Mounting employee aspirations & what organisations need to do

Today, in the context of work and workplace, employees look for greater contentment and are driven by a desire to accomplish something. They are far more acquisitive and lay stress on individual progression more than ever before. Besides seeking more, they expect organisations also to offer more. And given their tendency to act on impulse, in the sense that the moment they see anything, they desire it, this phenomenon is by itself a challenge to employers and organisations.

Things were different in the seventies. People took up jobs and typically served in it till superannuation. Today, long service, howsoever meritorious it be regarded by employers, is seen as an unaspiring and unenterprising endeavour. This altered outlook has been brought about largely because of social changes; the youth of today harbour greater ambitions and are confident of achieving or accomplishing anything – work schedules, nature of work and perks, to name some.

A young man or woman who possibly joined a company two years back is pretty serious about changing his job. In the years gone by, a clearly defined career structure and company training programmes went together and in concert because a job was supposedly seen as a lifelong association. However, today the concept of a career has changed. Instead of working a traditional full-time job, job-seekers work multiple part-time jobs with different employers and concurrently freelance too. All combined, such endeavours are the equivalent of a full-time position – a multiple simultaneous career, also known as a portfolio career.

In the light of the above, the following aspects need to be organisational focal points:

· Repeated career re-creation & re-discovery: Career re-invention has become a frequent practice and effort. That is the reason precisely why a large number of employees remain perennially discontented, if not frustrated with the career that they have opted for. A large majority of them seek to do something more diverse and novel, with some intending to do so in the immediate future. The impelling factors for such a stance are not monetary by any chance. They seek to achieve greater satisfaction on academic, professional, expressive and ingenious planes; and this explains their pining to experiment with newer things. The modern workforce believe that a career ought to be stimulating and inspiring; and that it should offer excellent prospects to move ahead. Should they not find such qualities in a job, they simply switch over. The foregoing has led to reduced job spans, a phenomenon that is increasing day by day both in terms of intensity and prevalence. Statistics indicate that having worked for around a decade, people have changed their jobs about thrice. And this trend has no portent of slowing down.   

· Upholding & endorsing standards: The story does not end here. Nearly one-fourth of employees today expect a promotion after two years into a job. Of course, there are many who feel that they are entitled to a promotion every year. Organisations and employers thus need to take note of and manage such aspirations well so as to exhibit clear career advancement; this aspect warrants greater attention because quite a few workers have a dismal view of existing career development prospects. Moreover, organisations should regard career advancement prospects of employees with due seriousness, particularly when they do not want any attrition.

· Learning & development: Given such circumstances of multiple-strand careers, organisations do not visualise any great advantages of training as was planned and conducted hitherto fore. Employees could be trained by one organisation but its fruits will be used in another. And that explains why organisational policies related to learning and development do not focus much on skills enhancement but instead on individual development. The point to note is that organisations will still benefit if all-inclusive training opportunities are provided to their employees so long as they remain on their rolls. The need to capitalize on abilities and embolden allegiance needs no emphasis; and even if a person switches a job or career, the training provided will serve to fortify the name of the company.

· Necessity to alter organisational outlooks: An organisation can initiate any number of measures, but the concept of a multi-strand career has come to stay. While in India and other developing countries, this may not be very pronounced, however, in Western nations, it is definitely obvious. If that be so, organisations should understand that their objectives and interests will be better safeguarded if they bring about a change in their hiring philosophy. Rather than focussing on the long-term potential of an individual, they should look at his capability to deliver results in short spans. And in case if companies do not want attrition, there is no alternative but to make certain that the aspirations of employees are comprehended and action initiated to meet them.

Welfare includes anything that is done for the comfort and improvement of employees and is provided over and above the wages. And training is also part of welfare. Organisations need to understand and implement this.