mon, 06 Nov 2006 10:16:57 +0000 http://positivesharing.com/2006/10/career-surfers/#comment-9040 [...] Democracy creates interesting problems for corporations in the Information Age. With democracy comes freedom of thought, expression and lifestyle. Here is professor Henrik Holt Larsen of the Copenhagen Business School, “It’s harder than ever for businesses to attract and retain employees who not only possess the required skills but who can also be emotionally bound to the company. People tend to focus more on their own desires and needs and therefore to surf between multiple career paths. We don’t know enough yet about this narcissistic personality.” [...] [...] Democracy creates interesting problems for corporations in the Information Age. With democracy comes freedom of thought, expression and lifestyle. Here is professor Henrik Holt Larsen of the Copenhagen Business School, “It’s harder than ever for businesses to attract and retain employees who not only possess the required skills but who can also be emotionally bound to the company. People tend to focus more on their own desires and needs and therefore to surf between multiple career paths. We don’t know enough yet about this narcissistic personality.” [...]

]]> By: Impedance mismatch over HTTP » Blog Archive » Work Culture http://positivesharing.com/2006/10/career-surfers/comment-page-1/#comment-9025 Impedance mismatch over HTTP » Blog Archive » Work Culture Mon, 06 Nov 2006 08:48:16 +0000 http://positivesharing.com/2006/10/career-surfers/#comment-9025 [...] Democracy creates interesting problems for corporations in the Information Age. With democracy comes freedom of thought, expression and lifestyle. Here is professor Henrik Holt Larsen of the Copenhagen Business School, “It’s harder than ever for businesses to attract and retain employees who not only possess the required skills but who can also be emotionally bound to the company. People tend to focus more on their own desires and needs and therefore to surf between multiple career paths. We don’t know enough yet about this narcissistic personality.” [...] [...] Democracy creates interesting problems for corporations in the Information Age. With democracy comes freedom of thought, expression and lifestyle. Here is professor Henrik Holt Larsen of the Copenhagen Business School, “It’s harder than ever for businesses to attract and retain employees who not only possess the required skills but who can also be emotionally bound to the company. People tend to focus more on their own desires and needs and therefore to surf between multiple career paths. We don’t know enough yet about this narcissistic personality.” [...]

]]> By: Alexander http://positivesharing.com/2006/10/career-surfers/comment-page-1/#comment-4884 Alexander Thu, 05 Oct 2006 07:56:36 +0000 http://positivesharing.com/2006/10/career-surfers/#comment-4884 danb: Exactly! Corporations are narcissistic, so employees are too. Lars: Good point. And it's funny how companies focus on the employees they lose in this way - not the ones they can gain. danb: Exactly! Corporations are narcissistic, so employees are too.

Lars: Good point. And it’s funny how companies focus on the employees they lose in this way – not the ones they can gain.

]]> By: Lars Plougmann http://positivesharing.com/2006/10/career-surfers/comment-page-1/#comment-4883 Lars Plougmann Thu, 05 Oct 2006 07:51:53 +0000 http://positivesharing.com/2006/10/career-surfers/#comment-4883 I suspect professor Larsen is trying to phrase it nicely and use the word narcissistic when he in fact means egoistic. But the surprising thing is that both words have a negative ring to them. Companies maximise profits by managing a range of parameters, one of them being employee retention through salaries and non-monetary benefits like company culture (and a lot more). Employees maximise their utility from the employment relationship taking into account salary, learning potential, colleague relationships, client relationships, interestingness and fun (and a lot more). The beauty of it is that both parties can act in their own self-interest yet engage in a mutually beneficial relationship. For some time. And when it is time to move on, we should treat it like a sports match: Great game, on to the next one. No hard feelings. Calling a leaving employee a narcissist is a poor excuse for not looking at what the company can do to make itself more attractive. In a world where employees have lots of choices, including setting up their own business and going solo, clever companies will increase their retention and success by offering more than a good salary and do what they can to ensure that people are happy at work. It is a competitive factor that has been around for ever. And it co-exists nicely with, and maybe because of, both parties acting in their own self-interest. I suspect professor Larsen is trying to phrase it nicely and use the word narcissistic when he in fact means egoistic. But the surprising thing is that both words have a negative ring to them.

Companies maximise profits by managing a range of parameters, one of them being employee retention through salaries and non-monetary benefits like company culture (and a lot more). Employees maximise their utility from the employment relationship taking into account salary, learning potential, colleague relationships, client relationships, interestingness and fun (and a lot more). The beauty of it is that both parties can act in their own self-interest yet engage in a mutually beneficial relationship.

For some time.

And when it is time to move on, we should treat it like a sports match: Great game, on to the next one. No hard feelings. Calling a leaving employee a narcissist is a poor excuse for not looking at what the company can do to make itself more attractive.

In a world where employees have lots of choices, including setting up their own business and going solo, clever companies will increase their retention and success by offering more than a good salary and do what they can to ensure that people are happy at work. It is a competitive factor that has been around for ever. And it co-exists nicely with, and maybe because of, both parties acting in their own self-interest.

]]> By: danb http://positivesharing.com/2006/10/career-surfers/comment-page-1/#comment-4881 danb Thu, 05 Oct 2006 07:01:20 +0000 http://positivesharing.com/2006/10/career-surfers/#comment-4881 > We don’t know enough yet about this narcissistic personality. I don't think they want to know about it, because it's a direct reflection of the corporation itself. > We don’t know enough yet about this narcissistic personality.

I don’t think they want to know about it, because it’s a direct reflection of the corporation itself.

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