Food for Thought is our way of sharing interesting concepts on corporate leadership and management with others who might find it useful. The thoughts offered are intended to be controversial and thought provoking. They always follow our motto of helping develop logical leadership.
Many of us have observed, and much has been written suggesting, that young college graduates of today seem to have a very different notion of a successful work life than the older generations had in their youth. Even many highly accomplished graduates of acclaimed institutions of higher learning choose such an eclectic vocational mix, that the achievers of yester-generations would label them as “lost in life.” And, the excesses and debacles of corporate America have only made the younger generation wearier of a planned and orchestrated career. Yet, attracting and deploying young talent with fresh new ideas is critical to the health of our corporations. How then should modern corporations attract such talent? We have an idea.
Abandon the traditional approach of finding candidates to fill open positions and adopt a new approach of creating attractive positions to suit good candidates. In other words, do away with the notion of established jobs with prescribed titles and assigned roles and responsibilities. Instead, seek to dynamically divide up the work that needs to be done amongst currently available talent. Better yet, when new talent becomes available and recruitable, design roles and responsibilities that would be most suitable and attractive for that individual. We should be looking to attract good people, not looking to fill open positions.
Just as the previous generation, fixated on the notion of lifetime employment, was perplexed at the propensity of the baby-boomers to switch multiple jobs through their career, likewise let us not become fixated on the younger generation sticking to a specific and traditional career in life. Sporting a variety of interests, the younger generation is more likely to pursue many of them at once – not just as hobbies, but as a vocational and lifestyle mix. The best corporations will find ways to accommodate that desire and get the best out of that curiosity and diversity.
We have received many responses to our Food for Thought mailings, asking if you can freely share and forward these thoughts. Indeed you can. All we ask is that a clear attribution to LogiStyle and our contact information are included. For the interested reader, we have archived some of our recent Food for Thought mailings at our website, and can be viewed at LogiStyle: Food for Thought Archive. As always, we welcome your comments. We hope your business is doing well. If we can be of any assistance please fell free to call – even, if just to chat.
Best Regards,
Balaji
Republished with permission from:
Balaji Krishnamurthy
LogiStyle, LLC
P.O. Box 91182
Portland, OR 97291
(503)789-1338
balaji@logistyle.com
www.logistyle.com
